A few months back I busted out some fabric spray paint and painted a pretty chevron on my carpet. Although the looks are alright, there's a new trend sweeping around the internet that will most likely yield better results. See that sofa up there? It's about to get painted — with house paint.
Over at Fabric Bliss a vintage sofa was purchased for the small price of $45. It had great bones but those flowers just had to go.
Re-upholstering a piece can cost a pretty penny so instead, paint was mixed with fabric medium and the entire sofa was painted. It's a neat trick to spruce up a new to you find when you're working within a budget. The cushions were recovered to give things a little extra oomph and the final look is just fantastic.
• Check out the full process and step-by-step tutorial over at Fabric Bliss
Image: Fabric Bliss via Tater Tots & Jello
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Fantastic, excellent color, just wish the cushions were the same color, and I'd take away the 2 lighter pillows. Then, it's perfect (for me).
I love the after picture, its beautiful, I would love to have that couch in my living room. But....I find it hard to believe it was just painted. The before picture doesn't appear to have the quilting with the buttons.
@mauishopgirl
The before does have some quilting, since you can see the regular bumps on the top. The individual tufts are definitely hard to see, if they really are all there. It only goes to show that replacing the pattern with a solid color is a great idea if you want to show off the tufting. But I guess this sort of floral is a good choice for tufting since you can barely tell the pattern is being disrupted....
Both links to "fabric bliss" leads to the chevron tutorial; did you mean to do that?
Wow, its so hard to see the tufting. I definitely like it better now that its a more prominent feature, gives the couch a modern look.
Maui, you can't see the folds in the tufting of the upholstery before because the flower fabric camouflaged it. That is a good reason for using solid colors in upholstery.
I like the color, but I can't imagine what it feels like against your skin. Painted fabric tends to be very stiff. I agree with recovering the seat cushions so at least one thing will be soft.
So yeah, I'm definitely interested in what the end result feels like. I have a perfectly good computer chair . . . in purple. I have been wondering how to change the color. And this could expand the possibilities of thrifted furniture.
Neither of the links actually goes to Fabric Bliss. Please fix.
Great job! Surprisingly the end result is not stiff at all. I've done this several times, once for myself as well as others. I've used sea sponges (although I think any kind would work) they are more pliable. The feeling is rather supple depending on how it's applied. I recommend applying a thin coat at a time. One of the sofa's I've worked on actually looked leather like in appearance and feel.
links are fixed - thanks, everyone!
What astonishes me is those lovely curly wood bits that were under the floral fabric!?! Methinks the floral fabric might have been an after-the-fact addition, as well.
I love the black part, but wish like pamplemus that they chose a different fabric for the bottom cushions...like maybe a black fabric with a white print (an opposite of sorts of what they have.) This seems too much of a contrast to be part of the same piece...but it is a LOT better than the floral and that couch does have awesome bones and now you can SEE them!
they put a bird on that one pillow...Portlandia approved!
Does the paint rub off, onto clothes?
The after picture is much better but I don't think the cushions really coordinate that well with the couch.
Body looks great, cushions look a little cheap.
Woah. That's impressive!
As someone who loves vintage furniture but lacks the budget to reupholster anything, I so badly WANT to be sold on this idea. But I'm not quite diggin' it yet. I've seen it done here and other places 'round the internet and each time it looks...well, like painted upholstery. Maybe because going in I already know that it is painted? I do applaud the effort that went into this project but I'm not excited about the result, sadly.
The cushions actually don't bother me much. They do look a little odd in some of the photos, but within the context of the sewing room they totally work.
very nice--it would look nice with the wood painted white or off-white too.
My husband has for years claimed that he painted the upholstery in his first car (Ford Fiesta! 1978!) with fabric paint, and that it worked just fine. I've never quiet believed him. Now...maybe it's actually true?
I'm still not sold on painting a sofa, but the tutorial was really fun to read :)
speechless! fantastic job! Love it..i too wish the cushions were the same color...
Sure, it looks great, but having spent my formative years perched on painted furniture (because my mother redecorates monthly, practically, and the cheapest way to do that is with paint--on furniture, walls, the floor, etc.), I can say that it does not (usually) make for a very comfortable seat.
What a great idea. I wonder how it holds up?
This looks really cool, but my first paranoid thought is...what the $#!@ is in that paint and will you be inhaling it every time you sit or lay down on the sofa?! I'm also curious about how it feels/holds up.
I painted a thrift store find/club chair ages ago with fabric paint. It never cracked--even the cushions. (Feel-wise, it had a vinylish texture, FYI.)
Since then, I've considered doing it again on other pieces but was always put off by the lack of colors now available and the small bottles. This fixes that!
Great post!
I would not have believed that was painted unless I went to the link and saw the process. Amazing. I wish I could do that for my chair in my living room, but unfortunately the issue isn't the color, it's all the pulls courtesy of my cat. In fact, might I request a tutorial on how to fix those?
I wish they had gone with a black background with white dots (or another finely scaled white pattern) instead of black on white, but aside from that it's really well done.
@emilyinPA, I'm with you on the scared-to-know-what's-in-it front. House paint on houses, yeah, that's fine, but house paint on my skin while I'm lounging? Ick. And what if it powders off and gets inhaled or ingested? Don't we have enough to worry about with flame retardants?
Lookie at what I stumbled upon on Craigslist today!
http://lincoln.craigslist.org/atq/2396357152.html
How weird.
