Painted Desk Chair Makeover…
Please note that this post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Rewards Style influencer and Jane Influencer, we earn from qualifying purchases and any sales made through such links will reward us a small commission – at no extra cost for you.
Hey there…I hope your week is going well. As of this writing, the promised Winter storm for our area has yet to make an appearance other than some snow and ice mixture. But you can rest assured we are relishing our wine and Cheese Ball by the fire 🙂
I wanted to let y’all know that as of this past weekend I crossed a big milestone…I am able to paint furniture again! I’ve made enough progress to move onward and upward and I am ready to paint.
I have really missed painting furniture. For months I’ve been planning which piece I would paint first and what finish I would use. I have dreamt of which color I would use and the room the furniture piece would go in.
I am currently revamping my desk area and workspace at home. It’s funny that Jennifer just showcased her updated work space this week too! Great minds think alike. My area is a bit more labor intensive but I’m working on it a little at a time. I was given a free chair (the best kind) that I knew would be the perfect chair for me and my desk.
So, I gathered my materials and was all set to work.
Now, I wish I could tell you that my first foray back in the saddle was problem-free. You know, like I could hear the angels singing, I didn’t drip a single drop of paint and it was the quickest and most beautiful paint job I had ever done.
Haha… Not exactly! Let me give you a little backstory info first. My garage is a giant mess. Jennifer and I have unpainted furniture and other items for our booth stashed out there – not to mention tons of other stuff. Honey Bee does not like for me to paint anything inside the house – even arts and crafts. His fear is that some paint will get spilled and that some precious item will get ruined.
Well, since I do everything he says (insert laugh track) Jennifer helped me smuggle a couple of pieces of furniture into the house. I laid the plastic sheeting on the hardwood floors, kicked off my sneakers, mixed up my paint concoction in a large Solo cup, bent over to pick something up – and tipped the paint right out of the cup. Paint went everywhere!
There was more paint than what is shown here…I couldn’t really afford to take the time to do a photoshoot. Because I had a paint medium mixed in, the paint was drying very quickly. Panic was definitely setting in as my husbands voice was ringing in my ears. Thank goodness he wasn’t home – and the crisis was averted. I got all of the paint cleaned up and he is none the wiser 🙂
So…here is my free chair. I call it Shabby Castle. The chair has great bones and beautiful detailing.
The wood is a little beat up and the trim work is all falling off.
I knew it would be beautiful once it was painted a creamy white. I used an acrylic based paint with the added medium to paint the fabric.I sprayed the fabric with water and worked it into the upholstery.
Using a sponge brush I started painting the fabric and really worked it into the fabric.
This is after the first coat…
…and this is what the wood looked like after one coat of paint.
This is after two coats…
Using 220 grit sand paper, I sanded the fabric after each coat of paint. I also distressed the painted wood to make the finish look more antiquated.
I used clear paste wax on the wood to give an overall finished, smooth look.
I needed to add trim to the chair where the previous trim had fallen off. I was a bit nervous about doing this as I have never added upholstery trim to a chair before. This is what I used…
You can see the wet glue here.
I think it turned out pretty good 🙂 but feel free to add you thoughts.
I can’t wait to get the workspace completed so I can add this chair to my desk! What do you think?
xo-Vicki
We are linking up this project with Canary Street Crafts
Then I saw this space, now I’m a believer, not a trace of doubt in my mind, I’m a believer I couldn’t leave her if I tried – its stunning, say what? stella’s got her groove back!
I fell in love! You make our days more Sunny! Thank you 🙂
So lovely! I would have not seen the amazing potential in that chair!
And the story of the spilled paint made me gasp, lol!
Hey Karen…the spilled paint did make me gasp too! But my husband was non the wiser, until today when he read this post lol. I appreciate your kind comments about my desk chair. I can’t wait for this space to be complete!
Wow! That’s some transformation! I like the new trim too. Ya’ll did a great job!!
Thanks Angie – the trim is still holding strong into place 🙂
Vicki your chair turned out beautifully! Love it! But oh my goodness – that paint spill! I literally laughed out loud!
Oh Thanks Liz…you are so sweet! The spilled paint did make me lose a year of my life LOL. I laughed today when my husband read my blog post 🙂
Vicki, WOW I love our new Castle chair and I was laughing as I was reading this because that is something I totally would have done (spill the paint) during the project. It looks amazing and the trim looks fabulous too. What a great makeover. I have two wing chairs I want to paint the fabric on. LOVE it. xo Lisa
Thanks Lisa! Did you see the wing chair that I painted last year? It was multi=colored plaid and I painted it creamy white. I love it and sit in it every day 🙂 I appreciate you liking my “new” desk chair. Stay tuned for an office reveal soon 🙂
That chair is amazing! It has such a beautiful shape to it and it you made it look perfect for the style now. I can understand why your husband doesn’t like you to paint in the house, especially after seeing what happened. The only place I can paint during the winter is in the kitchen, and boy do I make a mess 🙂
Hi Jamie! Oh my gosh…when I spilled that paint I was silently chanting “he was right” and then a bunch of “oh my God’s” but it all cleaned up well. It’s so hard in the wintertime to paint. I have more pieces to go 🙂 I just need to be super careful!
looks super fabulous but what happens to the painted fabric after it’s sat on a few times? I want to paint an upholstered headboard and just wondering how painted fabric holds up?
Hey Jenna – the painted fabric holds up very well! :sat year I painted a multi-colored wing chair with creamy white paint. I sit in that chair every day and it looks brand new. The key is the fabric medium that you add to the paint. I would be glad to give you more information if you need it!
Hi Vicki, Stopping by from joyinourhome. Love the new look of your chair without the pain of upholstering. Nice makeover! I just finished painting my wingback chair too.
I’m so glad you stopped by! Reupholstering is so expensive isn’t it? The painted fabric holds up so very well. I would love to see you wing chair. Heading to your blog now!
Woo hoo! It’s perfection! You did a beautiful job with the trim.
The chair turned out great!! I haven’t got up the guts to paint upholstery yet, but after seeing your great results I may just have to bite the bullet!
Such a cute cute chair! I wish I had found that one. And free!! Even better, that’s my favorite price point of all.
Cat
Never would’ve guessed the fabric was painted, too. Impressive and very pretty!
So glad you’re back to painting furniture, wherever you choose to paint! Love your “shabby castle” chair and it’s new life as an “ivory tower lady”. Looking forward to the office reveal! Bwg ~~~
Fantastic transformation!! The chair looks so gorgeous now. And I cracked up reading about the paint disaster and your husband :).
What pretty distressing on the chair frame! You totally transformed this ugly duckling.
It still amazes me that you paint fabric like that!! Awesome! Thanks for sharing this beautiful transformation with The Creative Circle. Keep them coming!
What a sweet chair. nicely done. sk