Re-Imagine Old Or Outdated Upholstery With Some Paint

Do you have an armchair, an ottoman or a couch that you want to see the back of, as in you want it gone, you’re done with it, it’s had its day, goodbye?

I know the feeling. It’s how I felt about our brown and gold couch set below, which can only be described as Early American Ornate, a design category I made up, but seems to describe it to a T.

I can’t say someone gave it to us or we bought it for a steal or somehow came upon it. No. We bought the brand new set – a couch, ottoman and huge side chair – during a decorating phase gone awry.

The side chair with fabric circles below did not come with the couch set but as you’ll see, it’s now part of the ensemble.

Fast forward several years and the set hadn’t been used much, maybe because it seemed too formal, hanging out there in the sitting room.

There was nothing wrong with it structurally. It was comfortable and still even smelt new. But between the formal shape and the color, it just wasn’t us.

So the dilemma: keep it, get rid of it or invest in a new set?

Buying new couches wasn’t going to happen because we had other projects in the works and needed to stay on budget. We also knew the cost of reupholstering would be sky-high.

Enter An Experiment

That’s when I decided on the paint experiment. Why not paint the entire set teal blue, one of my favorite colors, and see if it made it come alive in a different way to extend its life?

And that was how the couch set came to be painted.

We’re really happy with how it turned out. It’s like a totally different set of furniture. It’s transformed the traditional into the unique and saved us a lot of money.

It’s been about four years since it was painted and it’s holding up great. As you see, we also changed the wall color and got rid of the carpet along the way.

You’re probably wondering: Yes, but how does the fabric feel? Well, it has the texture of outdoor furniture. It’s not soft but it’s not really hard either.

I sanded it after each coat to get rid of any hard areas. The fabric has actually gotten softer over time because of all the use.

Although we don’t sit on the couch while watching T.V., we do use it a lot. And I don’t care if the kids sometimes jump on it.

The upholstery fabric is polyester with a low-pile so it really took the paint well, soaking in the paint and hiding the designs on the upholstery to a large extent, although they can still be seen.

It took about a week to complete, since I had to paint two coats of teal on the couch, the matching side chair and ottoman.

Also included in the painting spree was that side chair with the brown circles on the fabric that wasn’t originally part of the set. I just wanted to add another chair to make the seating area larger.

To give a little contrast, I painted all the wood frames and legs black using homemade chalk paint.

Before painting a piece of furniture, I would recommend painting a small unseen area of your upholstery to see how it will look and feel before diving in.

Maybe paint a cushion or small swatch that cannot be seen. Polyesters and cotton with a low-pile seem to be better for painting.

What You’ll Need

Here’s what you’ll need to paint the fabric:

• A paintbrush. I used a new one-an-a-half-inch paintbrush.
• A spray bottle with water.
• Masking tape to seal off areas you don’t want to paint.
• Paint and and water to dilute it. I used a flat latex-based paint in teal. I’ve also used a flat matte Glidden Premium interior paint and primer to paint an armchair for my son’s room using the same color as the couch set, called Splash of Teal. It also did a great job.
• Fabric medium. This is key because it helps to keep the fabric soft so it doesn’t dry hard.
• A cloth.
• 300-grit sandpaper.
• A drop cloth to put under the piece being painted.
• A large container for mixing up the paint.
• A mixing stick to mix the paint.
  
  The brown couch set above before being painted teal

Directions For Painting Fabric

To make the paint, I used a ratio of two-parts paint, one-part fabric medium and one-part water and mixed them together in a large bowl. I found this ratio worked well for the fabric on our couch set.

Remember that fabric medium keeps the fabric softer and is a key ingredient in the mix.

You can find fabric medium at Michaels, A.C. Moore Arts and Crafts and Walmart. I bought fabric medium at all three locations, depending on the coupons I could use. You can also purchase fabric medium on our affiliate link here on Amazon.

How much you’ll need depends on your project. Since I was covering a couch, ottoman and two side chairs, I needed a lot of it.

Also, you may need less or more water, depending on the fabric you’re painting and how it soaks in the paint. I found that the painting formula for fabric tends not to be hard and fast and one-size-fits-all, since the type of fabric, texture, design and pile of upholstery all varies. I did find that including fabric medium is essential so that the fabric doesn’t dry hard and begin to crack. Know before you begin that there’s an element of experimentation as you delve into painting fabric and use these directions as guidelines!

Before you start, wipe down and/or vacuum the furniture so it’s clean. Spot clean stains as needed.

Fill the spray bottle with water and dampen a section of fabric before you paint it. Don’t apply too much water. Just get the fabric a little damp so the paint soaks into it.

Then apply generous amounts of paint to the dampened area, making sure to cover any folds in the fabric. Dampen another area and then paint it.

When I tried to dampen too much of an area, I found the water would dry out by the time I started to apply the paint.

So it seems to be better to apply the water to smaller areas and then come along with the paint.

Let the first coat dry. Then lightly sand any rough areas and wipe clean with a cloth.

Then apply a second coat. You’ll need to dampen each section again the same way you did while putting on the first coat. Then lightly sand again.

The couch set, including the side chair that wasn’t part of the set, only required two coats of paint since it soaked in well. You’ll need to determine if you need another coat of paint depending on the fabric of the piece you’re painting.

Note: Because the pillows on the couch and matching side chair had a fringe along the edges, I decided to use a spray-on fabric paint in the same color because I thought the fringe would harden if I painted it with the paint I applied to the fabric.

I used Tulip ColorShot Instant Fabric Color in teal, a perfect match. If the pillows did not have a fringe, I would have gone ahead and painted them the same way I painted the rest of the fabric.

Make Home Made Chalk Paint

You don’t have to make home made chalk paint for the legs and frame. You can use regular paint or buy chalk paint. I wanted to experiment with the home made variety.

If you decide to make your own chalk paint, here’s what you’ll need:

• Plaster of Paris. I bought the DAP brand at the hardware store but purchased way too much with a 25-pound box!  You can buy a 4-pound container of DAP Plaster of Paris here.
• The paint color of your choice. I chose a black latex paint.
• Water.
• A container to mix it all up.
• A paintbrush.
• Paint stirrer.

Directions For Making Chalk Paint

Here are the directions for making chalk paint that I used for the wood frame and legs of the couch set:

Mix half a cup of Plaster of Paris with half a cup of warm water. Stir until it dissolves.

Add one-and-a-half cups of paint to the mixture and stir it in.

Start painting. I applied two coats of the black chalk paint. Since chalk paint dries fast, I was able to quickly knock out the legs and frames. I didn’t apply a sealer because I like the flat look and feel and it has held up really well. It provides an unusual contrast to the teal fabric.

If you’d like to use a sealer for the wood, you could use Rust-Oleum’s Varathane polyurethane matte interior, which I’ve used before.

And that’s the story of our painted couch set. Four years on and everyone’s holding up nicely … us included!