Great idea, I want to try this on a chair that I was thinking of getting rid of...but I'm wondering if it will rub off on clothes or skin??
This is an awesome idea and I've done something similar with kitchen chairs covered with plain fabric that needed some jazzing up.
Acrylic paint becomes permanent when dry or heat set and does not rub off at all. I've used plain acrylic paint, watered-down acrylic paint and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium on many types of fabric including cotton fabric, polyester blend fabric and upholstery fabric. Once completely dry the painted fabric is machine washable and the color never fades or cracks.
The feel of the fabric greatly depends on how the acrylic paint is used and what type of fabric is used. Plain acrylic paint leaves thin fabric less pliable and harder to the touch but works extremely well with thick upholstery fabrics. Watered down acrylic paint and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium leave fabrics pliable and smooth to the touch.
Every fabric is different so before painting all of the actual fabric you will be using, test small samples of that fabric with plain acrylic paint, watered-down acrylic paint and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. Iron dry or air dry to compare the color intensity and feel of the fabric.
Stamping with acrylic paint after you have painted the fabric a solid color also looks really amazing.
This is an awesome idea and I've done something similar with kitchen chairs covered with plain fabric that needed some jazzing up.
Acrylic paint becomes permanent when dry or heat set and does not rub off at all. I've used plain acrylic paint, watered-down acrylic paint and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium on many types of fabric including cotton fabric, polyester blend fabric and upholstery fabric. Once completely dry the painted fabric is machine washable and the color never fades or cracks.
The feel of the fabric greatly depends on how the acrylic paint is used and what type of fabric is used. Plain acrylic paint leaves thin fabric less pliable and harder to the touch but works extremely well with thick upholstery fabrics. Watered down acrylic paint and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium leave fabrics pliable and smooth to the touch.
Every fabric is different so before painting all of the actual fabric you will be using, test small samples of that fabric with plain acrylic paint, watered-down acrylic paint and acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. Iron dry or air dry to compare the color intensity and feel of the fabric.
Stamping with acrylic paint after you have painted the fabric a solid color also looks really amazing.
It looks great.. very well done.
That's great. Who woulda thunk it. You did a really good job. Very very nice.
Project looks great... love it :)
I am working on a similar project right now with a very similar piece. I'm painting the upholstery black, and the wood white. I can provide photos when done but thought you might like to know of a spray product that I use... its made especially for this purpose and dries very soft on the fabric after application. Here is the url to the site for Simply Spray - Upholstery... http://www.simplyspray.com/upholstery.html
Looks and feels awesome... at a fraction of the cost of reupholstering :)
Wow - I really like the result, except the fabric chosen for the seats cushions is super-cheap looking...
...I'd have stuck w/ the same effect all over, or invested in some better fabric for the seats.
Love, love, love! I also love that you totally conned your visiting father to work for you. Lol! I also don;t like the polka dot cushions but if YOU like them then you have a makeover SUCCESS! Great job!
This couldn't have come at a better time. I just moved my belongings into a new apartment after they've been in storage for nearly two months. Heartbreakingly, my off-white cotton fabric sofa got wet while in storage and now has a hideous stain on one side. The couch is still in great condition and I hate to be rid of it but I don't have the budget for reupholstery (and I absolutely LOATHE one-size slip covers).
This painting idea might just save my couch!
I wonder if, to preserve the softness of the fabric, I should dye the cushion covers separately rather than attacking them the same way I'll have to attack the body of the couch...
Wonderful! Now I can actually do something with my beautiful,thrifted wing chair, that faded in front of my west facing window.(I know, I should have known better!) I've bought 3 different fabrics to re cover it but dreaded the work. I'm off to find that spray that re.de.zine mentioned!Thank you so much re.de.zine!
Again, I just have to wonder how itchy you get sitting on dried paint. Is there something I'm missing? Does fabric paint have the consistency of dye and you can't feel the itchiness when you sit on it? This concept just makes me want to scratch.
Love the makeover of the body of the sofa... But they dropped the ball on those cushions!
Love, love, LOVE this! I have an antique-ish couch that I just purchased. It is upholstered with tweed. Can I do this with tweed fabric? Thanks!
The sofa itself looks lovely, but that cushion fabric is incredibly cheap looking. She should really invest in something that matches a bit more because otherwise the piece is stunning.
your couch looks good. But I have to tell anyone interested in doing this what they might want to be aware of. We recently decided to spraypaint our couch with Simply Spray fabric paint. Its a 2 cushion couch, can probably fit 3 people on it but 2 more comfortably. It's not huge. We read on the blog that it would only be 12 bottles and that it would remain soft. We ran out of paint after 12 bottles and purchased another 12. We have now run out of that as well and it is still not covered. On top of that it is no longer soft. It is in fact very hard and feels almost sticky. We also washed one of the cushions and it did in fact wear off A LOT. It also does come off on our skin and clothing. We are incredibly unhappy. We had a very nice couch. It was white and very easy to clean. The problem was, we have a dog and would constantly have to clean it. We thought having a darker color would solve our problems. We could have easily sold the couch. Now it is half done and we are $300 in on paint. Not only can we not sell this, we have to buy a new couch and spent all this money in paint. I dont know, I've read blogs where people are happy, but this took many hours to do, very space consuming, basically had no living room for 6 days because it takes 3 days each time. Just a total nightmare, waste of time and money.