Painting a chair-- Upholstery and all

I can't believe I painted the whole thing--

For many years now I have watched blogger friends do wonderful projects with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I feel like I have been getting an education. I have seen furniture--upholstery--even a refrigerator painted with this wonder paint. I am on a tight budget so I always thought that it was just too expensive...and I made my own version of "Plaster Paint" which I still will say I love. You can find my post about that here.

 

I decided I had to see for myself what the hype was all about and I had the perfect project.

 

 

I knew the colors I wanted and I decided I could get sample sizes and give this paint a try.

Janae and I had to drive into Portland to pick up Chantel at an amusement park and decided to stop at a shop we knew sold the paint.

The couple who owns this store are so nice and the shop is just adorable! If you live in the Portland area I would suggest you visit their store. http://thepurplepear.me/  

Well...here it is....

I was pretty tickled when I found this chair at Goodwill for $4.99

I thought the plaque on the bottom seemed kinda impressive too :)

Transformed with AS Chalk Paint to become this...

Just in case you were wondering--I didn't paint the cat :)

I am so happy with it. I am starting to understand some of the hype about ASCP. This paint is so versatile and that is what makes it really amazing.

I painted the frame of the chair first...with Old White. It is a wonderful creamy white color.

I was a little frustrated with the first coat--it was streaky and didn't seem like it was covering well. I knew from "my education" that the second coat would make everything all right...and it did. I was pleased but at this point still didn't think it was "all that".

Then I started painting the upholstery. I was a little scared about this part but I figured what do I have to lose? Afterall the chair was $4.99 at Goodwill. I could burn it if it didn't turn out. lol

I sprayed down the fabric with water as I saw Annie Sloan herself do in a video. Then I started painting--dipping my brush in water as I went. The upholstery was soaking up the paint--which worried me but now that I realize it this part was good. You don't want the paint to sit on the top you want it to become one with the fabric. Don't listen to Annie though when she says it only takes a few minutes to paint a chair pad--it took me an hour--and a beer to calm myself down. That paint just kept soaking in.

I was feeling better at this point--I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

After getting one coat down I messaged my blogger friend Amy from Maison Decor. I know most of you know who she is--in my opinion she is the Queen of chalk paint. It has been her excitement over this product that made it impossible for me not to try it. She has a great post about upholstery painting here.

Anyway--she told me to wait for the first coat to dry--lightly sand with fine sandpaper and put on the second coat.

Here it is--you can see the part that has the second coat and then you can see the sanded part. I think on some projects that sanded look might even be kinda cool.

I didn't invest in the wax that Annie Sloan carries but I tried a little wax from another designer chalk paint company and it worked nicely so I gave the cushion a couple coats of wax.

Then I started lightly sanding the chair in all the places where I thought it would naturally show wear. That is when I really started loving this paint. In all the talk about painting fabric and refrigerators I had forgotten what the original hype about this paint was all about...it distresses beautifully.

It took just minutes to bring all the details of the chair alive.

Then I was in love with it. The chair and the paint.

Everybody's first question is about how it feels. It feels like leather! My 15 year old daughter Chantel--who basically thinks everything I do is stupid--was impressed. She thought I covered it in leather at first -- she is a extreme animal lover and does not agree with the use of leather. No animals were hurt in the remake of this chair. She liked that.

I had my son Wyatt push on it to try and show the softness. It really is amazing. Janae came over tonight and said it looked better in person then it does in pictures. I see an upholstery painting project in her future!

I know I am getting long winded here but I have to show one more before and after.

I remembered this picture I took of the "before" of my recent basket makeover.

So I took another picture of both projects done...

I started thrifting and remaking things out of financial need. I have to have pretty things in my home to make me mentally okay and this is how I found to do it. Now--even if I won the lottery I would still be doing this. It is so much fun! Also it is so satisfying to my creative soul. I am so thankful to all of you bloggers that give me so much inspiration and also are so encouraging to me in your comments when I do a project. It means so much!

I wanted to ask for continued prayers for my future sister in law. Kirsten is already in her second round of chemo and she is young and strong but this is emotionally exhausting. She has sores in her mouth and is starting to lose her hair.

Her son Jaxon is staying with us for a couple days while his Mama is having her chemo. I adore him. He is asleep at my feet right now as I type. Two year olds--they can sleep anywhere. This has to be so hard on him but we are doing all we can to make him feel secure. Like his Mom...he is going to get through this.

The kids and I are enjoying our evening walks with the dogs and I wanted to share these beautiful parkway trees our neighbors have.

I told the kids I could get married under these trees and they reminded me I am already married..lol!

I hope this post inspires some of you to paint some upholstery...and if you do please do share it with me!

Thanks for visiting!