Painting Family Heirloom Upholstered Chair

Sally Young
by Sally Young
4 Materials
$75
3 Days
Medium
We have a wing chair that has been in the family since 1933 and has been reupholstered many times. The most recent upholstering was done about 15 years ago and although the fabric was in good shape, it needed to be updated. At 78 years of age, we didn't want to pay $500+ to have it done again.
I have been reading about painting upholstered furniture and posted a project earlier of 2 chair cushions that I did before I undertook this larger job.  The chalk powder needed to be mixed thoroughly into the paint, which is why the paint can is so messy.   I had WAY too much paint which I bought at Lowe's, but 2 quarts were the same price as a gallon.  ??????  I got medium density flat wall paint.
DIY Chalk Paint Powder and  Chalk Paint and Wax Brush with Natural Boar Bristles.  I had the paint, and painter's tape.  I bought the stencil from Stencil Revolution
I sprayed the chair in sections with water and rubbed it in with my hand and then started painting.  It took 2 coats and I sanded each coat with fine grit sandpaper after each coat was dry.  This makes the material as soft as it was before.  If you don't do that, the material is like canvas.  The stripe texture in the upholstery is still there, but it took 2 coats to completely cover the colors.  I painted the stencil the same way, but colored white paint with food coloring.  I also outlined the leaves with a green ink pen because they did not look like leaves against the fabric.


Finished chair really brightens up the room.  Now what am I going to do with 3/4 gallon of green upholstering paint???
Before stencil
Finished chair really brightens up the room.  Now what am I going to do with 3/4 gallon of green upholstering paint???
Suggested materials:
  • Chalk Paint and Wax Brush with Natural Boar Bristles   (Amazon)
  • DIY Chalk Paint Powder   (Amazon)
  • Mum Stencil   (Stencil Revolution)
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 9 questions
  • Beck Beck on Mar 25, 2018

    what is the reason for using chalk paint instead of regular paint ? - Beck, St. Louis metro area


  • Amanda Estrada Amanda Estrada on Sep 03, 2018

    What other type paint can be used in white cloth futon ?


  • Margaret tallett Margaret tallett on Sep 26, 2018

    Good Evening


    I am asking from the UK, so I would like to know if this could be used for leather chairs, these have cat scratches on the arms and they are old,and they are a lovely mustard colour they have buttons on the arks as well. But I cannot afford to get them done professionally. So any help would be great. I love the thing I find on this site. I am telling all my friends and family.



    Thank you for reading this Maggie T

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2 of 31 comments
  • Margaret tallett Margaret tallett on Sep 27, 2018

    Good Afternoon Sally


    Thank you finding out this information, I will look into this and get back to you , how it work out.


    Thanks again and best wishes Maggie T

  • Heje Heje on Oct 11, 2018

    It is good to hear that auto stores have leather spray paint. I sure can use it in my Explorer. Thank you for the idea.

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