Chair Up-cycle: Fabric Paint and Losing my Mind

A few months back when I was really pumped up about home decor projects (you know, before I was lovingly informed by Wells Fargo of my overwhelming student loan payments?) I fixed up this thrift store chair. I had been looking for an arm chair for my living room and I found a cute Chicago-esque style one that turns into a pretty comfy recliner. Unfortunately the color was atrocious:

Faded orange brown blended with puke-y salmon. Delightful.

Considering I've never been particularly crafty I needed a way to fix up this chair without having to reupholster it. After googling my heart out I found an easy looking technique: fabric paint. Basically mix equal parts fabric medium with the paint of your choice and then apply. Easy right?

Of course not. It never is.

Never trust Martha Stewart on how easy or possible a project is. Never.

Honestly, I can't really blame the technique on how frustrating this project was. I should have done more research or had lower expectations. Today while re-searching things for this blog post I found an article that focused on dying fabrics and how certain dyes don't work on certain fabrics. I didn't even know that than was an issue. Apparently, cotton is the best fabric to paint and/or dye and other blends just don't take certain dyes/colors. My mistake is that I just jump too quickly into projects without truly understanding what I'm undertaking (and trust me, this applies to more than crafts). There were some spots in the fabric that just REFUSED to absorb the color. I'd apply and apply and apply and it was still thin and patchy.

Luckily the chair came out relatively cute (and also, I have fashion-y pillows that cover the not so cute spots).




Unfortunately, the many, many, MANY layers of paint I had to put on this chair left the fabric feeling crispy and uncomfortable. I honestly don't think I've ever sat on it. But I will not be deterred. My hopes is to become more accustomed to crafty projects and to hopefully, ONE DAY, reupholster this beast.

The above picture of the Martha Stewart fabric paint line was taking from Censational Girl. She did a whole tutorial about using fabric paints. Of course, her towels turned out delightful. Read the tutorial HERE.

Another fun fact about this project? The chair was too big to fit through the door to my porch so I had to spray paint the legs inside. Yeah. Got high as fuck. I do not recommend that.

Another fun fact? I totally joined the library today! I'm kicking ass and taking names on my New Year's Resolutions!