How to Paint Upholstery

We’re back this month for another *Furniture Refresh Challenge* with some amazing new furniture flips, so make sure you check out everyone’s projects this month. They are spectacular! For my flip, I did something I hadn’t even thought was possible and I’m going to show you all the steps on how to paint upholstery too.

Top to Bottom: Michele Shelstring Blog | Robin Redo it Yourself Inspirations | Michelle Our Crafty Mom | Michelle Michelle James Designs

Left to Right: Katie The Homespun Hydrangea | Megan C’Mon Get Crafty | Sue A Purdy Little House

I’m so excited to FINALLY be finished my flip. It’s taken literally months and months to complete… not that I worked on it everyday or anything. Lol. I’m going to be brutally honest here…. this couch sat on my porch from May – October and became begrudgingly known as “the porch couch”. My neighbour even offered to take it to the dump in his truck because he thought it was a couch we no longer wanted.

One day, last spring I decided I wanted to change around the configuration of my living room. But alas…. my previous couch (which I actually had custom made) wasn’t going to make the cut. It had a high back and was only a 3 seater (aka not long enough). I knew I wanted the new couch to go in front of the window, so that I could put in a fireplace on the main focal point wall. I took a trip to the ReStore in my area, and saw this beauty for only $50.00.

She’s totally perfect, right? Low-back profile, mid-century style, and easily a 5 seater. This baby is 10 feet long. The only problem with it was the colour. Just not my style and that horrible couch skirt at the bottom just HAD to go.

When I first told my husband of my plan that I was going to paint it. He’s all like “you can’t paint a couch!”, so I went all Justin Trudeau on him and was like “Watch me!” Lol. I started by doing research, and discovered that I needed to use chalk paint, a spray bottle and fabric medium for this project. I bought about 4 bottles of the Martha Stewart fabric medium from Michael’s for this couch. I started by cleaning the couch, and then sprayed a mixture of water and fabric medium on to the couch to make it damp.

Once the fabric was all damp, I made a mixture of half chalk paint, and then equal parts fabric medium and water. After giving it a good stir, I then worked it on to the couch. In this pic you can see the first coat of paint going on. The couch should be damp prior to the paint being applied, to help the paint soak into the fabric.

After the paint fully dries, it will be stiff. To fix this, you will need to use a fine grit sanding block to smooth out the surface. This whole process of spraying, mixing, painting, drying, sanding is then repeated about 10 times. Yes! About 10 times. Crazy, right? I know. I nearly gave up.

Perhaps it was because I went from a dark colour to a light colour, or that maybe the tweed type fabric on the couch was a thick, loosely woven fabric that just sucked the paint right up. Whatever the reason, it took a long time and a lot of commitment.

But now that it’s done, I’m thrilled with the results.

Even though I spent about double the cost of the actual couch itself on paint and fabric medium, I’m really pleased with the look. And once that horrible couch skirt was removed, I spray painted the mid-century style legs a metallic gold colour.

Would I ever take on an upholstery project this big again? I’m really not sure….. For now though, I’m going to enjoy my new old couch and I’m thinking about maybe painting the piping and buttons a glossy black colour in the meantime…. What do you think?

Now it’s time to check out the awesome furniture flips from my blogging friends

Hall Console Table

Mirror Upcycle

Storage Shelf Refresh

Painted / Distressed Desk

 Until next time my friends,

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