oh wow. i thought the 'after' photo was gonna be a disaster, but i am pleasantly surprised! who knew!

I'm skeptical because the young house love just tried this and was unhappy with the results.

http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/04/in-a-minute-i-have-to-hairdry-the-chair/

Surprised in a good way. I think dark legs are much chicer though.

I'd still be nervous about a house guest in white pants sitting on it

WOW!!! Beautiful color :)

oh, I've always been curious about this. I guess you have to be pretty choosy about the type of fabric you're spraying.

That chair looks so lux.

I was wondering about the texture, and then I followed @Greige's link. According to young house love, it has a "semi crunchy feeling."

Hi, it's Hyphen Interiors! Thanks for the feature! Sherry at Young House Love did give it a very brave try. Her fabric was textured. The texture showed through and the paint felt thick. The two suggestions I made were watering it down more so that the coats were very light and trying it on a less textured fabric. I've also posted entries about others who have tried it with success and without success. I try to cover both sides. :) Another of those posts is coming in the next week - it is a success story. It's definitely risky, but may be oh so worth it, like for me! Oh, and it really doesn't come off on clothing at all. Sort of like a painted t-shirt doesn't... No worries there. It's not for everyone though!

Oh - now I remember why I was thinking about spray painting fabric (it was for a rug). My boyfriend told me about this product:
http://www.simplyspray.com/

http://www.youtube.com/simplyspray

If you do spray fabric with that, I'd love to hear a report. I didn't consider that mainly due to the color selection.

@ Hyphen Interiors - yes, their color selection is very ho hum and basic. If I come across anyone I know who has given this a get go, I'll certainly let you know.

I did this once with a terrible dirty beige chair. The fabric was that sort of 60's slick/woven fabric that had (in this case) a tone-on-tone floral pattern. It worked perfectly - and I just used straight-up latex paint from the can.

I really like the redo. Especially with the added studs. It reminds me of my grandparent's blue leather wingback. :D

I like the result w/ the fabric and the nailheads too, although I would have kept the dark wood base...
...would be interesting to hear how it wears over time.

Fun! I'm not sure I'd be that brave, but this time it looks great! (Any comments on the cost of the experiment? Much cheaper than reupholstering, I know, but if it didn't work out, what would be the "waste"?)

*(&%^%#&%*&^$$!!!!!

This is probably my favorite chair makeover EVER! Totally stunning.

Wow, I had no idea that velvet would take so well to the paint. Right now I am in fact sitting on a painted-upholstered chair- an Ikea desk chair (forget its name, the round upholstered one also available as a swivel accent chair) that I got in a crazy pink/grey/orange print in the As Is department a few years ago. I loved the fabric at first but after a while the color combo got old and it started looking dingy. I started lusting after the white leather version of the chair and then had a 'duh' moment and decided to paint it with gesso. It sucked up the paint more than I expected so I ended up switching to some white trim paint I found in my basement- it came out beautifully, and I can clean it with a Magic Eraser (which I've had to do, due to a pair of jeans that won't stop rubbing blue off on everything). I did not paint the removable seat cushion, but rather reupholstered it in grey twill and then covered the inside of the chair with a small sheepskin from Ikea. A cheap chair gets a cheaper makerover!

Wow! I'm impressed with the results. The color is gorgeous! Not crazy about the white legs though...but all in all, an amazing transformation.

Today, I posted another reader's photos after she followed the tutorial. http://hypheninteriors.blogspot.com/2011/04/readers-painted-chair-success.html

I adore this!

I really like the redo on this chair! I also do not care for the white legs. I think it would complement your bold blue better not to have the base compete for attention. The wood color was nice and subtle.

I know this is a little off the subject, but has anyone tried Vecco's rug spray paint? I am wondering if this would work on a chair as well...
www.veccostudio.com

I've sat on dried paint and when I hear "paint fabric" I get ghost itches on my legs. I can't imagine this being a nice chair to actually sit in with paint all over it. Anyone care to comment on the consistency of painted faux velvet?

Love the upholstery, but the white legs don't look quite right. I would have gone with shiny black instead.

I find it a bit hard to believe that the "after" was done with just paint. There are now nailheads on the front of the arms, and the fabric appears to be more taut. It really looks like a reupholstery job to me, though I haven't looked at the "full process" on the blog.

Hi, it's Kristy (the one who painted the chair)! Love that last comment. Really, it is painted and I did add the nail heads. Check out the photos of the process on my blog! And, now I have quite a few reader's chairs to show as examples as well! They are also on my blog. Good luck if you decide to try it! And, with the legs - it's definitely a personal choice and depends on your design style and the room itself. I can always paint over them in the future!

I posted an update photo of the chair 15 months later on my blog as well as an entire page with examples of painted upholstery. Check it out at www.hypheninteriors.com/chairs

I hope it's helpful!