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5.29.2012

PAINTING UPHOLSTERY

Here's the promised post of my experience painting upholstery.
I certainly don't claim to be an expert at painting upholstery and there are many great tutorials out there, but I will share my method with you.

I started with this bright yellow tufted ottoman I found at a local Goodwill.


I bought a Sherwin Williams "Color to Go" sample of the Benjamin Moore color Van Deusen.




I also bought a bottle of textile medium from Hobby Lobby.


I loosely followed Kristy's instructions and mixed half paint and half water 
and then I added about 1/3 of the bottle of textile medium.

The other supplies I used were a spray bottle filled with water and a 2" paint brush.

I started out by spraying a small section of the ottoman with water and 
then brushing on a thin layer of the latex paint/water/textile medium mixture.


I was a bit worried after this step.
It didn't appear to be the color I was going for. 


 The hardest part of this project was getting paint into the folds of the fabric.
I really should have taken more pictures, but I it was a messy process
and I had paint all over my hands the entire time. 

I ended up putting three coats of the latex paint/water/textile medium mixture on the ottoman.
This definitely made the color darker and richer. 
I skipped the step of adding a final layer of acrylic paint. 
I did lightly sand the ottoman and it made it feel slightly softer. 




Kristy has tons of great examples of painted upholstery on her blog.  
Many people have had success and she even included a few failures.

I am so glad I decided to paint the ottoman.
I love the outcome and it was certainly less expensive than having it reupholstered.

Here is the cost breakdown of this project:
Ottoman - $82.50 at Goodwill
 Textile medium - $4.99 at Hobby Lobby
Paint -  $6.00 at Sherwin Williams
Paint brush - $2.00 at Hobby Lobby

So, are brave enough to paint upholstery?
  

17 comments:

  1. Andrea after seeing this fabulous makeover I think I would try it!!

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  2. I definitely would not be brave enough to do it, but after seeing your experience I might have a little bit more encourage. I can't believe how fantastic your ottoman turned out - I think that color is perfect. And to think it's painted! Hope you had a great weekend with the family!

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  3. i did it a while back on a french bed (like way before i had followers!) and i was so happy with the outcome! i would do it again!

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  4. I wouldn't have tried it, but I'm certainly inspired now! Great idea to give it a light sanding. Thanks for the tips!

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  5. Wow! Can I use you as one of my examples??! Beautiful! How's the texture? What a great find, too. I love that ottoman.

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  6. You definitely make me want to try it!

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  7. The ottoman came out great! I'm gearing up to paint a tag sale chair for my bedroom and am so excited to use this technique. Thanks for sharing!

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  8. That's fantastic! I have to head over to Kristy's blog for more cool painted upholstery! It sure beats prying out all those staples ;)
    Sarah

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  9. This is pretty cool! I would do something like this and wish that my Goodwill store had ottomans like this!

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  10. I'm going to give it a try on chair for my girls room - I figure if it doesn't work, I can always reupholster. You did a great job - I never would have known it was painted!

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  11. This so cool! Hope you don't mind if I feature this tomorrow?!?!?! :) ...too good not to!

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  12. So glad that I saw this, I am going to paint a chair!

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  13. Looks great! I've bought the textile medium but haven't had the nerve to try it yet! ~ Maureen

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  14. Oh my I must try this...I wonder if we have similar color in Sweden?.. Need to check..thank you sooo much

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  15. I'm about to embark on the upholstery painting journey! I have a wingback chair, an ottoman and a ofa, and I'm GOING FOR IT! Wish me luck! (I'll take photos!)

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  16. Whoops I spelled my own name wrong - teehee

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  17. I had no idea you could do this, but it looks great!

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I love reading each and every one of your comments!