Distressing Chairs... In more ways than one!

Well, let me tell you I have been a busy bunny. After posting the pictures of my kitchen last week, I decided to squeeze a spot of DIY (Do-It-Yourself), pre-brother visit... the night is wasted on sleeping anyway! My assigned project was to tackle those kitchen chairs... Yes, they had already been painted, but when looking back at the pictures, I decided to distress them. This had been my initial plan, when I'd first set about revamping them. Once painted though, they looked so clean... crisp... no drips... These were the product of meticulous painting. How / why would I rough them up? So, they remained untarnished... Now, this caused problems... I think I've mentioned before that I have two toddlers running around this place, and they just lurve to bash Little People, Little People paraphernalia,  Toy Story figurines and any other hard objects into all furniture... As you can imagine, this doesn't bode well for freshly painted chairs... Chairs just begging to be chipped or scuffed... It's a bit like when you got a new pair of trainers (sneakers) as a kid...all white and gleaming, and you just knew, that at some point, they were going to be 'christened' with a great dirty mark! Well, the hubby figured that he was going to be the first to 'christen' the chairs and unleash my wrath. In an attempt to get out of this self imposed fate,  he very gingerly exited after every meal, so as not to bash them into the table... and scooped up figurine yielding kiddies, when they ventured too close to the chairs. The poor guy was living on a knifes edge, waiting for that first dink...

Well, I was the first to do it... I bit the bullet and decided to age them... Let me tell you, it was a lump in the throat moment when I scraped that first bit of paint off... But that was it. I'd committed and so, I finished all of them before bed, had my cuppa and then decided that I'd ruined the chairs.... I told myself that they would look better after I'd slept on it... thing's are always better in the morning... right?  I reviewed my 'un-handy' work the next day with fresh eyes.... yep, still ruined...

The hubby loves them... the kids bashed them into the side of the table this morning... they love 'em... Me... I'm not sold yet, but I am warming to them. The tension in the kitchen has dissipated.  Looking on the bright side, I do think this shabby look fits in around this place... I wonder if I can pass the bite marks on my youngest's crib as the shabby chic look too??

Anyhoo, let me know what you think. Should I have left the chairs in their perfectly painted state or, are you loving the bashed and crashed look?.... Tell me the truth... I can take it, I'm a big girl now...