A couple of months ago, whilst packing up all my belongings to move house, I decided I needed a little project to stop myself from going insane.

Enter two very daggy director’s chairs I had lying round on my spider-infested verandah.

BEFORE: dirty yellow director’s chair

I decided I wanted to paint the two chairs with different colours and designs. As it turns out, chair number one is the only one finished to date……but hey, that just gives me another new and exciting project to complete in the future!

So the first thing to do obviously was some de-spidering and cleaning. I discovered the BEST thing for removing grubby cobwebs are those disposable static cleaning cloths. Brilliant!

Next was to paint all the wooden parts in a vibrant green, and cover the canvas in two coats of white gesso.

Legs painted emerald green, and canvas ready to paint on!

I have a bit of an obsession with poppies, so I decided on a very simple pattern of red poppy flowers, green leaves on a paler green background. First things first, I needed to draw the pattern on the canvas using a pencil. I did this free-hand, but you could equally use a stencil if you’re not confident in your artistic abilities!

Using acrylic artists paints, I began  by painting the pale green background.

Next was to fill in the shapes with colour:

I started on the outside of the petals with a pale orangey-red, gradually painting a darker red until right around the centre was almost a burgundy. A deep green for the leaves, and then outlined in black.

I am thrilled with how it looks, and it appears to be quite durable, so I now have to get to work on the other one!