Painting An Upholstered Bed

Amanda
by Amanda
6 Materials
$40
3 Hours
Medium

In this tutorial, I painted my upholstered bed using what I had an only two supplies! I followed a tutorial, but found that my fabric responded differently and so I had to take a few extra steps!

Finished Product of the Painted Headboard


Here's the finished product, now let me walk you through it.

BEFORE picture


Here's the color of the fabric prior to painting it.

Supplies Needed!


Here's what I used! Martha Stewart Fabric Medium and Martha Stewart Craft Paint. I got a 2" brush. I also mixed these in an old tupperware and added water to the mixture. The craft paint is "Beach Glass". The brush is a Wooster, but I think any would have worked.

Mixture


The fabric medium recommends 2 parts paint, 1 part fabric medium but the tutorials I read online suggested 1 part paint, 1 part medium, and 1 part water. That's what I did. I didn't have enough paint to try it the other way.

First coats


The first couple of coats came out very splotcy. I was trying to use a very light color over a very dark color. It probably would have been better the other way around. Also, the paint just soaked in very very easily into the fabric.

Keep layering on the paint


It was way more coats than I wanted to do, but they later ones were really easy to apply.

Final coat


Feeling like I'd never get it perfect, I called it quits here.

True color!


Here's the final product.

Final Product!


Really brightens up the room!

Final product


I am happy with how it came out!

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  • Jenny Ergle Jenny Ergle on Jun 22, 2020

    I’d like to paint the upholstery fabric on a kitchen bench that we sit on a lot. Would the paint stand up to how much we use the bench cushion?

    • Amanda Amanda on Jun 22, 2020

      Great question! I chose to try this on a headboard because we aren't touching it very much (just leaning against it with pillows). The final product is not particularly soft so I think it will definitely hold up, but if you want it to be soft to the touch, this isn't the right tutorial!

  • Sue Sue on May 13, 2024

    I’ve seen some tutorials that show sanding with a very fine sandpaper makes it soft. I’ve never tried painting cloth so I’m sure it’s interesting and a challenge.

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