Do you ever have a project  you build up in your mind until it seems like such a completely impossible and  insurmountable task?    That is how my dining room table’s 5 chairs have been.  I originally purchased this table from Craigslist for $125.00 over 3 years ago and painted the table in Miss Mustard Seed’s Milk Paint Ironstone. I then used the chairs to do a couple of segment’s on KOKH Fox 25 for a $30.00 makeover challenge.  That was over 2 years ago.  Since then the chairs have been grouped as a misfit set – all painted different colors- being used in my dining room just begging for a makeover.  If you want to see the previously embarrassing state of my dining room chairs you can find them in this post.

But this week things have changed in a big way for me.  I finally tried using a paint sprayer for the first time.  YA’LL.  It was life changing.

 Do you see the ridiculously smitten look on my face, whilst doing manual labor, in 97 degree weather, 7 months pregnant?  Only one thing can cause me to act like such a dork is my new paint sprayer from HomeRight.   I was able to paint all FIVE of my dining room chairs.  In TWO HOURS.

I have been so resistant to using a paint sprayer for many reasons.

1.  I typically use paint that require very little prep work – ie: No sanding and No Priming.  So with all of the time I save skipping those steps I thought I would make up for it with the hassle of having to clean a paint sprayer.

2.  CeCe Caldwell’s Paints are generally much thicker than Latex Paints.  Trying to find the right ratio of water to paint made me nervous.

3.  I don’t have a spray booth and I was concerned about the mess all of the over spray would make.

4.  I will confess I tend to get stuck in my ways and I will fight trying new methods for as long as I can.  I am the old crotchety lady of furniture painting.

Imagining all of the time it would take me to paint these darn chairs had me desperate to try something new.  I broke down and tried the HomeRight Finish Max Fine Finish Sprayer for the job.  In a nervous state I read the directions and watched a few YouTube videos like this one to get my little mind acclimated to the idea of using a sprayer.

My dread of cleaning the sprayer was eased when I realized the only tube I needed to clean was easy to remove and relatively small.  The instructions recommended putting water inside the drum to practice spraying before trusting yourself with actual paint.  Baby steps.  That was good advice because after a few pretend sprays I was feeling more confident.

It took a few trial runs on an old cabinet door to find the perfect consistency of paint.  Even if you are using latex paint the directions recommend watering your paint down with water.  Since CeCe Caldwell’s Paints are thicker in consistency it took me a few test batches to get the consistency perfect.  My first batch was too watery and my second batch was too globby.  I finally arrived at the perfection of silky smooth paint = 1/3 water to 2/3 CeCe Caldwell’s Paints in Pittsburgh Grey.  When I sprayed the paint on it was like butta.  Not a brush stroke to be found.  My little painter’s heart melted.

Since CeCe’s paints are all-natural I didn’t have to worry about ventilation and the over spray was  surprisingly minimal.  I only needed a drop cloth to contain my mess.  I painted two coats on the chairs, one while the chairs were propped upside down and another while they were right side up.  I then just touched up with the sprayer here and there where needed.

The chairs look amazing.  The finish is so smooth and it looks as if it came from a big box furniture store.  I can’t believe I put this task off for two years.  I wanted to show you the full reveal of my completed dining room but I didn’t want to steal the thunder of the awesome giveaway from the sweet folks at HomeRight.  One of you will get to win a Finish Max Fine Finish Sprayer too!

Use the Rafflecopter widget below to enter (it might take a few seconds to load – so please be patient)  Just in case you don’t win one of these awesome sprayers you can find your nearest retailer of the Finish Max here or you can purchase it online here.
In my opinion for about $90.00 it it so worth the investment!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you are tackling your own projects this weekend don’t do it without my eBook The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Furniture Painting.  Use the coupon code HOMERIGHT to get it for only $6.99 this weekend!