I painted a pair of milking stools several years ago. I also did the underneath parts first. It was easier to turn it right-side-up afterwards without having to wait for it to dry. Then I started at the top and worked my way down.

Thanks for the advice, y’all. If the rain doesn’t let up, I’ll never get these chairs painted!

Wow Tony Montana, that’s a bit harsh, eh?

bbstx, good luck with your project! What color will the chairs be? I, for one, love a bit of painted furniture.

I’m not soft-earred, and I can be harsh-mouthed. But I’ll do neither here. I’m sure Tony was giving the best advice he could give.

@tannatonk23_fl_z9a, DD and I are going to paint the chairs black. This is the table she is going to use in her breakfast room.

Besides the process being done well, get the correct paint. I painted bedroom furniture for my son and it has a few chips, but I didn’t use the correct paint. I later painted a wood bookshelf and used the cabinet paint from BM, and the finish is solid. It has held up beautifully for two years so far in a boys bedroom.

We are using Sherwin Williams Emerald Paint. The primer is also SW. The main reason is because the Sherwin Williams store is less than 5 minutes from DDs house and the people who work there have been very helpful.

I would suggest the two stage approach - painting the chair upright and turning it over. Not sure the order has mattered that much when I have painted similar chairs. Would just let coats dry completely before turning over.

@Norwood Architects, thanks for the advice. I prefer allowing 24 hours between coats. And that would also include 24 hours between right side up and up side down coats. I’m hopeful that we will have plenty of time for the chairs to cure before they are used.

Have you considered using MinWax polyshades in black for your chairs? I used my HVLP sprayer to do our dinette chairs using the oil based polyshades in solid black. It comes out great. The film build is very low so no chipping. Five years later some of the edges have worn a bit, but they can be easily touched up with a brush. If your chairs are already finished in varnish, you only need to scuff and clean with mineral spirits. If you want a glossier finish than you can get with the HVLP sprayer, you can do a final coat with a clear gloss polyurethane in a spray can. The droplets are much finer than you get with a air sprayer.

Not only is the finish nicer with the polyurethane over paint, it will cost you a lot less money than primer plus paint. I think I used only one or two quarts to do five chairs. And also start at the bottom of the chair, flip over, and paint from top down. Otherwise you will get overspray droplets falling down on your finished surface. Good luck!

For complete staining, I take apart the chair into parts and paint each part separately. I tried to paint the chair in the assembled state from top to bottom, but the color was not uniform. It is a bad idea.

@Mark Potter, you must have some mad skills if you can disassemble and then re-assemble a chair! That’s not going to happen here.

These are hand-me-down chairs for DD from her MIL. They are a stop-gap until she finds what she really wants (you know what that means....6 years from now, she’ll still be using them!)

@Valerie, I’ve never heard of Minwax Polyshades. Tell me more! How hard was it to clean your HVLP after using an oil-based finish? Your information about bottom then top to avoid overspray is exactly what I needed to know!

Go to any store that carries MinWax line of polyurethane and stains. I used "Classic Black". Home Depot stopped carrying MinWax and now carries Varathane which is a higher end product. I don't know if they have the same opaque black. Lowes and Menards and my local ACE also carry MinWas. The attached photo shows the product as well as a tool I use to assist in cleanup, which is a pain by the way.

First off, I use can liners from Harbor Freight so I do not have to clean the paint sprayer can, just empty and throw away. Then, use 3 empty quart jars with lids. Put some clean mineral spirits in the sprayer and spray into one jar. The PVC plumbing elbow is used to guide the spray into the jar--otherwise it goes everywhere. Then do the same with clean mineral spirits into jars 2 and 3, followed by a disassemble and clean of the sprayer. The solids will settle into the bottom of the jar and you can reuse the mineral spirits from dirty to clean. Finally when the project is all done you can discard the mineral spirits at Hazardous Waste day.

If you go that route, General Finishes color in Java is considered to be a better product.
General Finishes

I said “black,” but the truth is we are going with a dark charcoal color. I thought that might be more interesting and less harsh than black. Here are two representations of the room’s color scheme - sorta.

ETA: @graywings123, thanks for the link. Until I watched the video, I knew nothing about gel stains. That may be the way to go! I have a question. The chair seats are scratched where the dogs jumped up on them. Will the gel stain cover that?

I've used MinWax polyurethane on objects my husband made for my Etsy shop out or recycled wood and everything looked great! It was so easy to use!