Painting Upholstery

After reading seemingly never-ending Pinterest tutorials, researching chalk paint versus fabric paint, looking at paint swatches, and staring at my chocolate brown and orange floral settee, I finally worked up the gumption to paint that upholstery once and for all.

My method was unscientific and determined more by my feelings and lack of patience than by sound logic or following instructions.

Nevertheless, I am quite pleased by my before and after:

This is the first layer of paint going on. As you can see, the floral pattern is still strongly visible under the paint. It did not fully cover until the fourth coat.

I decided to use chalk paint rather than acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. This was mostly because I already had a large container of Plaster of Paris to mix up my own homemade chalk paint. 

My ratio of water to Plaster of Paris to paint was quite flexible. I filled a red solo cup about 1/4 of the way with paint, dumped on a few tablespoons of Plaster of Paris, then filled the cup the rest of the way with water. (Yes, this was an outrageously imprecise method.)

More or less, here is the recipe I used:

2-1/2 ounces flat paint

3 T. Plaster of Paris

1 c. hot water

Mix well.

I used Behr's Ethiopia, as it is a common substitute for the color Coco in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. After mixing it up, I just applied it with a plain ol' paintbrush. It went on very watery, but the cotton upholstery absorbed quickly as I worked. 

Between each of the five coats, I let the upholstery dry for 24 hours. It felt like it took forever. The settee felt quite crunchy, but I started the project so I was going to finish, by golly!

Yet another layer... and you can still see that pesky floral pattern!

After the final coat, I rubbed in two layers of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax. For this step, I just used an old cotton kitchen towel and rubbed the wax into the fabric. This made the fabric touchable, but more firm than plain cotton. It looks like leather and feels like outdoor fabric (stronger than plain cotton or a woven fabric, but quite comfortable).

The color coordinates so much better with the rest of my living room. The total cost of this project was less than $20, since each sample of paint was less than $4.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a "new" settee to cozy up in!