What To Do With An Old Couch

I hadn't painted anything before xmas then decided to start a new project.  I found this old two seater fireplace couch on trademe for cheap as chips.  I liked the texture of the existing fabric but wasn't really feeling the colour.  I went to a couple of local fabric stores to see if they had anything that was appealing to use to recover it but couldn't find what I liked.

So ... I decided to paint the fabric.  Yes that's right.  I've done it before with my old lampshade that I blogged about in OLD LAMPSHADE GETS REVAMPED.  It was pretty easy to do that, but a whole couch is a little more challenging.  Instant thought?  "better get on youtube and find out more".

What I found out was the fabric has to be pretty wet before starting because the paint has to soak into the fabric and no just sit on top of it.  I also found out that as the couch dries, the fabric hardens, but after a very light sand with a light grained sand paper, it comes back feeling like fabric again.  Oh well .. better get into it I decided.

Colours of choice .. French Linen and Pure White from Annie Sloan.

Before shot but just after I glued some of the beading back on that had come loose.

A good look at the fabric

Finished product ... Just love how the detail of the fabric stands out

A closer shot

I must admit that this took a lot longer than I originally thought.  In fact it's a day between coats to allow the fabric to dry as it's so wet.  It also takes a lot of paint.  In fact one whole tin of french linen was used on this couch and that's with me thinning it down with water but in saying this, different materials are more absorbent than others.   

I also cheated slightly and used a spray gun instead of a paint brush.  I made this decision after 30 mins of painting only a 1/4 of the seat cushion with a brush when my husband suggested it would be quicker to spray it.  Ok, I agreed and it took me less than 5 mins to do the rest with spray gun.

Two coats was all it needed and I must say, Im really impressed with the final result!!  I now purchased an old rocking chair and I have plans painting that one too.

Happy living peeps!!