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Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover

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Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover

Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover - Maison Blanche Chalk Style Vintage Furniture Paint Before and After Project Tutorial

Hello and welcome!! After many coats… my pretty pink, shabby sweet chair is done. (for those of you waiting for this, thanks for hanging in there with me!) Between demo on the flooring and re-painting the entire upstairs from ceiling to baseboards, I maybe should have waited to do this project, but you know me. Inspiration struck and I just had too! 

I had to clear out of the living room quick. We needed to get the underlayment down for the next section of our new wood floor installation, so I only got one decent photo. I’ll share it again soon, when I show you my latest bedroom refresh. But for now, this will have to do!

I have decided it’s near impossible to photograph baby pink! What the heck right? Did my best though and in person, it’s the prettiest, softest shade of barley there pink. But more there then you can see. lol.

Now, for the det’s and the what not to do!

How to paint velvet fabric (better then me!)

  • 1. Don’t be a Miss Rushy Pants. My paint cracked a bit and I am supremely confident that is was because I wanted results like, rightnowthisminute (see #2). I bought this with the express purpose of painting it and was perhaps a little excited to see results. We’ll call it a $9.00 experiment. I knew it was not staying as is, and it was fun to try something new. The button tufting was a bit hard to get the paint into all the nooks and crannies. A flat surface is much easier. Although, I think with patience and the right formula, it would have been fine! The pink upper section with the button tufting was done with fabric/textile medium at a 2 to 1 ration per directions. I also spray bottled the fabric with water and worked the water into the velvet before painting.
  • 2. After reading this great tutorial on painting velvet upholstery, (after the fact of course. haha)  the second half, the seat, went really smooth. I was clearly not using enough water. This tutorial had the fabric medium to paint ratio at 50/50 and then adding 50% water to the mix. After I used this ratio, everything was super. I still had to build coverage and it took many light coats. I think about 6. I lost count since I was letting it dry and coming back to it over several days. It will depend on the nap of the velvet, the color you’re using and the color you are trying to cover. So it’ll vary I’m sure. It’s my understanding you can lightly sand between coats for a smoother surface but  was not concerned with the texture. This was purely a form, not function project, otherwise I would have had it reupholstered. This was more of a “I want to change the look cheap & easy” sort of project. Right up my alley. Ascetically, it’s lovely. Pure beauty. And yes, you can sit on it and everything! I just wouldn’t do it naked. Unless you reallly needed to exfoliate. Your butt.
  • 3. I used Maison Blanche Vintage Paint for my project. You know I love to paint in the house and I love that there is no smell! I used Magnolia on the chair body with Gold Organza on the tootsies. She needed a pedi {winks}. The pink is a custom mix of Cerise and Magnolia (1 cup Magnolia to 1/8 tsp. Cerise). The seat is pure Magnolia white. I may add a few more details, so I did not wax her yet. I’m going to let her simmer a bit first. 

Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover - Maison Blanche Chalk Style Vintage Furniture Paint Before and After Project Tutorial

I would do this again because it’s fairly simple, just a little hard to walk away and wait. So worth it. It looks wonderful in person. Now that I’ve got a good coat on.. I can play and repaint easily anytime I want a change, and there is always the option of having it recovered too. Which I may do at some point, as I really like the chair body, shape and style!

But for now. Paint it is! So simple and more affordable for sure.

Here is a shot of the before…

Before: Tag sale velvet chair with cane detail

It was in fairly decent shape, but it was a tag sale find… and very gold. I just didn’t feel comfy with some random fabric with a mysterious history in my home.

That sucker is sealed up now though! LOL.

The Before & After

How To Paint Fabric. Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover - Maison Blanche Chalk Style Vintage Furniture Paint Before and After Project Tutorial

Hope you like it. I sure do. It’s girly with the perfect whisper of pink. I’m hoping for some sun tomorrow so I can get some pictures of our refreshed room. It was too grey and gloomy today. I’ll cross my fingers for a bright day tomorrow. 

Thanks for popping by the hollow. Mwah!

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Comments

  1. Melanie says

    Oh Shannon!!! It turned out perfect! What a nice little surprise to come back to and see…cause you know I was one of those who were wanting to see ASAP! Now I can’t wait to see your bedroom transformation…and welcome to the barely there pink club. It’s a hard color to photograph for sure…now you know my pain, lol!

  2. Mary Beth @ Cupcakes and Crinoline says

    What an awesome redo, Shannon. I love how pretty it looks now. Your tips are great….I tend to be a Miss Rushy Pants as well. My fabric chair is still waiting on a second coat….I have learned to be more patient and even let guests see it and sit in it last week.

    Hugs,
    Mary Beth

  3. Darcie Wiley says

    My parents had that exact same chair, two chairs really. Oh how I wish we still had them around! We also had a huge crushed velvet couch in that same yellow. Really nice for the time (1974) and really comfortable. I love your chair. Thanks for the before and after.

  4. Ann says

    Oh Shannon this is so pretty…and what a transformation! Good job girl ~ Ann p.s. of course I pinned the pants off it!

  8. Bliss says

    Hmmm…… Next time I see a chair with upholstery I can’t live with, I too shall do a under $10 experiment.
    Bliss

  9. Angela says

    It turned out great! I’m so excited to see painted upholstery as I’m thinking I’ll enter that arena too! Thanks for all the tips and tutes!! Hope your day is sunny!~~Angela

  11. Nana Diana says

    I absolutely LOVE it, Shannon. It turned out perfect. That is such a pretty color-soft and beautiful. I am glad that I “found” you again. Your blog popped off my sidebar along with several others for a while. Did I tell you that I love/hate Blogger?

  15. julie@renew-create-restore.blogspot.ca says

    Your chair looks terrific! Is the fabric rough at all? I tried this and it was such hard work and it turned out okay, but I did promise myself I would never do it again with velvet. After reading your post I think I didn’t have the ratios right, but I’m still not in a hurry to do it again!!

    • Shannon at Fox Hollow Cottage says

      Thanks Julie! On the upper section. No, stiff but not rough. I have too much paint on it for the nap to come through. lol! The seat is more rough. But you can sand between coats and I understand that cuts down on it. I was not that concerned, since it’s really for looks and more of a decorative accent piece in my case. Yes, my first try I did not have enough water at all. It’s time consuming because of the fact that you have to let it dry between coats and that was the hardest part for me!

Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover

This Velvet Upholstery Painted Chair Makeover Tutorial Offers Tips on Using Paint To Refresh and Update Old Fabric On Furniture without Recovering
 
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