Yes, You Can Paint Fabric (The Painted Chair)

My friend Sarah and I found this chair in someone trash last year. Can you believe someone was throwing this out!  And yes, I checked for critters and I left it on our porch for several months to be extra sure there were no uninvited guest.

I love the juxtaposition of the formal Queen Anne style with the casual corduroy fabric.

Rolled arms, nail head trim and cabriole legs–need I say more?

Since I have “no” sewing skills my original plan was to get new fabric and have the chair re-upholstered. Well, the cost for re-upholstery was not in the budget, so I decided the paint the wood and the fabric. Yup, paint the fabric!

Basically, I sprayed the chair (one section at a time) with water to get the fabric wet but not dripping wet, then applied the paint with a brush. Here’s the chair after one coat of CeCe Caldwell’s Vintage White.

Here’s the chair after the 2nd round of spraying and painting.

After the final round of spraying and 2 coats of CeCe Caldwell’s Simply White.

I only painted the front of the chair and here you can see the contrast between the front and side. I love the two-tone effect. The wood got a mix of CeCe Caldwell’s Vintage White and Simply White. The cushion will be covered in this fun yellow and white bird print fabric.

And here’s the chair in our family room.  I think it looks amazing. We love sitting in the chair because it feels like soft leather.

Here is a collage of this project from start to finish. So cool!

Thanks for checking out my post.  Happy Decorating and Happy Spring!

Nicole