COLOR RECIPES
for painted furniture
Annie Sloan's new book is out and of course at our store
We have enjoyed reading it cover to cover.
We've played in Chalk Paint® and had so much fun experimenting with colors and techniques.
Here's our latest project.....painting fabric.
This is how the chair started out. Old gold/orange crushed velvet,
the wood had an old Pecan finish
This is the after!!
The back is the prettiest I think. Lori painted a stencil design in French Linen and accented the piping and the buttons on the chair with French Linen as well. The wood on the chair was painted in Old White but the little wicker sides were dry brushed with the French Linen
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The chair was cleaned of debris and dust, then Lori applied the paint using her "dippy dippy" method. She dipped her brush into the paint and got a nice healthy amount of paint on her brush, then quickly dipped it into a little pail of water and applied it to the fabric. This was repeated until all fabric was coated.
The water helps the fabric absorb the paint evenly. One of the things that she learned along the way was to stay with the nap of the fabric. Again, this was crushed velvet so it definitely has a nap to it. Going in multiple directions when painting the fabric is fine but ending with the brush going in one direction kept the fabric from feeling too stiff and sand papery.
Once the first coat was dried, she applied her subsequent coats until all fabric was completely covered. When you are doing a fabric such as velvet, it may require more coats to cover the nap completely. After it completely dried she worked in Clear Wax a small section at a time. After each small section she immediately buffed it.
Once the entire chair was painted and waxed it felt exactly like leather.
Smooth and cool to the touch.
We then loaded it up on our truck to take to Fancy Flea in Lakeland!! I have to say, it could have SOLD twice in the first hour but I had separation anxiety!! I just loved it when it was done and barely had time to enjoy it. She actually painted this while I was out of town so I had about 10 minutes to enjoy it!! I finally gave in and sold it a couple of hours later.
This is THE PERFECT way to rejuvenate old upholstered furniture! Who needs to spend thousands of dollars on new pieces or reupholstering! Just grab your favorite color of Chalk Paint® and paint it...get a stencil to enhance it and VOILA, a new piece of furniture.
To all of you naysayers out there. YES, this adheres to fabric. NO it does not chip. NO it does not peel. YES it cracks (like an old leather bomber jacket) and YES it is water repellant.
It is fabulous! Seriously, what have you got to lose? TRY IT!!! Grab Annie's new book
and give it a go......
