That’s just a nickname, this is not really his chair and has no claim to have been part of any of the magical world of Harry Potter. My sister gave the chair this nickname as she thinks it looks a little like a wizard should sit in it. To be honest, it is rather stunning and quite huge!
This is what it looked like when I bought it:
A lovely lady posted this for on a community Facebook page and before I had even seen it, several friends had tagged me in the comments! So, of course I had to buy it. I think the owner was a little sad to part with it but she was moving house and clearing out stuff, so I got lucky.
Firstly, the quality control team gave it a quick check over.
In terms of preparation I just did a quick clean with a damp cloth and a little light sanding (there was a coffee cup ring on the armrest which I wasn’t surprised about as it’s the perfect size for relaxing in with a drink, nice wide armrests too!). I chose a colour from the L’Essentiel Botanicals range called Greige for this piece, a soft grey with undertones that can look slightly pinky or browny depending on the light. It’s a very sophisticated colour. This is how it looked after one coat:
I gave it two coats all over, including the leather seat and seat back. I was wondering how this would work out as I haven’t tried using chalk paint on leather before and it worked really well. Chalk paint seems to stick to literally everything! The leather did seem to ‘slurp’ the paint up a bit though so you need to be generous with how much paint you use.
Once the paint was dry, I lightly distressed the edges to give it that look of a bit of wear and tear. Then I waxed all over with clear wax and then used a little black wax in all the nooks and crannies to give it a bit of an antique feel. I’ve just discovered the Black Wax from the Artisan Paint Company and it’s fantastic – you only need a tiny bit to achieve the look.
Finally I used a tiny bit of champagne-coloured wax to highlight. This is another one from the L’Essentiels range. It’s a bit fiddly to use, I just used my finger to apply it. Once dry it stays on really firmly.
And here is the finished look.
What do you think? Have any of you used chalk paint on leather before – I’d be interested to know how you got on. Leave me a comment below!