Personalize your seat with
your favorite flowers.

Spring Is Sprouting

There's no digging required for this cheerful plot of spring's first blossoms. Like a container planted with annuals, the chair moves from sun to shade, brightening lawns and patios with vibrant hues.

We chose a crocus, daffodil, iris, tulip, and hyacinth for our chair design. Generate your own images by painting freehand, using stencils, or transferring images. If you choose to transfer images, look for simple, uncopyrighted botanical drawings or photos of single flowers (summer perennials with intact root systems substitute nicely for the bulbs); have them enlarged or reduced at a copy center to fit the chair-back slats.

• Unfinished Adirondack chair
• White primer paint
• Exterior latex paint, pale blue
• Paintbrush
• Stencils or transfer images
• Graphite paper
• Acrylic paints to color the flowers
• Artist's or stencil brushes
• Polyurethane
• Brush

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

2. Paint the chair with the blue latex paint. Let the paint dry.

3. Arrange your flower images or stencils on the chair slats until you get a pleasing composition, varying the heights and colors for interest. Unless you're using a stencil or are painting freehand, you'll need to transfer the images onto the chair: Place a piece of graphite paper behind each image and secure both layers to the chair with masking tape. With a pencil, trace the lines of the image, transferring the images to the slats. Remove the images and the graphite paper. If you're using stencils, simply tape them to the slats. For hand-painted images, draw your pattern on the slats before painting.

Step 5

4. Color in the images, using acrylic paints and artist's or stencil brushes. To create the shaded effect around each bloom, use a drier brush dipped in dark blue paint and pat the surface around the edge of each flower.

5. Pick up the color of your stems and accentuate the lines of the chair by painting mossy green stripes along its edges.

6. Protect the finish by sealing the chair with polyurethane. Check the finish each year and reseal as needed.