Hi friends! Happy Monday! If you are visiting from Home Stories A to Z, welcome! I’m participating in Beth’s Thrifty Under Fifty Challenge and I’m really excited about today’s project. I finally tackled a project I’ve been wanting to try for a really long time, painting upholstery. Sounds crazy, huh!? I’ve seen a few people do it over the past few years and I wanted to see if it really worked.
A few months ago I stumbled upon someone giving away an old chair, and like any DIYer I couldn’t pass up something with FREE on the price tag! Are you ready to see what I started with?
Wow. Right? I was drawn to the tufted back and the exposed wood. I thought the chair had beautiful bones and I instantly had a vision of how I wanted it to look.
After a little TLC, some paint, new upholstery on the seat, I completely made this chair over for pretty much exactly $50.
I wanted a very rustic farmhouse look for this chair and that’s what I got. I am not even going to pretend to be a master at reupholstering, so I went with a deconstructed look that fits right in with my industrial style.
To get this look, I painted the upholstery on the tufting and the back of the chair, I gave all the wood a coat of white chalky paint, and I replaced the upholstery on the seat with farmhouse stripes and black upholstery nails.
So I know what you are thinking. Can you really paint over upholstery? Yes. Do I recommend it. Sorta. Based on my experience, I would definitely do this for an accent chair or one that won’t be sat in that much. While the fabric medium does soften the paint, I found that mine still felt a little like plastic. But that could also be caused by many factors, 1) wrong type of paint sheen 2) not enough fabric medium, etc. I’m happy with my first results and I will definitely try it again and tweak my formula.
It goes perfectly with our vignette in the dining area. Loving my funky farmhouse chair :)
I actually really love the imperfections on the chair. It gives it so much character.
So ready for a quick tutorial and some tips on how I painted the upholstery?
I started by cleaning the upholstery. I used a lint brush and than a shopvac to really get all the dust off it. Then, I removed the ripped upholstery and deteriorating foam pad.
Now, here is the fun part. Painting the upholstery. I have seen a few other people do this before, I loved 11 Magnolia Lane’s tutorial on it. I thought theirs was really easy and made sense to me. So I referenced that when starting this project.
I started by mixing gray latex paint with fabric medium. I followed the directions on the back of the bottle and did 1 part medium to 2 parts paint. I only needed one bottle of the medium for the entire chair (that I painted). After the entire first coat you can still see some of the green coming through.
I let the first coat dry completely and then I added the second layer. I only needed to coats for this chair. This existing fabric was a thick wool and the paint went right over it.
To finish off the look, I painted the legs in white chalky paint, added new fabric and foam to the seat and then black nail trim accents. And added a pillow from the lovely Bows and Burlap Boutique :)
So here is what I used:
Chair- FREE
Gray Paint ( you only need about half a quart )
6 oz fabric medium
Black Nail Trim (3 packs )
Striped Fabric (1 yard)
Foam Pad
If you utilize retail coupons (hobby lobby/Michaels, etc.) the entire projects comes out right around $50.
This was a really fun project to try and proof that you can always make a piece of furniture beautiful again! Now head over to Finding Silver Pennies to See what Danielle did with her thrifty find!
Monday
Home Stories A to Z
Design Dining Diapers
Finding Silver Pennies
Anderson + Grant
Tuesday
French Country Cottage
Refresh Restyle
Just a Girl
Finding Home Farms
Wednesday
Bless’er House
Beneath My Heart
Love Grows Wild
Ella Claire
Thursday
Southern Hospitality
Life On Virginia Street
Four Generations One Roof
Nest of Posies
City Farmhouse
Friday
In My Own Style
Sand & Sisal
Julie Blanner
Fox Cottage Hollow
About Taryn Whiteaker
Hi! I’m Taryn! The voice behind Taryn Whiteaker Designs. I launched this brand over 11 years ago when I became a stay-at-home mom. What started as a small craft and mom blog eventually grew into a full time design and DIY site. My goal has always been to inspire others (especially women!) with design ideas, DIY tutorials, entertaining ideas and give you the tools you need to complete them yourself!
I love it!! Way to see the diamond in the rough! Thanks for joining my hop. :)
It turned out great Taryn! I love the color you chose too!
Love your funky farmhouse chair, Taryn! I’ve never painted upholstery, but there have been a few times that I’ve considered doing it. It’s nice to know that you “sorta” recommend it! ;)
Oh my gosh, Taryn, I love the chair. I’ve never painted fabric but want to try it at some point. LOVE the colors and the tufting and the nailhead. Great job! x
The chair looks amazing! I would love to know where the metal cart came from? We walked through a model home a few weeks ago, and they had something really similar. I haven’t been able to get it out of my head, but can’t seem to find it anywhere!
It looks fantastic! I might have to try painting over upholstery!
Good job!!!! I Too would love to know more about the cart. I am in love with it.
Awesome job Taryn! I love that the cushion is a contrast to the back… so pretty!
The chair looks fantastic. I love how you combined the stripes with the solid back.
hi ive always wanted to paint chairs…thank you for advice…where do you find (fabric medium)?? I live in a small town..
Stunning!! I love the grey and stripes, such a chic chair.