The cutest Louis XV chair ever!

I cannot resist a great chair shape so when I saw these petite mahogany chair frames, my head started spinning!

They are craftsman samples, purchased in France and they are probably a bit over 50 years old. I like the Queen Anne and the Regency but my heart was set on the Louis XV as soon as I saw it. I found a cotton fabric with a little texture that was perfect for it and set myself out to do the finish. Initially I thought of painting it an off-whit/greyish colour and then waxing it, but decided I wanted to go more the Swedish way and give liming wax a try.

The process is quite straight-forward. First I cleaned the chair with a dry cloth. The chair has tiny hand-carved details that still had leftovers of the carved out wood, so I made sure to clean those out. Then, with another cloth I started covering the chair with the liming wax, removing excess with another end of the same cloth. For the details, where the wax accumulated a bit, I cleaned them with a screwdriver tip covered in cloth!

Once I was satisfied with the amount of "white", I gave it a quick rub and let it dry for about 30 minutes. Afterwards I used Briwax light brown wax to make it less white, and gave it another polish. I then passed it on to my upholsterer. I used a white cotton fabric that has some texture in it. It was the thinnest I could find that would not be "transparent". The chair is really small and I knew it would be hard to make and apply the piping.

And here it is, in all its glorious cuteness! My friend Chrissy at Sassy Little Cabbages also wrote about these petite chairs, so make sure to hop on over and check out her fabulous blog.