apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Where did the sofa in the first photo come from? It's AMAZING.

yeah that first photo is awesome. Looking forward to reading about the results.

Ditto the first comment.

I hope this works out! It looks like a cool idea.

@amusememusically:
http://absolutelyawesomethings.blogspot.com/2008/06/handpainted-furniture.html

I agree with the thought of crunchy fabric, but it's a worthy experiment!

Pic number one is Bad Ass! I want it.

That little white loveseat was wonderful - then they had to put graffiti all over it...

...just sad.

Fiber artist here. Textile paint is well known and tested and has been a staple for decades at least. There are lots of types out there. Some are thin water-color like washes, others more full bodied. But all dry soft and pliable with no crunchies. I do a lot of silk painting for wearable art projects. Paint is easier to control and more color-manageable than dye. They are available at your local art supply house. Yes, you can make your own by cutting latex, but you lose control of the color and depth. I suggest you just buy some textile paint and go make woopee!

do the colors run? how do you clean it? this may seem like a dumb question, but, what if you are watching a very intense football game while wearing shorts and you sweat on the painted upholstery? will your legs turn colors?

Alternatively, here's another method: my own, actually, invented in 1999 & posted on the late, great AOL Decorating Board soon after that, and from whose corporate archives my explanation was retrieved a year after that by the lovely & talented HOST HOME DECOR. She was the best.

Anyway, these instructions have been bouncing all over the intenet for nine years now, and I've never heard of a single instance where it wasn't a success--if people follow the directions. If you try it, be sure to post pictures of your own when you're finished.

Magnaverde.
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http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a286/MAGNAVERDE/MAGNAVERDESPAINTEDSOFA.jpg
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Forget all that nonsense about teensy bottles of expensive paint medium from the crafts store. You don't need anything more than regular latex semi-gloss paint and a lot of guts.

I found a beautiful Baker Chippendale camelback sofa, with cool curved arms and a fat down cushion, but it was covered in a hideous glazed chintz in the ugliest colors I ever saw. I found some great yellow wool damask to reupholster with, but it would have cost me $3OOO for the job, so I painted my sofa instead.

Everyone freaked out when I told then the plan, but it worked. I was already planning on painting my room dark green, so I decided to go with the red leather look. First, I painted the whole thing with bubblegum pink semigloss latex paint, using the widest foam brush I could find, and brushing it on in long strokes front-to-back and up down. Think of that as the primer coat. I let it dry 2 days, and sanded it super lightly with fine-grade sandpaper to get rid of the burrs--there were a lot. When I couldn't feel any more sharp things, another coat of paint, spread thin. Dried and sanded again. Then I spread--with my hands--a thin coat of raspberry red semi-gloss paint I had deadened a little with brown to make it a little less vivid. Because it was a deep color, there wasn't much white filler in the paint, and it was almost like a glaze or stain, instead of paint, which is just what I wanted anyway. I just smoothed it on, like suntan oil, and worked it into the pink paint. I let it build a little thicker at the back, on the inside of the arms and at the back edge of the loose cushion, so that the paler, thinner red took on an air of wear at the high points.

I let it dry 2 days, then CAREFULLY sanded the few new sharp things, and touched up those spots with my fingers. I let it dry 2 days, then waxed the whole thing with regular paste wax. After it was dry, I polished with a soft cloth, then dusted with talcum, and vacuumed it all off. It was a little stiff the first few days, but now it not only looks like red leather, it feels like it.

This worked great on glazed chintz, and probably would work on any smooth fabric, except that some may have more burrs and therefore require more sanding, but I wouldn't try it on anything with a heavy texture. And no, the paint doesn't come off. And it's not stiff, either. Think about it--it's latex paint, and essentially, that's what's in those little bottles of fabric medium.

That first sofa would undoubtedly sell for a fortune if you found it in a high end contemporary furniture boutique. Not so wild about the other efforts.

This really seems like a solution only for the most artistically skilled. Even if the paint mixture works beautifully, anything less than a first class execution is going to look bad. A tattoo artist would be a great one to test this out.

your tutorial is great magnaverde, ill begin to try it with any old chair, then i'll paint something noticeable, thx again!

oh my goodness, i hope this is actually something i could master. i have a wingback chair that needs it grandmotherly flowers covered up.

I love that first sofa! Magnaverde, thank so much for the directions!

I think this could be a good option for someone with small children or pets, since paint is not as permeable as fabric. It's also a great opportunity to hire an artist if, like me, you are not so great at art. :)

I love that first sofa, graffiti and all.

Thanks very much for visiting my blog http://absolutelyawesomethings.blogspot.com/ and linking it on this topic. I real appreciate! . I love your website!
Keep visiting
Sophie

I actually used the Simply Spray fabric paint to change a dull dirty second hand sofa to a rich chocolate brown piece.

A case of paint cost me about $60 and all it took was an afternoon. The color has stayed with no fading. It took a little figuring out in the beginning but that's what the back of the sofa is for!

I bought a small can at a craft store to test the fabric first ~ according to the website it won't work well on anything but natural fabrics but it worked on the synthetic fabric just fine.

....the phrase 'craigslist sofa' gives me the creeps.....

Your article on Designer Upholstery Fabric has very beautifully defined the various types of Designer Upholstery Fabric which is very knowledgeable for me as I have a great interest in the various kinds of Designer Upholstery Fabric. Similar to your article is a website named http://www.uzbekalive.com that is offering a variety of hand dyed Online Fabric Store which looks really beautiful. There is a wide variety of Designer Upholstery Fabric which is really commendable! The colors, designs, Patters of the fabrics are really heart throbbing.

Those sofas are awesome. Really got my artistic juices flowing. I have used the fabric spray saint both on upholstered furniture as well as my van's interior. It actually did work quite well. It dried soft. It does not come off on wet clothing. You have to wait 3 days before it is dry. I made the mistake of driving my van early and freaked out when my arm turned red. Then I read the instructions and waited and it was fine.
I would highly recomend this the Simply Spray for painting fabrics. I got mine at www.fabricspraypaint.com My advise:
Read and follow the directions when you try this.
Wrap your finger with a cloth. The trigger hurts after a while.

Now I got to go find a craigslist couch to paint psychedelic.