Painting Fabric with Chalk Paint – Wingback Wonder

Ever heard the saying “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure”? In this case, I am that man and the said treasure is a wonderful wingback chair.

I was garage sale hunting at lunch one day when I saw this chair hanging out in a driveway all by it’s lonesome. A chair in a garage sale from a stranger? Yeah, no. Now a wingback chair at the garage sale of local contractor I’ve known for years? Sure! I somehow managed to fit it in the back of my vehicle and unloaded it at work. It sat outside in the sun for a couple of days to help kill off anything that may or may not have been lurking in it’s fabric and there was a bit of debate around the office to how old the chair actually was. We all thought it was more vintage than new until we discovered the tag stating “Manufactured in 2010”. Good thing we’re insurance ‘adjuster’s’ and not appraisers!

I have to say, nothing beats this chair for comfort. Thus the reason why it took me so long to do anything with it. Ellie curls right up in it when she’s chillin’ with Princess Sofia and it’s my fave reading spot. Afternoon cat naps aren’t so bad in it either ;).

I spent some time looking for a slipcover for it, but hot damn. It’s not easy finding the right slipcover for a wingback chair. There’s a ton of them out there, but some are so outrageously priced and then others just look so…old. I have some sewing skills, but I’m not confident enough in them to tackle re-upholstering this bad boy on my own. Nevermind the fact that my damned sewing machine is broken. Hand stitching…I think not!

So that only left one other choice. It needed to be painted.

But what color? The first color that popped into my mind was white. Shock me, shock me. The walls in our loving room are white (off white actually) so that color went out the window. Grey? Ugh, so predictable of me. I looked around my living room and what did I see? A grey sectional. A rug with various grey and blue/grey tones in it. Charcoal grey tiling on the fireplace. Dark grey-ish floors. Wow, typing it out kind of depresses me…it’s really not as cave looking as it sounds though. So what was the next best option? Why yellow of course.

You’re eyes just got wide didn’t they? You probably said to yourself, wtf is she thinking? Yellow?!

Don’t worry, I may have had the same reaction when I started.

It’s one thing to picture it in your head, but sometimes it turns out completely backwards when you actually do it. I just told myself to breathe and let it dry before judging too hard.

Using Rustoleum’s Chalked Paint line in English Mustard, I brushed on the first coat. I didn’t water it down at all and I was very generous with that initial coat. It sat out on the deck to dry before a second coat using a roller (not foam). This evened the color out nicely.

Once the second coat dried, I took a sanding block in a 400 grit and gave the whole thing a light sand. Sanding it down smooths out the edges and softened the “rough” feeling the paint had left behind. Using a tack cloth I wiped off all the paint dust. Now I find this next step is pretty integral to finishing up any cloth furniture you decide to paint. You NEED to apply a coating of clear wax after you sand. Not only does it help brighten the color, but it helps seal the paint in order to make it last longer. This way you also avoid any paint transfer or discoloration is it gets wet or something spills on it. The best part of it all? It makes your chair feel all buttery and soft like leather!

The chair legs received a couple of coats Rustoleum’s Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint & a funky new throw pillow from HomeSense finished it off!

The fabric pattern shows through a bit, but if anything it adds to the overall look rather than take away from it. I’m so happy that I managed to step outside of my comfort zone and pick a bold color. If I ever tire of it, then maybe I’ll give in and buy a slipcover….in white, haha!

And one last before!

And the after! A wingback beauty if I do say so myself.