6 months ago I painted a wingback chair and the whole world loved it! Mostly. The man in the house still isn’t sold on the color, but he sits in it more often than not, so I don’t take his complaints too seriously.

So here we are 6 months down the road and I’ve had numerous questions about how the chair has held up to the wear and tear of our family. Today I’m bringing you the good, the bad and why I would do it again.

Here she is in all her glory 6 months later and a ton of wear in.

The Good

She’s still quite stunning! The color held up very well, I thought it would have faded off a bit, but overall it didn’t. To give a bit of background regarding it’s use, we use this chair everyday. Numerous times a day. It’s my go to piece of furniture to sit and relax in, it’s Ellie’s choice chair to curl up in with a blanket, and it’s where Eric usually ends up if someone’s taken his coveted corner spot on the sectional.  In a day it’s probably sat in 8+ times.

Because I gave it a light sand and waxed it, it’s very smooth, almost like leather, and quite comfortable to cozy up in. It doesn’t feel scratchy or crunchy, it doesn’t smell like paint, or wax and clean up is very easy. The wax created a somewhat waterproof barrier which also helps with food spills and sticky fingers.

The Bad

The wear lines and patches are quite apparent. Because of the color, it makes the chair look dirty.

The cracks and wear on the seats are from the way the cushion naturally folds when a person sits on it. Honestly, I don’t know that there’s a way you could get around that.

Now, I do think that I was too heavy handed in my painting in some area’s. Why do I think this? Because it looks as though the pain flaked off and didn’t simple wear off in certain area’s. My suggestion would be to thin your paint with some water and do numerous layers as opposed to a couple of thick layers. That way the fabric can soak up your paint as opposed to just hosting it in layers.

The places that showed the least wear were the back of the chair and the “wings”. You can tell where our heads normally rest as it’s worn ever so slightly, if anything it’s buffed the wax!

We have one leg that took a hit for the team, but I’m pretty sure that is from a rogue hockey stick and or ball.

Would  I do it again?

Yes. Would I pick yellow to do it in? Probably not. I feel that other colors, such as blues or greens or even a deep red wouldn’t have suffered the dirty look that the yellow does from the wear. It would have added to the look rather than taken away from it.

Here is what the chair looked like when I first finished painting it:

And here we are 6 months later:

The difference isn’t huge. From afar you can’t tell how worn it’s become, and once you sit in it you forget completely!

Have you ventured into painting fabric? How did it turn out, would you do it again?