Where there is love, there is life!

 Looking at a dented, faded, scuffed piece of furniture can make you feel 3 different ways. You either A. love each dent & scrape, after all your child has most likely had fun making them & some people love the distressed look. Then there is B. you want to reach for the sand paper, paint and varnish or C. take it to you local skip, now option C should never be done to a Stokke Tripp Trapp, not when it is still a very solid chair. Where there is love, there is life, with each sanding, each layer of paint & each coating of varnish you can bring it back to its glory days. 

I started a hunt for a pre-loved Tripp Trapp & my luck was in, I managed to bag myself a bargain for just £21. I didn't care that it had seen better days, I knew that I could make it look just like new.

I began by dismantling my Tripp Trapp, all the screws and bars should be stored away in a safe place. I began sanding it all down with a rough sand paper, I did do mine by hand but if you have an electric sander then use it(your muscles will be grateful). Start with a rough stand paper, gradually moving onto finer sand paper when you come close to the bare wood. It is important that you do go onto a finer grade paper to sand out any scratch marks that the rougher paper will leave. You can also strip it by using a paint & varnish stripper, take care if you are stripping it this way because you could easily scrape into the wood which would ruin the finished effect. 
Once you have sanded it down, I recommend coating it with a primer. I used a kitchen cupboard white primer paint that can be bought from large diy stores. I gave mine 2 coats of the primer, make sure that the screw holes do not become clogged up with paint. I wanted a perfect finish with no brush marks so used a gloss roller to apply the primer. Leave to dry fully before moving it.
Now for the exciting part, I recommend using a face mask & maybe covering your hair for this part. Choose a well ventilated area, outdoors is recommended for this job & cover any area that you don't want to spray the same colour as your Tripp Trapp.

I gave my can of painters touch spray paint a good shake & began to spray(I needed 2 tins of painters touch spray paint). When you spray, lighter layers are much better than one thick layer. Move your can side to side never stopping the flow of the spray till the whole piece is lightly covered. I would recommend that you don't make the sides where your pieces slot together too thick. Leave the time it says on the tin between coats. Once you have fully coated it with colour allow to fully dry, I left mine 24 hours before starting on the other side. If you turn your piece over to spray before the paint is dry you will ruin the finish. I gave mine 3 thin coats of pink spray.
Once fully dry give it 2 coats of varnish the same way you applied the paint, taking care not to go too thick on the pieces that slot together & making sure your screw holes do not become clogged. Again leave them to fully dry before assembling your Tripp Trapp.

I recommend that you wait till your warranty has ran out on your Tripp Trapp before painting because painting it will void any warranty you do have.
If a pre-loved Tripp Trapp is not for you, fear not, Stokke have a full range of colourful Tripp Trapps to choose from.