How to Quickly Tape Off Chair Spindles

When painting chairs it's so much easier to paint them in all one color. But if you want the seat a different color or stained then you'll have to deal with painting around the spindles. Today I'll share how I tape off the spindles quickly to get a nice crisp finish.

BEFORE

Before: Wood chairs factory painted

The "before" shot doesn't really show the damaged to the original finish, so I'll include a close up of one section. It's normal wear and tear that just about all furniture experiences. But there's no need to toss it! A fresh coat of paint will make it like brand new.

Example of damage to original finish.

I found the best way to get a crisp edge around the spindles is to tape them off with painters tape. Each chair has 12 spindles (8 on top and 4 underneath) that needed to be taped off. Although the spindles are round, I begin by taping off a square. First I put a piece of tape at the front of each spindle. Next I added another piece to the side of each spindle.

Begin by taping off the front of the spindles.

I added a third piece to the other side of each spindle, and then a fourth piece of tape to the back.

Tape off a square around the round spindles

Finally, I filled in the gaps around the circle with 4 small pieces of tape.

Use four small pieces of tape to fill in the gaps.

Prior to painting I also repeated the process underneath the chairs where the spindles meet the seat.

Repeat for spindles underneath the seat.

AFTER

The chairs are painted with two coats of Duck Egg Blue. I used a fine sanding sponge to lightly distress the blue to reveal the white underneath. I love the way the blue and white look with the natural wood.

Duck egg blue chairs with natural wood seats

Duck Egg Blue paired with natural wood.

Thank you for stopping by.

SUPPLY LIST

Below are the supplies I used for this project. Some links are affiliate links.

• Painter's tape
• Chalk Paint Products by Annie Sloan (Duck Egg Blue and soft clear wax)
• Flexible sanding pad These come in a box of 20, but I cut them in half so I get 40! One box will last for a very long time. The pads also come in a superfine finish for even smoother results.
• Wooster Vintage Effects paintbrush (Just about any paint brush will do, but this is one of my favorites. It has and angled tip which makes it easier to paint around the tight spots of the spindles.)
• Wax brush (alternatively you could use a lint free cloth to apply the wax)
• Shop towels and Lint free shop rags for removing excess wax.