the scoop

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." ~Aristotle

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The Saga of the Painted (Upholstered) Chair


This summer I did a fun project which elicited much commentary via facebook.

"You're doing WHAT?!"

So I thought I'd lay it all out here, so you can check it out and weigh in if you'd like :)

I was inspired by This Blog and I knew I had to give it a shot! I bought two identical chairs from a friend, fully intending to give them this treatment; the fabric's in great shape, but it's PINK.

Here are the Pink Lovelies, having a chat.
I bought a can of plain 'ol latex paint at Lowe's: I forget the color name, sorry (my neighbor calls it Ooblek Green. He's not far off).

You'll need mixing containers, a spray bottle of water, foam paint brushes (the GOOD kind, not the cheap, crappy ones), a small "regular-ish" paint brush and FABRIC MEDIUM. This is what makes the paint not crack and goo and blick. (Those are technical terms.)  You can find it with the paints at your local craft store - you will need a bunch, depending on your size of furniture and type of fabric.

I'm not going to fuss with a tutorial here - you can visit the above site.  But here are the before, during and after photos.

The chair is not "crunchy." It does not feel like velor, but it also doesn't feel like burlap. More like a starched linen or duck cloth (or painted canvas, naturally).

I plan to paint the other chair, although I we haven't settled on a color yet. Hence, it sits in all its pink glory, awaiting Spring.
eeeew! this could have been discouraging ...



Must. Have. Patience.  This is AFTER one coat.


TA-DA!!
Whaddya think??

18 comments:

  1. I think the oobleck color is appropriate given the Seussish style of the chair. I think you should maintain the pinkness of the partner.

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  2. very cool! Is the fabric easy to clean?

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    1. Haven't gotten it dirty yet, but I would assume it'd be like cleaning a wall or a painting ...

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  3. It looks great! So does the 5 Pocket Clutch in Black Parisan Pop that is on your desk! :-)

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  4. that is awesome - i feel the need to find a chair to paint now :)

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  5. Wowza! That looks great! Sure would have been discouraging after that one coat, but I bet you are glad you stuck with it because it turned out great!!

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  6. I'll be posting about your chair on my blog this week - probably tomorrow!

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    1. Thanks! I'm famous! lol. That's the first time I've been featured on another blog; I'm giddy. And still haven't gotten around to that second chair ... ;)

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  7. It looks wonderful...I actually love the color. I have worked with fabric medium and found that it helped to actually paint the medium on the fabric first and then follow up with the actual paint with some medium mixed in. I never painted any furniture but this method was what I preferred when I painted textiles...I just may buy an upholstered piece to try...I'm looking forward to seeing the other chair you have finished!!! Have a beautiful week!!!

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  8. Please anwser me dear!!
    How much fabric medium do I add to the paint? Is it half and half?
    Did you mix latex and acrylic paint?????
    Thxxxxxxxxx

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    1. It's a 1:1 ratio ... but you also need to add water. The link I provided above gives more detail, but you're going to need 1:1:1 paint:water:medium ... you want the layers to be very thin, especially for the first few. Then you play it by ear... you might want to thicken the mixture, but you will want to keep the same ratio of paint:medium.

      I used latex. The woman I linked to used either a mixture or different coats of each ...

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  9. I love how your chair turned out! I'm also loving the fabric you used for the pillow... I have been looking for something with all of those colors in it. Would you mind sharing where it is from and the name/description (if you remember, of course!)? Thank you very much!

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    1. no problem! the fabric is waverly, "harmony spa" got it from fabric.com! (and my friend made me curtains for the parlor in it. GORGEOUS.

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  10. How is your chair wearing? Is the paint staying in tact? How comfortable is the chair now?

    Gave this post a shout out!

    http://4you-withlove.blogspot.com/2012/05/painting-and-dyeing-upholstered.html

    Marilyn

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  11. I just wanted to let you and your readers know that I posted your chair on my page with examples of painted upholstery! I linked right to you so they could find more information on your blog. Hope you don't mind.

    http://www.hypheninteriors.com/chairs

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    1. Thanks, that's great! A concise place to send all the folks who ask me about my chair!

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  12. How is the paint job holding up? I am seriously considering painting my LR suite, its a dark navy blue and I want to go lighter. I have a dog and I need to now if this is going to be durable with a pet? Also how long did it take to complete this and how many coats did it take?

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