Distressing my Chairs was nerve wracking!

I'm entering this great contest tonight @ 10pm EST.  Can't wait to see if I win the Pink Hammer!!!

After I finished spraypainting MR.P and my chairs the plan was to distress them.  I almost gave up because I thought I might mess them up.  Soo glad I didn't!  Last night I took them out on the porch and started sanding away.  The first chair was definitely not the best.  But I learned exactly how to do it.  Edges are my favorite because they are the easiest.  I am sure all the rest of you know how to do it and are pros, but this was obviously my first attempt. 

1.) I bought a sanding block, but for some reason it wasn't doing what I wanted.  So I used used 80 grit sanding paper that I already had.  I started with all the edges and just went to town. 

2.)  Then I made sure that on the rounded parts of the chair I did random marks so it didn't look too symmetrical.  At first I wasn't sure how to do the marks, but eventually figured out that they should be straight down and not side to side.  I'm sure you're all laughing...but seriously, I learn by doing :)

Here are the finished products.  I think they help blend with the house decor a little better now that they aren't squeeky clean perfect. 

They really do make me smile when I look at them.  They are just plain cheery!!

And here's the entire table.  You can see that our menu says SOUP!  We are having a party at our house tomorrow night, so we are just getting ready for it!  Taco Soup is what's on the menu.  It's my favorite fall thing to make. 

So let's recap the before and after.

This was my first attempt at spraypainting.  But you can see that the chair was white washed before I started.  I forgot to take a real before picture.  But you get the idea...white washed was not a good look for these chairs.

Here are the before and after once I was done spraypainting.  Much better.  Starting to get there!  I let them dry and settle for a few days before I started sanding for the distressed look. 

Almost done!

AFTER!

They definitely needed distressing.  With the old, rustic frame on the wall next to it they needed to be more rustic as well. 

If any of y'all see that the chairs don't look quite right then let me know your tricks.  I'd love to hear them!  I love getting feed back and appreciate all of you that have commented or that are following.  Hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday!