Best Seats

Outdoor workhorses, Adirondack chairs offer tried-and-true comfort and nostalgic forms. But, hey, admit it: They can be a bit boring. We upped the personality quotient of three unfinished Adirondack chairs with imaginative treatments, designed to play off favorite hobbies or decorating schemes.

This patriotic perch draws its flag-waving spirit from Old Glory.

Seemingly weathered by the spraying sea and the drifting sand, this chair is easy to create.

• Unfinished Adirondack chair
• White primer paint
• Exterior latex paints in red, white, and blue
• Paintbrush
• Medium-grit sandpaper
• Polyurethane
• Sheets of thin-gauge metal (available at crafts stores)
• Small nails or brads
• Hammer

Step 5

1. Coat the chair with white oil-base primer and allow it to dry according to the manufacturer's directions.

2. Paint the slats red, white, and blue, and the arms and base red. Let the paint dry.

3. With medium-grit sandpaper, sand the paint from the edges and other surfaces to give it a century-old patina look. Sand at spots that would have been naturally worn by the hands, arms, and legs of folks who might have sunned themselves there over the years.

4. Protect the finish with a coat of polyurethane. Let the polyurethane dry according to the manufacturer's directions.

5. Make the chair twinkle with three free-form stars cut from sheets of thin-gauge metal. The less perfect the better: Cut stars so some points are longer than others to match the chair's imperfect finish. Attach the stars to the arms and lower seat crosspiece with small nails or brads. Then randomly pound across the stars' surfaces with a hammer to create a rustic, punched-tin texture.