Me, Myself, and Chair (A Chalk Paint Makeover)

Me: Philly's out of town for a couple days. Should we get ourselves into trouble like we always do?
Myself: Ohhh....YES! What sounds good?
Me: You want to reupholster that chair, don't you?
Chair (in the distance): Oh, crap.
Myself: Yes, but I'm afraid.
Me: Me too. We like the chair, right? Just not the old-lady floral fabric (that YOU picked out, if I recall)?
Myself: It's okay...


Me: Well, we have to do SOMETHING with it, right?


Myself: I know...but I'm afraid. I don't know squat about that stuff.


Me: What about painting the fabric?


Myself: Paint the fabric? Now I'm super afraid.


Chair (in the distance): Oh super crap.


Me: Don't be afraid. I'm here. And others have done it; how bad can it be?


Myself: Won't it be weird and sticky, or crunchy...and...weird?


Me: I don't know, but there are magical places in the computer called blogs; they've done it. We shall consult them.


Myself: Are you sure?


Me: Of course. And if it's awesome, we'll become one of those magical places.


Myself: And if it sucks, we can always reupholster it.


Chair (in the distance): Kill me now.


Me: And we're not going to tell Philly, cuz he'll kill us all.


***********************************************


We decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on the chair. Since we've had this chair since its birth, we didn't have to get out the hazmat suit and sterilize it first. I think Eddie licked his nevermind on it once for 5 minutes; otherwise it's had no use.
I armed Myself with our paint and a wet wash cloth.


Myself gets to have all the fun.


After dampening all the fabric, the back got some Graphite.


But first, Eddie helped:
The rest got covered in a mixture of Old White and Pure White.


(More Pure than Old. Which is just the opposite of Philly.)


Here's the first coat:
Looks like crap, right? Well, after a couple more coats it looked pretty fly.


It looked so fly that Eddie told me we need to do the ottoman too.
Once dry, I measured and taped (green painter's tape) for a stripe down the center. Upon first glance, this chair appears symmetrical.


It is not.


There may have been some swears during the measuring and taping.


Before I painted the center, I "sealed" the painter's tape down with my white mixture so the blue/green wouldn't bleed.


Of course I forgot to take pictures of everything I just talked about because I was too busy with my swears.


Anyway, here it is!
The stripe down the center is a custom blend of Old White, Pure White, Paris Grey, and Duck Egg Blue.
And by "custom," I mean I mixed up a little pot and hoped like heck I had enough to finish the job because I'd never have the recipe again.


Someone left the cake out in the rain.


Am I the only one who went there?
I love the contrast of the Graphite on the back of the chair:
I thought I'd throw in a ratty old pillow for a splash of mustardy color.
We sealed the whole project with clear wax. Most people say this gives the fabric almost a leather-like feel. I'm going with more like a really cheap pleather. We can't all feel like buttah.


And then we waited for Death to come.


*******************************


Death darkened our door and....nothing.


Nope. He didn't notice the chair, even though it's sitting right next to his ginormous TV he was watching that evening. That was a Wednesday night.


Thursday: Nada.


Friday morning? Nope.


The anti-climax of all time.


But let me tell you he did freak out considerably when he received my blog post via e-mail and discovered what we did...Mwahahahaha!
Would YOU have approved this project?


Or would you have been Death?


That is, if Death actually noticed it?


*****Update to answer repeat questions:


I used a damp cloth to get the fabric damp (not wet) before painting. I used 3 coats of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint with a slightly wet brush (you can use any kind of brush) so the paint would spread easier. I believe I used not quite the equivalent of one quart of paint total (but I also used several different colors). I used one coat of Annie Sloan Clear Wax (applied with a clean, soft cloth), then buffed dry with a new clean cloth. This chair doesn't get used very much...multiple coats of wax would make it more durable. It does crack slightly...again, multiple coats of wax would lessen this. It doesn't feel like leather...it feels like "pleather." The wax is NOT sticky. I have fellow blogging friends who have done this to pieces of furniture they use regularly and they've had good luck. I think the key is to USE SEVERAL COATS OF WAX if you're going to use the furniture! My chair mostly sits in the corner and preens, and occasionally plays host to a pillow or afghan.


Thanks!! *****


Thanks for visiting! See the original blog post at the link below!
Delusions of ingenuity
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  3 questions
  • Hrh15248937 Hrh15248937 on Nov 27, 2016
    What does the fabric feel like to the touch after you paint it? Is it soft or ruff?
  • Jessie Jessie on May 12, 2017

    When you say you "sealed" the tape to make the strip in the middle.. how exactly did you do this? I plan on copying this very closely..remember imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

  • Barb Barb on Aug 07, 2017

    I have a wonderful chair with feather/down interior that I'm considering painting or recovering, but we do love to sit in it, and it feels so comfy. How does your fabric feel after painting? If you did love to sit in it, does it feel soft or enjoyable? Or is it dry, rough, and crackly?


    I hear painting with latex and fabric something mixture makes a softer chair? Do you have any experience or comment?

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  • Sshayne Sshayne on Sep 19, 2018

    Yes, I have a little boudoir chair that is a mess, bought it that way. Has a wooden, revolving base and I use it all the time to put my makeup on, so that is a few tims a day! I only paid $10.00 for it so I hae to have it upholstered, whih would be expensive. I definitely will try this. Hoe it does not come off on my clothes, however, as I use it a lot.

  • Sshayne Sshayne on Sep 19, 2018

    P.S. LOVE THE WAY YOU DID IT AND THANK YOU, LOOKS GORGEOUS.

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