Chair Painting Part I

Ya, painting wood chairs is old news.

Painting fabric? That's a whole notha ball game.

Sure, it's been done before. We've seen it on Pinterest.



We've maybe even tried the technique using fabric medium on pillows...



But SPRAY paint on fabric chairs?

You heard me.



I found this product online, and after doing some searching, I found this link to Johnny in a Dress. She spray painted her vinyl sofa using the Rustoleum Fabric and Vinyl Spay Paint and went from navy to white with fabulous results.



My chairs in question, however, are fabric. Almost velvety, but not quite. I wouldn't even know how to describe them. But they are certainly not vinyl.

I first had the idea to spray paint my six Louis chairs once I decided I didn't have much to lose. The camel fabric colour is not even close to workable in my home, but the light ostrich texture is nice. Before I rip the chairs apart, why not give it a go? The worst that can happen is that it doesn't work out, and then I reupholster. Plus, the double piping and upholstery job on them now is SO much nicer than I could ever do, so I'd prefer to keep that professional work in tact if possible.



Tuesday was test day 1. As you can see from the image of the can above, the "Vinyl" is bolded, the "Fabric" is teeny weeny. This is obviously deliberate. I think this product would work much better on vinyl than on fabric, unfortunate for me. I chose this product over other true fabric paints and fabric spray paints (and their DIY alternatives) because I was going from a darker colour to white. I need as much heavy duty coverage, so this seemed like the most promising.

I used 2 whole cans, about 8 light coats, and there still is a need for a little more coverage. It's scratchy to the touch (although doesn't sound crunchy like a regular spray paint might) and although I wouldn't call it an epic fail, it's not a hurrah quite yet.

I still have 5 other chairs and I think I might test out a couple other alternatives with them.

I will have a more in depth post about the process with before and after pictures coming, but for now, this is my 2-can (Toucan?) chair. I didn't tape off the legs because I'm going to be reinishing those (and couldn't find painters tape :P - I've told you before I'm not a by-the-book DIY-er, didn't I?)


This post is not affiliated nor promoted by Rustoleum by the way, I just happened to find this product while searching online :)

Comments

  1. Looks good so far, Jen!

    I know exactly what the crunch you describe feels (and sounds) like because that describes my office chair that made over with fabric paint. It was banished to the basement because it's just too uncomfortable but in its defense it was a crappy Canadian Tire office chair with burlap-y textured fabric. I think finding the right coverage for your chairs will be a fine balance but totally worth it in the end. It helps that you're crazy about the style of chair to begin with!

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    1. Ya, it's not a great crunch! Fortunately, we rarely actually sit at the dining table (we usually end up eating on the bar stools at the island), so they might only be used a handful of times a year. And most importantly, it's not going to be a long term solution, just something to tie me over until I decide to reupholster!

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  2. Never even knew a product like this existed! Looks like it has potential though. The white is so much nicer than the camel already!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I only recently discovered the product! I have two vinyl-ish bar stools that I am going to test in on to see if it works better on that material! And yes, white is a major improvement on camel any day in my books!

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