Turn a dirty old chair into a favorite easily with simple paint! I did this chair in an evening and it was terrible looking, but the sturdy well built condition made it worth lugging home!
I am offering before and after pics to show you what a little paint can fix!
By melody_yesterday from Sedalia, MO
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I would like to know if I paint a reclining chair with floral spray paint will the paint rub off on clothing? Thanks.
Laura from Wilson, NC
It won't work. Floral paint is light-duty paint and won't permanently adhere to leather surfaces. It will flake off in no time at all.
Floral Spray paint is TRANSPARENT. So, be aware of that. It won't REALLY cover your recliner, but IF you just want a hint of color & IF the can says 100% ACRYLIC, It would be okay to use. BUT, If it were me, & I REALLY wanted to re-color my chair, depending on what fabric your recliner is made from, I'd buy either a gallon of 100% ACRYLIC (NOT latex!) paint from Home Depot, (it can be tinted to ANY color & can be bought in ANY sheen). I'd then mix 1 quart of this paint with about 8 ounces or so of "Fabric Medium". You buy "fabric medium" in the craft paint or artist paint section of any craft store. This "fabric Medium" makes the Acrylic paint pliable & not stiff & crack. If your chair is made from LEATHER, then I'd use leather dye, NOT paint.
After you've followed the directions on the bottle of leather dye & cleaned the chair, then dyed it, & let it dry & you've buffed it, then be sure to add several coats of mink oil or silicone over the top of the dye. Leather dye can be bought at Tandy Leather Company. I paint murals, fired tiles & detailed botanicals on Pottery for a living, for more info on paint, write me here on ThriftyFun. I really can't give you detailed info on how to do this until I know what fabric your recliner is made from. There are MANY types of dye, for many fabrics.
---> They sell a special Spray Paint at most Auto parts stores or in the paint or auto department of discount stores that's made specially to spray paint upholstery with. It's made to paint the interior of cars, headliners, bucket seats & inside door panels... Special formulated for fabrics, leather & Vinyl. If you want to spray paint your recliner, THIS is what you need! I've also seen this at some dollar stores, it doesn't sell very quickly because it's not regular spray-paint, but UPHOLSTERY PAINT.
I would like to thank all the people who responded to
my question. I will be trying to do this in May when
I can take the chair outside. I love the chair and have
Paint is OK for wooden parts. For durability it should be topped with a wood finish like polyurethane. For vinyl, cloth, or leather, you will need an appropriate dye. (What the heck is floral spray paint, anyhow? You just spritz it on and you get a flower design? Patent that and you will make a billion dollars!)
I've been thinking about trying something different with my cherry wood dining chairs with white cloth seats. Over the years, I've had several stains that I couldn't get out no matter what I tried.
I tried this with my dining room chairs a few years back (my daughter had taken magic marker to them)...I used Rit dye...however, I didn't exactly follow the directions, I think I left the salt out. The chairs looked beautiful when I was finished!...We had just redecorated our living/dining room in blacks and browns (I know it sounds like a dungeon but it's very restful). Anyways, we had some company over so we asked them to stay for dinner. My husband was wearing tan shorts and ran out to turn off the sprinkler outside, which squirted him a little in the behind.
Like the suggestion below--it is really easy to recover the kinds of chairs that have the seat that screws off. Please try this instead of coloring them. You'd probably have to take the seats off to do that anyway, so why not just recover them with some great new fabric from the sale rack at the fabric store? You can even add a layer of clear vinyl if you choose fabric that is too thin or if you have youthful guests and you want to protect the seats.
I have used a fabric spray paint on my van and some furniture. It worked great. Dries soft and did not rub off.
It is called Simply Spray. They now have a special upholstery paint too. You can find it online by searching for Fabric Spray Paint.
My daughter called and was so upset. She somehow had left stains (brown) on several new pieces of clothes. What in God's green earth could take this out? Thanks, Linda
I have a chair that would be very difficult to remove the fabric. The fabric is a sturdy cotton. Is there a way I can brush fabric paint or fabric dye on the material to change the color while it is still on the chair?
I know that there are painted pieces of upholstered - I know a colleague painted designs on a couch just with fabric paint.
There are such things as COLD dyes that can be gotten at fabric shops. I know the Joann Fabric chain has them. Also, suggestions of using RIT is great. You USE the LIQUID form, not powdered. You can use a qtip to test an underside piece of fabric. The RIT website has directions for crafts, etc there. Also, you can use TEA or BEETS to color, or any other natural dye method.
Remember to do it outside or protect your flooring with heavy duty sheet plastic. WEAR GLOVES and old clothes. Also, get some sort of clamping item (I use kelly-surgical clamps) for so many crafts things and assists. You can find these in electronic shops as well.
OR get the small foam paint brushes to help put the color on smoothly.
Octoberbabye
Can you tell us what were the instructions from Michelle on DIY from BE ORiginal show about painting the couch. Did you try it - how easy was it and did the color turn out nice?
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