Color Dipped Dining Chairs

09.01.17

When planning the kitchen remodel, I consistently tended toward a white and gray neutral color palette overall for the bones of the room, but I knew I wanted to dress it up with various bright colored accents. I recalled that long ago I had seen a photo of dip dyed chairs and thought that would be a good way to add color.

I chose these simple chairs for their modern aesthetic and, maybe more importantly, their very reasonable price tag. This project is actually fairly simple and once you have your supplies, it isn’t terribly time consuming. Attention to detail is probably the most important factor.

Note that if you wanted to do the same thing but have the color dip go below the hardware of the chair, this would be much simpler. However, I prefer the look of the color higher up the legs so my method is below. I did try leaving one chair partially assembled and it was WAY more trouble than it was worth. The disassembling and hanging method described below was pretty quick and simple.

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Here is the general approach I used for this project. Color dipped chair legs are a creative way to add a pop of color to any space!

  • 01
    Step 1

    Collect your supplies. You will need:

    Chair(s)

    Drop cloth

    Ruler

    Pencil or marking pen

    Painter’s tape

    Container for dipping (preferably a tallish cylinder)

    Paint in chosen colors (I bought 1 quart of each, semigloss finish)

    Twine

    Hangers

  • 02
    Step 2

    Disassemble the chairs, keeping track of which leg goes with which part of the frame and its orientation on the chair base. There are many options for this (numbering, lettering, etc.) but I just used various colors of washi tape because it was simple and I had it on hand. I also removed the protective feet from each leg, but you could probably dip them if you prefer.

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  • 03
    Step 3

    Carefully measure up one chair leg as if it were sitting upright as part of the chair. Mark at the level where you want the paint to stop. Use painter’s tape to create the straight boundary for the paint when dipped. Repeat for all remaining chair legs at the exact same height.

    (Note that the measuring could be done before the chair is disassembled, but I didn’t have any issues doing it afterward.)

  • 04
    Step 4

    Add a loop of twine through the hole at the top of each chair leg for easier dipping and for hanging to let dry later.

  • 05
    Step 5

    Have a hanger ready at a height you can reach, positioned over the drop cloth or protective surface covering. I used additional twine to rig up hangers on my garage door tracks and it worked beautifully.

  • 06
    Step 6

    Add paint to the dipping container. One at a time, holding onto the twine, dip each chair leg into the paint so that it is submerged to the tape boundary. Pull it out, let the excess drip off.

    (I had a very hard time finding a container that was the right size and wanted to use something I already had on hand. I ended up dipping most of the leg, and carefully pouring paint over the small bare area to cover completely. This actually worked pretty well, but having the right size dipping container is easiest.)

  • 07
    Step 7

    Carefully tie the twine onto the hanger so that the chair leg is fully suspended. Repeat the dipping process with the remaining legs. Let the paint dry completely.

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  • 08
    Step 8

    Remove the painter’s tape carefully. Reassemble the chairs according to your chosen organizational system. Enjoy your newly brightened chairs!