Gates of Crystal: painting upholstery

May 1, 2015

Painting Upholstery - More Bergere Chairs

Most every piece of furniture in our house was bought second-hand. When we moved here 11 years ago from Virginia, I sold our couches and several other pieces, not knowing if they'd fit well in our new house.

Very shortly after getting here, I discovered a wonderful used furniture store called, "Second Time Around." Two years ago they changed to a furniture rental company.

But a couple of weeks ago my daughter and I were in Grand Rapids and found where they had moved! They've changed their name to, "Furniture City" and are now owned by two of the former employees.

So I'm back in business!

I came home with a beautiful pair of Bergere chairs and a pair of end tables. Laura and I did quite a juggling act to get this all to fit in my Escape!

The chairs and tables are the nicest quality I've ever found and were in perfect condition. The store had just gotten them that day. They would have gone perfectly with my old decor but their former owner must be doing the same thing I've been doing!

The fabric on them is such a nice quality and every detail was perfect. But they needed an update.

So I painted the wood on the chairs and I painted the upholstery fabric and recovered the cushions with drop cloths.

I don't know who first came up with the idea of painting upholstery but if there's an award for this type of thing - I vote for them! Who hasn't looked at a chair and just wished it was a different color?

I've painted upholstery on a chair once before and was not impressed, but this time I used chalk paint. I encountered a few bumps in the road - mostly because I did not like the first color I tried - but once I matched the drop cloth fabric better, I was happy with the results.

Also instead of buying chalk paint, I bought this additive from Amazon and have added it to several paints when I want chalk paint in that color. Rusty Hippo Instant Chalk Paint. I used drop cloths from Menards.

There are lots of different drop cloths out there. I recovered my patio cushions last year with a heavy, off-white drop cloth from Sherwin Williams. The drop cloths I used on these chairs and my love seat are an oatmeal color and came in a heavy texture and a very soft texture.

It took 4 coats of paint to cover the red and green plaid but the finish is perfect - very smooth and soft.

I also tried painting the fabric on the cushions but after 4 coats it felt a little like old patio furniture cushions - a little plasticy. So I got rid of the old cushion covers and recovered them myself.

I mixed my color myself for the wood trim. If you have a chair this style, I would advise you to paint the fabric first, and then the wood trim. There's no way to get the paint on the piping thoroughly without getting it on the wood. Then paint your wood trim. I used a craft paint brush to go carefully around the edge.

The chalk paint gives a nice finish to both the wood and the fabric. When you're done painting your fabric, sand it gently. It takes away the feel of the paint and restores the soft finish to the fabric!

And here are my chairs in our living room!

I confess that I delayed starting this project because I did not want to ruin these chairs. What finally convinced me to start is the thought that if this didn't work, I'd just reupholster them. But I'm very happy with result and feel that I couldn't have done as nice a job reupholstering them and they now have the look I wanted.

I'll be back next week with how I painted our little chest.