Cut Out + Keep

How To Paint Upholstered Furniture

How to avoid sewing piping... PAINT your upholstered furniture

https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/how-to-paint-upholstered-furniture • Posted by Charlotte S.

Believe it or not, basic latex paint can be used to transform old and dirty upholstery. Simply add some fabric medium and water and voila... a new and improved piece of furniture is moments away.

You will need

Project Budget
Cheap

Time

2 h 00

Difficulty

Pretty Easy
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Description

Believe it or not, basic latex paint can be used to transform old and dirty upholstery. Simply add some fabric medium and water and voila... a new and improved piece of furniture is moments away.

Instructions

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    Choose an old, drab or outdate piece of furniture for updating. This chair was a dirty peach velvet.

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    Tape off any wood that's around the upholstery to protect it from the paint.

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    Mix 1/3 paint to 1/3 fabric medium (found at the craft store) to 1/3 water. First, spray your chair with water. Quite a bit. You want your fabric to be damp, not spritzed. Then go over with your paint mixture. Use your fingers and/ or a smaller brush to get into all the nooks and crannies of the upholstery.

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    This is how it looked after only 1 coat.

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    Don't be afraid to use your fingers and really work the paint into the fabric. Sand lightly between coats... I know it seems weird, but you don't want your paint to be rough. Repeat with as many coats as needed... my chair took 3.

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    Doesn't it look better? So rich. The fabric feels like a soft canvas... so not stiff or scratchy, but not a bit like the velvet that it was before painting.

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    And much easier than sewing all the piping to reupholster!