How To Paint Already Upholstered Furniture - Hint: Carefully!

Hello, everyone!  I'm so excited to be sharing this project with you today.  You see, it's been a l-o-n-g time coming!  Not like the Eight-Year-Chair-Project coming.  More like the Three-Year-Chair-Project coming.  Yep, that's what you're going to see today!  Are you curious, yet?

 

See it?!  See it?!  I'm jumping up and down!  You may remember this chair from previous posts.  It's shown up from time to time, here and there. 

Like here.  I purchased two of these chairs three years ago with the intent of making a matching set, in a somewhat contemporary fabric, with painted trim.  By the time I got all most of the stinkin' staples out, I was so anxious to start with the fabric that I didn't take time to paint, and I was Never.  Happy.  with it the way it was.   I figured the ship had sailed and I was destined to have it this way forever.  Awhile ago I left a comment at Miss Mustard Seed's blog regarding doing this.  She commented back that it was possible to paint after upholstery if you taped well and were very careful.

So I taped.  Well.  (I kind of wish I had the wider tape.)  Next, I used a deglosser so I wouldn't have to sand.  After I waited a couple of hours, I gave it a coat of SW Rice Grain in semigloss.   When I checked it the next morning, it scraped off easily with my fingernail!!!!!!!!  Gah!!!  Okay.  O-KAY.  I had come too far to back out at this point, so I did what any crazy sane person would do and started sanding.  But, Ha!  I had a method to my madness.  Where it scraped easily, I sanded.  Some spots the paint hung on really well.  I DID NOT sand those spots.

I got something that looked like this!  This is Chair #2.   This reupholstery project Part Deux was my firstthingthissummer project that, yeah, I'm justgettingaroundtonow.

Chair #1 got coat-of-paint #2.  Then a touch-up coat #3. 

And now?

Well, all's right with the world!

~ Epilogue ~

Say.  Would you like to know what happened with Chair #2?  I can't show you anything yet, but I can tell you, I liked the sanded-all-to-heck wood so much, I'm selecting (see the fabric samples?) a natural-colored linen blend.  Oh, yes, I am and having two different chairs.  I can live with that!

 ~ ~ ~

One last look, 'cause this is so wicked awesome!

Next post: 

You get to help me make a decision.  Won't that be fun?


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