Using a MAKEUP SPONGE to stain wood slatted chair seats

A Quick Makeover on a Small Bistro Set Using a Makeup Sponge To Stain! 

There are a lot of SIMPLE UPDATES that we've done to the house since living here for 8 months and I have forgotten to take pictures of the befores/afters and the process of many of them; but the past couple of months, I've tried to remember to take more pictures of the small, EASY projects, like this one! 

Since the backyard is not yet a place for gathering/eating/visiting this year without a patio or deck back there (other than hopefully a DIY fire pit), we really wanted to make our front porch a place to sit with a drink and friend and watch the kids play.  It's also a tad more pleasant than sitting at the end of our driveway by our trash cans!!! 

I was lucky enough to find a small bistro set for $20 that was in really good shape that would fit on the front porch and be a place to put coffee :).  

I'm not sure if it was from Starbucks or an outdoor cafe (the owner couldn't remember) but it was sturdy and only needed a little sprucing up to work nicely on our front porch!

This is the original ad - 

SCORE!!!

Materials Used:

Hand sander

Dark Walnut Minwax Wood Stain

Triangle makeup sponge to apply stain

These sponges were key!

Polyurethane in Satin finish

Cheap paint brush

Primer and Paint

I painted our front door this color too but don't think it will stay this color.

Small Paint Roller for table top

Regular Paint Brush (not a cheap one) for the table legs

First, I had Bill sand the wooden seats of the 4 chairs (the rest of the chair material is metal) -  

Good rainy day project during naps! 

PSA - I'm FINALLY getting why Bill doesn't like it when I show up with furniture projects in the back of my car or tell him I'm planning on doing this, this, and this project... IT'S BECAUSE HE ALWAYS HAS TO HELP ME DO THE PROJECT I'M THINKING OF! HAHA (sorry it's taken me this long to realized this, stink!)

The tops of the chairs are wood so I didn't want to spray paint the whole chair, which is usually my "quick fix" route.

You can see below that the wood seats had green and gray deposits of something.

Here they are after being sanded down. 

***This is where using the makeup sponge to stain comes in handy!

I first tried to use my staining rag but couldn't get the rag to evenly stain the sides of the wood because the openings between the slats were too skinny.  

The cheap brush didn't help apply the stain consistently in those small spaces either.  

So when I ran inside and couldn't find any craft sponges, I just grabbed a makeup sponge instead!

Staining with a makeup sponge made the process go really smoothly and quickly. 

The shape and size of the triangle sponge were perfect for pushing the stain in between the wood slats!

The triangle sponge was the best way to get the stain in between the slats!

After the stain dried overnight, I painted polyurethane (in satin finish) over the seats with a cheap paint brush - 

These $1 brushes are at Lowes and so great to just use and toss.  (They are also what I use for chalk painting!)

And then I just primed and painted the metal table - 

SW Watery is the color.

I was painting the swing at the same time because once there's primer/paint out, I try to keep the painting going. ;)

I need to still buy a round glass top for the table but it will have to do for now.  

The wood pallets won't stay on the porch behind the slats permanently, but I actually don't mind them that much haha!

Hope everyone has a Happy Memorial Day weekend!