Greetings friends! Those of you who know me know I love to give old things a new life. I think this love stems from my childhood. My mother and father would travel from antique store to antique store finding timeless pieces of furniture, adding them to our home. They would leave them as they were, make them over, or sometimes give them a new purpose all together. As many other photographers I struggle to make my sessions one of a kind and unique. The area I live in is so over saturated with photographers, sometimes it can be very overwhelming. I believe there is enough business that we can all profit from photography. Being different and setting myself apart from other photographers in my area is always at the top of my list. That's where my love for furniture rehab and design comes into play. I decided I wanted to find a antique Love seat or a chair 1/2 for my Easter mini's. After searching FB yard-sale pages as well as craigslist I was able to find my diamond in the rough via craigslist about one hours drive form my home. So my husband and I decided to load our girls up and make it a family road trip!

Once I saw the love seat I knew it was a steal! It was sold to me for hundreds of dollars less then I saw other love seats being sold for.

Supplies:

Love Seat-

Drop clothe - (I used the brown paper stuff as well as giant black trash bags)

Chalk paint- Waverly in white and elephant, about 5 bottles of white and 1 of the elephant for the fabric. I also used 2.5 cans of Krylon chalky finish in classic white for the the wood.

Brushes- I used a large brush for the fabric and a smaller brush to do touch ups after adding the stripes.

Paint tray- Smaller one is fine

Measuring Cup- For measuring the paint and water

Painters Tape- I used 3M brand

Tape measure- To check stripe measurement

Sand Paper- I used 220 for the fabric and 120 for the wood

Chalk paint sealer- I purchased the spray Wax from Krylon

Spray Bottle- For water

For the first coat, I mixed two parts water one part Waverly white chalk paint. I used a measuring cup to make sure the measurements were correct. I used a spray bottle filled with water to mist the fabric in small sections , as I applied the paint. This helped the fabric absorb the paint. Warning: the paint mixture is very drippy! I put my love seat on a brown paper drop clothe doubled up while painting. Important: Allow 24 hours at least for drying time between coats.

I must stress the importance of allowing the paint to dry 24 hours and then sand with 220 grit sandpaper in between coats. I know it sounds weird to sand upholstery, but it works! If your fabric does not have a pattern or is close to the paint color you choose, you may only need 2-3 coats. Of course, I choose a light shade to cover a dark shade so I needed 3-4 coats. After the first coat, the paint and water mixture is half water and half paint, I also found I did not need to mist the fabric before painting after the first coat.

The second, third, and forth coats I used half water half paint. Please remember to sand between layers.

After I was completely happy with the fabric coverage, I then lightly sanded the wood. Which removed any drips the fabric paint left behind and some of the lacquer finish. I noticed from past projects that chalk paint will cover any surface very well so I did not strip the wood before painting. I then taped the fabric off using a extra brown paper drop clothe and 3M tape.

I took it outside and sprayed it with Krylon chalky finish in classic white. It was a very cold day in Maryland we actually got an ice and snow storm while I was spraying it so it took 2.5 cans of paint. Drying time was also very long due to the weather. Thankfully I have a screened in porch I was able to use.

Nice and bright white! Now back inside. I then taped the love seat stripes with 3M blue painters tape. I love the beach and all things nautical. So why not go for nautical stripes in a neutral color? I did 3.5inch grey stripes and 3inch white. I honestly do not have advice as far as placement. I thought this part over in my head at least a million times. Finally my husband said just do it. So I more or less went with it, hoping it would work out. I then mixed the paint. I used a measuring cup again and did two parts Waverly white and one part Waverly elephant. I wanted a nice medium grey color. I did not add Water to the stripe paint! I made sure I covered the area I needed to in one coat with little touch ups. It did not make the fabric stiff at all. I did the stripes all along the front as well as the back of the love seat. Please be careful to not paint under the tape. The less you have to touch up later the better.

I let the paint dry for about 45 minutes, making complete sure it was completely dry before peeling. After peeling the tape off I noticed because my fabric is textured, some of the elephant color paint did bleed into the white. So I simply went in with a small detail brush and fixed those areas with the Waverly white paint. I did not add water. After doing the paint touch ups I decided to distress the wood and metal studs a little to give it some more character. I used 120 grit sand paper. Because I used so many coats of chalk paint on the wood it was a task to get the paint off in those areas. I ended up having to use three sand paper bricks.

The last and finial step is to seal your project. This step is not needed but depending on how often yours will be used it maybe something you consider. I used the Krylon Chalk paint Matte sealer in clear. I lightly sprayed the entire love seat. I would recommend a spray and not a brush on sealer so it can be applied lightly.

A little sneak peek of my Easter set up. I plan on doing Mini's at a near by park, weather permitted of course. If you've been contemplating painting upholstery, I say go for it. My experience was so rewarding and it turned out way better then I ever expected. Total coast including my craigslist love seat was $110. Which will be paid for with only two mini session slots booked with some left to spare. This is definitely a investment that will keep giving. Thank you so much for reading my Blog. Please leave me some feed back and if you have any questions feel free to post them in the comment section. I hope I have helped inspire you to give old furniture a new look, while upgrading your creative side. Take your photography to the next level. I would love to see your projects as well.