simply vintageous...by Suzan: Painted Fabric

Too much going on - really - just. too. much.

I'm working on one thing - and then move on to another before finishing - so I have a house full of half done projects ( including the house itself )

While I was pulling out the dining room chairs to repaint - ( a room I NEVER go into because it hasn't been touched in this year of reno's and it quite literally makes me sick to see it ) I noticed my sad Bergere chairs sitting in the corner ..............

You can see the post ( with some beauties ) HERE

John was horrified that I would even consider these..............and I seem to recall him laughing his head off when he came home with them..................because really he only saw this

While I only saw this - the same chair - with a little work done to it !

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint - painting fabric

The last photo I showed way back in September was this one

Because that was all that had been painted - once I wrote up the post I guess I quickly shoved them into the hell hole ( that's the official name of the dining room in it's current state ) and forgot all about them !

So yesterday I promptly stopped painting the dining room chairs ( and I'll probably forget about them too LOL ) You can see the before and after's of these HERE

and ~~started~~ resumed working on these................because that's the way I roll.

I knew I was painting the fabric from the get go - because a quote from the reupholsterer was in the 400.00 range - PER CHAIR - and that was just not happening ( maybe down the road when reno's are finished - perhaps a beautiful linen would be nice - but there's no way I can justify spending that now- that's a set of French doors for the dining room ! )
Which is where I'd like to put these chairs eventually - flanking each side of French doors..............

So - ok - here we go -

Most of you know how to do this by now - but for those of you that don't - first and foremost you must dampen your fabric -
Some use a spritz bottle of water as they go - ( which is smart ) I just use a damp rag and wet the fabric that way ( which is lazy ) both ways work.
Dampening the fabric allows for the paint to work almost like a DYE -
Those of you that question paint's adherence to fabric - have you every tried to get it off clothing it's spilled on? Impossible!

I also use ANNIE SLOAN CHALK PAINT ™ - ( believe it or not many years ago I painted a leather chair using latex paint and it held up beautifully ) but now as you know I mostly use chalk paint for everything.

Step 1 - I watered the paint to a milky consistency and applied it to the fabric.
Step 2 - I lightly sanded the surfaces that had just been painted - removing the " stiffness "
Step 3 - I put a second coat - watering it to a gravy consistancy.
Step 4 - I sanded
Step 5 - I slapped another coat of the gravy on........................

The most difficult part of this chair transformation was the upholstered arms - HOLY SHIZ, I can't tell you how much I hate removing old fabric from chairs................and how hard these particular ones were.
At one point I was going to try to paint the ripped fabric and leave it as a deconstructed look lol ( which I actually like ) but I persevered instead.

This is what I used to do the job.

The most important item being the polysporin because I now have a pinky finger that has been rendered useless - and a middle finger that's wrapped in 10 bandages to stop the bleeding.

The pain of a screw driver plunging in to your finger while using all your strength is worse than delivering a baby.
I thought about that long and hard - and I stand by it.
We forget the pain of giving birth - I was in labor for 8 hours with the twins - and if someone had shoved a screwdriver into my bones for 8 hours I would have never forgotten it.

John was out when I was working on this chair - and it struck me that I didn't scream.
If a tree falls in the forest and no one's around........................
I know for a fact that if he'd been home I'd have let out a scream - isn't that strange?
And then I'd say - No, no, I'm ok - and press my finger so the blood would splatter all over his feet.
Actress?
Why yes, yes I am
But I could never match the yell John would have let out - never

The beautiful details ( and it's all in the details, right? ) which didn't really show at all in it's original state - pop ( I hate that word with decor but I can't think of another to use right now ) and besides - they really DO pop

I think I'll dab a little silver on the " relief " for a little something - something

Level of difficulty?
Pffft - trust me, if I can do it, anyone can - all you need is patience.
And polysporin.............

THIS chair was a lot more work because I reupholstered it - painting's a breeze compared to that
( hmmm - how many chair makeover's can I fit in one post? ) But it's still one of my favorites :)

Back to the Bergere - all that's left is to wax it - but here she is
Marie Anoinette !
I'm just going to bombard you with photos now..............
As you can see I didn't bother with replacing the fabric on the arms - I'm fine with it for now - if it bothers me at some point in the future, it's quite an easy fix.

( and I forgot to mention - those little nails you dig out from the reupholstering - make sure you get every single one of them up before sitting on the floor to take photos - they also hurt )

Did I mention I painted the back fabric with Paris Grey?

Or that I paid 50.00 each for these chairs - a steal for such a well made - well designed chair ( and they don't come by often here in Montreal especially as a set )

There's still another one to do - I think I'll forget about that one for another 5 months LOL

Maybe not quite as drastic a change as some face lifts

but awfully close, don't you think?
( no insult intended here because I happen to believe in face lifts ! Go Goldie ! )

This post is Marie Antoinette approved.