Hello Friends,

Sometimes it seems like my whole house got put together and then left in the 1990s.

I mean, seriously, how did this happen? One minute, everything is the latest style —and the next minute —-not so much.

But here’s the good news —and I do have really GOOD NEWS.

All it takes to jostle a backward piece (or room) into 2017 is a couple of fabulous paint colors and one afternoon. 

I’m serious.

It really is just this quick and easy.

How to Make An Old Wicker Chair New Again

Believe it or not, when this wicker chair (circa 1996) came to live with us, these colors were all the rage. And it lived happily in the basement for many, many years. But when the house refresh got underway, the guys didn’t want the chair’s style or its colors in the basement (AKA man cave) any longer.

I can’t imagine why. 🙂  …wink wink…

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Fusion Mineral Paint, but all projects and opinions are 100% my own.

So after a coat of Fusion’s Champlain, the banished chair came to live in the sunroom (AKA she cave). And although the new white color improved the chair’s visual appeal, something was missing. It was like the chair just didn’t fit in the room.

What a total mindboggle.

How on earth does a white wicker chair not fit in a Southern-style sunroom? You’d think they’d go together — like peanut butter and jelly —or macaroni and cheese, for Pete’s sake.

But alas, as Winter rolled into Spring, the chair’s disconnect with the rest of the room became more and more apparent.

Then I happened to find an article from a top decorating firm indicating that a must-use color combination for 2017 is mustard and turquoise. And I gotta tell ya, this idea really rang my chimes. 

Seriously. How fresh and fun! But more importantly, it’s a combo that’s currently NOT on the “been there, done that” list.

And since I already had shades of aqua going in the sun room, all I needed to do was to find a great piece of inspiration fabric. 

And what do you know —a few days later, I couldn’t belive it! On an afternoon cruise through HomeGoods, inspiration struck in the form of the most perfect pillows. 

Gaaaahhhhh! What luck!

So here, my friends, is how the wicker chair finally found its way to 2017 —and blissfully connected to the rest of the sun room.

Step 1: Perfectly Balanced Colors

Since the rug and some other painted pieces of furniture were already carrying the turquoise/aqua shades, this freed the wicker chair and one other piece to go all mustardy.

Do you remember an earlier post I did that explained how to set up room color according to the 60-30-10 Rule? Well, just in case you missed it, here’s where I’m going with this.  The turquoise/aqua will carry about 60% of the room’s color and the mustard will carry about 30%. This leaves 10% for fun color pops, like lime green or hot, hot pink. If you’d like to read more about the 60-30-10 Rule, please click here.

Step 2: You Want Mustard With That Wicker?

The first coat of paint (Mustard) was thoroughly applied to cover the white. And because of the white basecoat, one coat of Mustard covered the chair beautifully and dried to the usual pristine Fusion finish. Then, to blend the chair’s color with two other chairs in the room, a topcoat of Buttermilk Cream was lightly brushed across the top.

These two colors combine to accentuate the basket weave pattern without making the chair look busy.

They also work together to provide different color depths as the light moves across the chair.

Step 3: Fabrics With Mustard, Too

Then, to create a coordinated look with the other fabrics, a wavy pattern was stencilled onto a piece of fabric for the cushion using Mustard and Fusion’s Inglenook. 

The soft aqua of the Inglenook paint coordinates with the Laugh-Love-Live pillow in the background and allows the single Laugh pillow to provide a focal pop of bright turquoise.

Together the colors just scream, “Hello, Spring!”

Step 4: Mustard On A Milking Bench

Then, to add a pop of true Mustard color to the room, a milking bench was built and painted Mustard without a Buttermilk Cream topcoat.

***The milking bench is made of only six pieces of wood and a few screws. If you’d like the easy-build plan, please click on the link at the end of this post.***

In different lights, the Mustard-Buttermilk Cream color combo on the chair is extremely bold, but yet soft and neutral, too. Now, I totally get why the decorators suggested this color combo. It’s like it just “woke-up” my groggy sun room.

And that’s all there is to it. An old wicker chair is easily updated with fresh fabric and the perfect combination of paint colors.

If you’d like to see the plans for building the milking bench, please click this link.

If you enjoyed this makeover…..Please….

For more information about Fusion Mineral Paint, please click here to visit their website.