How to Paint an Upholstered Chair With Latex Paint
Did you know you can paint upholstery with latex paint? All you need is textile medium to achieve a soft and durable finish!
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I have seen tutorials around the internet claiming that you can paint upholstery with latex paint. Say what?!
You might be wondering the same thing I was… can you use latex paint to paint fabric?
I had always wanted to try it, but didn’t want to do it on something huge in case it didn’t turn out as well as I wanted it to. Or as soft.
Well, this $4.99 chair I found at our local thrift store practically begged me to take it home to experiment on. It turned out FANTASTIC.
Well worth the weird looks and visits from neighbors who couldn’t believe I was painting an upholstered chair with latex paint.
Many people’s minds were blown, you wouldn’t believe what it used to look like…
The process was actually pretty simple, too.
I’m telling you, if you have an old chair needing a new life or if you find a piece of furniture at the thrift store that’s just not the right color then THIS TUTORIAL IS FOR YOU.
EASY THRIFT STORE CHAIR UPHOLSTERY MAKEOVER: How to Paint Upholstery with Latex Paint
Materials You’ll Need…
- an upholstered chair
- 1 quart latex paint (I chose satin finish)
- 2 bottles of textile medium (depending on how big your furniture is, you might need more)
- Upholstery cleaner
- Scotchgard™ Fabric & Upholstery Protector
Tools You’ll Need…
- Measuring cup (I used a disposable cup and marked a line on it)
- Mixing container
- Paint brush
- Fine grit sandpaper
- Rag
Step 1: Prepare the furniture
If you are transforming a thrifted piece of furniture as I am, let the chair air out for a few days in the garage.
Then, give it a good cleaning with some upholstery cleaner.
After that, vacuum it like crazy.
The piece was pretty clean to begin with (for a thrift store chair) but I wasn’t going to take any chances. It still had some dirt smudges from wear and tear, but I was hoping the paint would help me forget about that 😉
Step 2: Mix your latex paint and textile medium
Mark a line on a disposable plastic cup to measure.
Mix 1 part textile medium to 2 parts latex paint.
The textile medium essentially waters it down and turns it into a fabric dye that will soak into the upholstery permanently.
I mixed mine together in a disposable container that I could just throw away when I was done with it (a deli meat container that I washed out, to be exact).
Step 3: Paint your furniture
Some tutorials recommend that you spray down the fabric with water before you start dying.
I did not. I forgot (oops).
Apply a generous coat of the paint/textile medium mixture. You want the textile medium mixture to soak into the fabric just like a dye would.
Mine soaked in nicely despite my oops.
Let each coat dry thoroughly before adding additional coats. Because the color of my dye was pretty dark, I only needed to do one coat with a little bit of touch ups after it dried.
Step 4: Sand the furniture until it’s as soft as you desire
When all coats are very thoroughly dry, lightly sand with fine grit sandpaper and wipe down with a wet rag. This helps to soften the fabric even further.
I probably could have done without this step because it was already just as soft as it was before, but I tried it anyways.
Step 5: Protect your furniture
To protect your new awesome chair, spray it down with Scotchgard™ Fabric & Upholstery Protector using slow, overlapping strokes.
This chair is going in our “man cave” room where we hang out when we have people over. With how pretty the chair is now, I wanted to repel as many possible spills and stains as I could.
For a $4.99 chair, I think it looks pretty darn spiffy now! It fits perfectly into the corner of our man cave for additional seating when we have company over.
And with the coat of Scotchgard Fabric & Upholstery Protector I don’t have to worry about any man cave beer spills 😉
Want More Thrift Store Makeovers and DIYs?
How to Paint Upholstery with Latex Paint
Materials
- Thrift Store Chair
- Latex Paint
- Textile Medium
- Upholstery Cleaner
- Scotchguard Fabric Protector
Tools
- Measuring Cup
- Mixing Container
- Paint Brush
- Fine Grit Sandpaper
- Rag
Instructions
Step 1: Prepare your chair
- Let your chair air out in your garage for 24 hours after bringing it home from the thrift store
- Give it a good clean with your desired upholstery cleaner of choice
- Vacuum your chair like crazy
Step 2: Mix your paint
- Mix together 1 part textile medium to 2 parts latex paint in your mixing container
Step 3: Paint your chair
- Optional: spray the upholstery down with water so that the paint soaks in thoroughly
- Paint your chair using a thick coat of the paint/textile medium thoroughly. The paint should soak in like dye.
- Repeat as needed until your upholstery is fully covered.
Step 4: Sand down your chair
- Using the fine grit sandpaper, sand down your chair until it's as soft as desired.
- Wipe away any dust with a wet rag.
Step 5: Protect your chair
- Refer to the directions on the bottle of Scotchguard and give it a coat to protect it from any future spills.
Just wondering what textile medium you used and how much to paint ratio?
I have a love seat that is peeling and want to paint. Will this paint work on that type of material?
I personally would not do this technique on a material that is peeling.
Would it be possible to paint over another color that was previously painted on to an upholstered chair?
Good question, personally I don’t think the results would be as nice as multiple layers will start to get stiff.
Have you ever noticed a separation or reaction of the paint and medium? I’m using camel latex paint and as it sits in the paint pan I get a navy blue “float” on the paint. It did leave a blue shadow on the off white fabric after the first coat, but does not seem to show after the second coat. Just curious.
And so far thrilled with results; it is looking like a very nice leather and I haven’t yet waxed it. Thanks for your help!
How did you do cushion?
Both sides and under cushion
I did the top of the cushion, sides, and then a little to wrap under the bottom. Just to make sure nothing un-painted poked out if someone was sitting in it.
What about liquids, sweat and spills? I want to paint an antique chair we’d use in our living room. I have kids and pets and plenty of guests circulating through the house. When any sort of liquid touches the paint, would it transfer or bleed onto them or their clothing ?
I have spilt water on this as a test and rubbed with a white towel to see if anything came up and it was clean. Granted, this chair gets light use so I am unsure if it were to get heavy use if the results would vary.
Must the fabric be lighter than what you’d like your finish color to be?
Not necessarily, but the darker the furniture before and the lighter you are hoping for the after the more coats of paint you would need and the stiffer the fabric could end up.