If you have an old-fashioned armchair or one that is mismatched with your rental’s decor, don’t get rid of it: give it a second chance using… paint! Believe it or not you can indeed give any chair a total makeover by painting the fabric directly. Contrary to popular belief, the paint will not crack and the fabric will not be rough to the touch. So if the chair is not particularly valuable and if its seat is still comfortable, rather than having to hire an upholsterer, save some cash by bringing your furniture back to life with just a few brush strokes!

 

DIY Steps...

1. The first step is to prepare the ‘canvas’. Remove as many stains as possible with a stain remover and dust off the fabric with a vacuum cleaner. Then lay masking tape around the chairs frame and legs to protect them from any excess paint.

DIY steps for painting a chair from Jou jou my loveJou jou my love

2. The choice of paint depends on the surface to be painted. For small surfaces such as a chair, you can use a specialized fabric acrylic paint in either pot or spray form. But to reduce costs on a larger surface such as an armchair, a sofa or an ottoman, buy some textile medium which you can then mix in equal parts with ordinary acrylic paint (matte or satin depending on the desired effect). This medium has the particularity of turning any acrylic paint into fabric paint. In any case, opt for more than you might think necessary as fabric absorbs paint quite a lot and it will probably be necessary to apply three layers.

3. Follow the manufacturer's instructions carefully when mixing the paint and the medium, but don’t hesitate to add a little water to the preparation to get it nice and runny. With a water spray bottle, slightly moisten the area to be painted. Then using a large brush, apply the paint to the chair following the direction of fabric’s thread. Stretch the paint out fully. Let it dry for at least 12 hours.

4. Once the canvas is dry, gently sand it with very fine grit sandpaper. Dust off excess and apply the second layer. If necessary repeat steps 3 and apply a third layer.

Before and after photo of a painted chair, from Joujou My LoveJou jou my love

 

Your chair now has a brand new look! And the advantage of repainting the fabric yourself is that you get to choose exactly which colours you want to harmonize with your interior décor. The more creative amongst you can even have fun creating polka-dots, stripes or patterns with stencils to further personalize your décor.

 

Inspiration: 8 Before / After photos

Photo before and after painting a chairPhoto before and after painting a chairPhoto before and after painting a chairPhoto before and after painting a chair1.Hyphen Interiors / 2.2 bees in a pod / 3.Eleven Magnolia Lane / 4.Better after / 5.The Kim Six Fix / 6.The DIY mommy / 7.A piece of rainbow / 8.Giani

 

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