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Monday, March 10, 2014

Chair Makeover...DIY Tutorial...

I’ve been busy working on a Master Bedroom makeover. It is badly in need of some TLC, as you will see when I finally share some “before and afters” of the entire space after this project is completed. For now, I am sharing a small makeover of 2 chairs we have in the room. 

Before

I used bleached Painters Drop Cloths to cover the seats of these chairs 
(for a tutorial on how to bleach and soften drop cloth, go HERE)

Start by laying your seat on your fabric and cut at least a 4” border all around it.

Make sure the “right side” of your seat and the ”wrong side” of your fabric are facing each other before you adhere the fabric to the seat. 

I used a small staple gun for this project but a glue gun will do the job just as well.
Start by folding one edge of fabric over and stapling it to the wood. It helps to lay your seat on a hard surface and use firm, even pressure as you staple. I staple every 3 inches or so. Next, staple the opposite side of the seat and be sure to pull your fabric “taught” before stapling.


Now you’re ready for the other 2 “sides” of the seat and your “corner folds.” Fold the fabric over and cut a small portion of the fabric out. It can be a bit “bulky” otherwise. 





Now fold the fabric as you would when wrapping a present. Staple where you would normally use “tape.” Repeat this step for all 4 corners of your seat. 




 I decided to paint & hand stencil a design onto my seat cushion but there are many “transfer methods” out there if you choose to transfer an existing image. 
The Graphics Fairy has an unlimited array of gorgeous images and tutorials on how to transfer to fabric so please check her out!

~*~ Painted Seat Cushion Tutorial~*~

Materials




~ Paint: I used an interior latex paint in a satin finish: "Cathedral  Stone" by Valspar
~ Foam brush: 1”
~ Masking Tape
~ Stencil: This one is made by “Stencil Ease”  found at A.C. Moore


 I wanted to give my seat cushion a French Grain Sack look. 
First, I decided the width I wanted for my “middle line”, which would be the largest of all the lines (1” w). I then measured the width of my seat, found the center point  and used masking tape to tape off my line.



~*~Be sure to press the tape firmly onto the fabric so the paint does not “bleed” under it while you are painting.

Time to paint! I
 used a small foam brush. Dip the brush into the paint and “blot” on several sheets of paper towel.
 ~*~You can always go back and make your line darker  but you can't go back and make it lighter...right?  


Let dry completely and pull off your tape. 


For the next lines, I decided on the “width” (1/4”)  and then measured, taped and painted  as I did for my first line. 








I loved the way the cushion looked with just the painted lines but wanted to add a simple embellishment so I decided on a French-inspired stencil. I think a number or monogram would look lovely as well. 


I taped my stencil onto the fabric and used the foam brush to fill it in.
~*~Again...use light paint on your brush and go over it if you prefer a darker pattern. Let dry and remove stencil.



 Ouila!


And here are some “afters”...


~ I painted the chair in “Bone White” 
by Ben Moore ~

Do “stay tuned” as I will be sharing more DIY projects from my “Master Makeover.”




(Hey LoMo...if you're reading this, I hope you’re feeling  better! ;)



18 comments:

  1. I love the new look, great work!

    Gigi @ Old World Patina

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  2. Nice update, Michelle! I love the paint color you used on the chair. The stripes look great and came out so crisp. Love that color, too.

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  3. Just Beautiful Michelle. It looks awesome. Very pretty.
    Kris

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  4. Beautiful. I've always wondered if drop cloths could be used for covering furniture and now I know-thank you!

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  5. Gorgeous update!! Love the stencil detail!
    Jane

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  6. It's a lovely chair. It looks great! Good job, Michelle.

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  7. That is such a gorgeous chair and a 1000 times moreso after your makeover! I love the fabric:) I've never done any sort of fabric transfer but would love to try sometime!

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  8. Very pretty and you make it look very easy too!
    Looking forward to seeing your master makeover!
    Enjoy this early spring day!

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  9. Love the chair make over. Just beautiful.

    Hugs from here

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  10. Michelle,
    Amazing transformation, dear friend!!!
    I love the tutorial on painting the lines on your fabric.
    I'll be back soon for the reveal of your Master Bedroom.
    The "sneak peek" is quite intriquing!
    Fondly,
    Pat

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  11. Dear Michelle, you are a master in doing this, it is such a beautiful and elegant result dear friend, -you makes it look so easy, but I`m sure it is a good deal of work, to reach such a fantastic result.
    Hugs from Dorthe

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  12. Love the makeover of your chairs Michelle - so beautiful

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  13. you blog always brightens my day. i'm so going to try this project. thank you for the inspiration.

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  14. This post is perfect timing for me because I'm about to embark on making over some dining chairs. I've never done it before and haven't even picked the fabric yet. Totally bookmarking this because I'm sure I'll find a way to fudge it. =(

    Jeanine

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  15. Don't you just love drop cloths? I love your chairs, your make overs are always fabulous! I cannot wait to see the whole room.

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  16. I paint a lot of stripes on dropcloths for projects, but I have never added a graphic. I love your idea.

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  17. Wow! Thank you so much for this! This is very informative. I love the way you were able to design the seat cushion by yourself and it looks really intricate. I didn’t know that this can actually be really simple to do. Haha!
    Jeremy Barker

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Taking the time to share your thoughts...your words...and your inspiration fills my soul....Merci.
~*~Michelle~*~