I’m am so excited to say that I have finished Baby K’s highchair, not that we really will be needing it anytime super soon, but it is one thing crossed off my baby to-do list. I knew whenever a baby was on the way I would be looking for a vintage wooden highchair, so when my friend was discarding her broken old highchair she used in the classroom, I asked to have it. (Thanks Meredith!) Little did I know that by this summer I would be expecting and am glad I didn’t have to hunt any farther than my basement for my must-have highchair. The tray was missing, with one of the screws broken off in the side, and one of the legs was broken, so I didn’t know if it was fixable but I decided it was worth a try. Thanks to Danny’s amazing skills, the leg was secured back on with some wood glue, and he assured me he could figure out how to get a tray to work, so I went ahead and ordered one. I purchased a new tray and set of arms online and crossed my fingers they would work, since I really only had one option (I guess not too many people want old wood highchairs these days.) It arrived in a very mangled, poorly wrapped box but it fit (barely) so they shipped. The arms were too long, the tray wouldn’t sit flat, and the broken screw on the old chair meant we had to drill new holes. Danny worked his magic and I had a working tray in about an hour. I think He really enjoys fixing a project I deemed unfixable, but I’m not bothered to call for help and am happy someone is at least smart enough in this house to figure things out. I am completely amazed again at what he was quickly able to do, and after some sanding of the pieces and adding a shim to the bottom of the tray everything works smoothly. Since my baby would be eating directly off a painted surface, I needed to make sure my paint was food safe. After looking at all different sealers and reading up on everyone’s opinions, I decided to forget the latex paint and go with milk paint. I have always wanted to try milk paint and since it is an all-natural paint it is great on something like a highchair. Milk paint comes in a powder form and you mix it with water, which means you can make your own custom colors. Milk paint also is a great way to get the aged, distressed look. Depending the piece, the paint will peel and chip to get the worn look, however you really don’t have control over where it chips. I was leaning towards an aqua, mint, or yellow and after looking at the milk paint colors, I finally decided on a mint, but I wanted it different than our kitchen cabinets. I purchased Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint in Luckett’s Green and Eulalie’s Sky with the plan to mix them, along with a small wisk, bonding agent, and furniture wax. The green far away isn’t too bad, but most of the time I’ll be looking at it up close. At first I loved my color, but it wasn’t chipping. Then as the lighting changed and I lived with the color, I hated it! Well as the old saying goes, first if you don’t succeed, try, try again. From far away it had the minty look, but up close it was a gray green, almost sage, which if you know me, is my most hated color ever. (I truly loathe it.) I tried mixing different portions of the two colors with water, but nothing seemed to work. Finally I decided to go with my second color choice, aqua, but now the paint was beginning to chip and I didn’t know what would happen painting over a flaky surface. As I worked, I tried to not get my hopes up about the color, since I loved the other one first, but I painted, waited, and watched, and thankfully I still love the color. After a few coats, I lightly sanded the entire thing to remove some of the gritty surface and get any lose chips off where it was pealing. Then with a rougher grit sandpaper, I went back to distress the edges where I wanted chipping but wasn’t getting any. I chose to not distress the tray since I liked the idea of a smooth clean surface for Baby K to eat off of, and I loved the darker wood peaking though which wouldn’t be the case for the tray. I sealed and buffed it with the Furniture wax and it now has plenty of time to cure before it really gets some love and hard use. I love distressed furniture, because life happens and wear and tear is inevitable, so one more knick or scratch really won’t matter. To some people, using an old highchair is extremely dangerous, but in my mind babies used these for years before the fancy plastic ones and they were just fine. My dad was always referred to by us as Mr. Safety because of the many safety lectures we received as kids and he hasn’t said a word about a wood chair, just that it needs a safety belt. I of course in no way will put my kid in something that I feel is a safety risk, but I also know myself and what will bother me. Even with race car engineered harnesses, I wouldn’t feel comfortable leaving my kid in a highchair unsupervised, so I’ll end up treating the fancy, escape-proof chair the same as my vintage one, and if my old chair reminds others to pay more attention when Baby K is eating, I’m okay with that. I know that my dad will let me know of any safety concerns if they are there, and I’m sure my fear of leaving baby alone in a highchair stems from one of his many safety lectures we got as kids. Despite the color not being what I originally planned, I really like it and maybe even more than my mint. It goes really well with the house and pulls out the aqua in the rug and furniture in the front room. I painted before Danny trimmed the edges of the arms so there are two spots left to paint, but I’m currently out so the little edges are still bare. I also need to add a safety strap to keep the tray from being able to be unwantedly flipped over, (I’ve seen a picture of toddler me doing that at my grandmas, and although the dogs would love it I will not) as well as order a safety seat harness. Baby K won’t be using it anytime soon so I have time and I want to let everything cure first before attaching the safety pieces.
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