Petite Wing-chair Makeover

STOP! Don’t throw away your ugly chairs! No Skills to sew slipcovers or re-upholster? No worries! Read on my friends and transform those drab, outdated chairs into something you can be proud of. Otherwise I will be by your curbside to pick them up myself.

By now some of you may know that I have this insatiable obsession with chairs. I can’t seem to satisfy this craving, I can never have enough chairs. There is certainly no room in my little cottage for all of the chairs that I currently possess but that does not stop me from bringing more strays home. Todays obsession – A Petite Wing-chair Makeover

When I first moved into my new place I had no furniture. I purchased a used pine, farmhouse, trestle table and 8 random chairs to go with it. While perusing online photos of shabby chic kitchens and dining rooms I kept seeing wing-chairs used as captains chairs at the ends of a dining table. I thought, ooooh, I like this, I want!

Well, my little cottage certainly couldn’t support such a design but I was going to give it a try.

I searched Craigslist up and down for petite wing-chairs. I finally found some. The problem was, they came with a massive dining table and 6 more dining chairs. I talked the seller into selling me just the 2 wing-chairs. The photo above shows the frame prepped and then painted with Behr Spun Cotton.

These petite wing-chairs were incredibly solid and heavy; however; their saffron, mango, Terra-cotta colored upholstery just didn’t fit it with my planned color scheme of whites, cremes and aqua. The plan was to sew slipcovers for them. As you can see I chose a difficult chair to try and slipcover for my first try. I started 1 slipcover and loved the result but had trouble figuring out how to finish it. So pretty. The thought of making another one was not appealing. Now what?

When All Else Fails… Paint!

Reupholstering them also did not appeal to me. The fabric was in excellent condition, I just detested the color. I wondered if it would be possible to paint the fabric with chalk paint. Why not? Have you ever accidentally splashed a bit of paint onto some fabric? It does not come off. I read a few articles about chalk painting fabric. Super easy. I mixed my own paint this time, using a mixture of 1/4 Behr Paint & Primer in Archwood to 3/4 of Spun Cotton plus some calcium carbonate added. Here’s a quick run down of this petite wing-chair makeover, enjoy!

Materials:

Chalk Paint – ASCP French Linen mixed with Old White or make your own Like I did.
Spray Bottle filled with water
Painters Tape
Sandpaper (a medium grit is good)
Brushes

I lightly sanded and painted the chair frames with Behrs Spun Cotton first. Once it was completely dry I masked it off so I could paint the fabric.

The trick is to wet the fabric by misting (okay more like practically soaking) the fabric with a spray bottle. I wiped the excess into the fabric with a cloth. 2 good coats of paint did the trick. With the first coat, you want to be sure to push the paint into the fabric to aid in sealing it properly.

IMPORTANT: Let the paint dry at least 24 hrs between coats. Sand the entire surface of the fabric with medium sandpaper until it feels smooth to the touch all over. Wipe off any dust and proceed with the second coat of paint. As you are painting, you shouldn’t see any little air-holes in the fabric.

Here you can see the result of one coat of paint. It is splotchy looking but an improvement already.

How Did The Paint Work Out?

Here is a gallery of images showing details of the finished chairs. Here are some questions I receive:

Will the paint rub off? I am happy to report, no. The fabric is completely sealed with 2 coats of paint. You may require 3 if your paint does not have the primer in it.
Will the fabric be hard and crunchy? No, it should be smooth and a bit leather-like
What does the fabric look like? It depends on the original fabric you painted over. A looser weave fabric will retain a lot of texture and require more coats of paint and sanding. A smoother fabric like the one I used will have the appearance of canvas.

I hope you enjoyed this wing-chair makeover, if you are interested in learning how to make your own chalky style paint, I’ll have an article about it posted soon. In the meantime, try using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint ASCP to paint your furniture and fabrics. The paint is a dream to work with.