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......
Oh Robyn
ReplyDeleteI have been teetering on doing a wonderful pair of french chairs in chalk paint they are upholstered in original gold velvet...I now have the courage! Thanks my friend!
Galebrisa
I love this! I bought the book a few weeks ago, and I am anxious to give this method a try :) Thanks!!
ReplyDeleteHi all, I too was thinking of painting velvet chairs- does the chalk paint work ok with velvet? Has anyone tried it?
ReplyDeleteLiz
Liz, the chair that was painted above was a crushed orange/gold velvet. this is the third chair that we've painted and they were all velvet. i love how it works. give it a go, you won't be disappointed!!!
DeleteLove this shop. I live in Bavaria Germany. I've been trying to find a place to buy chalk paint, do you deliver to APO addresses?
ReplyDelete-Brittany Ruth
http://therococoroamer.blogspot.com/
Brittany, so sorry for such a delay in response - these comments below just showed up!! Unfortunately, we are not permitted to ship to APO addresses. You can go online to www.anniesloanunfolded.com and query that there. Thanks!
DeleteCan this method be done on any fabric of furniture?
ReplyDeleteI have a leather chair that is a burgendy color and hideous!
ReplyDeleteWould you recommend using Annie Sloan paint on this as well?
Same method as painting fabric?
Thank you so much!
I have two chairs that I am going to paint French Linen and I only purchased the dark wax...will this work okay?
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking! If you use the Dark Wax without using the Clear Wax first, the stain that is in the Dark Wax will be absorbed into the paint and it will muddy your color. Sometimes this is okay, for instance with Graphite and some of the very primary colors, however, try an inconspicuous area before you do it all over your surface so you know the effect. I'm not sure how it would look on French Linen! Call the store with any other questions!
Deletewhy does it look so cracked?? Is it because velvet is a thicker fabric?
ReplyDeleteYes, because there are more coats necessary to cover the nap of the velvet. so the thicker the paint the more likely that it will crack. If you paint a cotton fabric it only requires two, maybe three, coats and that's it. It would be less likely to crack.
DeleteI see that your painted surface has cracks.. just want to know if it went away with waxing because my painted chair is showing cracks too! and i dont want the crackled look :(
ReplyDeleteThe crackled look can't be avoided. Remember that the paint will look solid but it's on a flexible surface so as the fabric flexes the paint may crack. It won't chip or peel off, it will just look like aged leather!
DeleteHello Robyn,
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for all the information about your blog. I bought a second hand wing chair that has the same material as this one you have . velvet. I used the same formula you did but for some reason, the colour won't penetrate. My chair velvet fabric color is brown/peach and the colour that I would have wanted was the Old white. Is it because i am going dark to light? Help.... Quite frustrated.
I'm not sure why this is happening. I know that the chair that i did above was orange and the color bled through onto the first two coats. i put the third coat on and it covered it completely. Try another coat!!
DeleteLoving this - I googled painting upholstered furniture with chalk paint and came up with your site. I just painted a chair that was old vinyl/leathery stuff. And I was wondering if I should wax it - I think I'm gonna after reading this! Thanks for the info - the chair looks amazing!
ReplyDeleteThis may be a silly question, but how does the wax hold up to someone sitting on it? And, how do you clean the furniture? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThis may seem like a silly question, but how does the wax hold up with people sitting on it? I am a little afraid it may get sticky, and how do you clean it? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIt never gets sticky. Remember to work the wax on in small sections and immediately buff it off. enough wax will have been applied to protect it but not so much that it will ever get sticky!!
DeleteRobyn, do you think this technique will work on linen fabric? I made the mistake of purchasing white linen chairs. Now due to the large windows, the chairs have an uneven sun-damage to the "white" Thanks!
ReplyDeleteRobyn, do you think this technique will work on linen fabric? I made the mistake of purchasing white linen chairs. Now due to the large windows, the chairs have an uneven sun-damage to the "white" Thanks!
ReplyDeleteWould the chalk paint work on a sofa with silk fabric?
ReplyDelete