From the '80s to Today . . .

Ok, so my dad FINALLY retired last December. He went slightly kicking and screaming into retirement because he still wanted to work 70 hours a week! Why?? We'll never really know but he is slowly starting to get used to the idea and actually starting to like retirement, at least a little bit.

With his retirement came clearing out his office for the past 30 years. O vey! Since he was a CPA, there were papers everywhere, and we mean ev-ery-wh-ere! There was also a lot of wood furniture just begging for a coat of Chalk Paint. I passed on all of those items but I did have a big need for seating in my living room so I chose to take two of the chairs below . . .  yeah, me (slightly sarcastic).

This looks like it belongs in a John Hughes
movie but I will admit,
they are S.U.P.E.R. comfy!

The original plan was to have them recovered and that still might be my long term goal. Unfortunately, I don't have a bunch of extra money just laying around (I spent it all on eBay and Craigslist, remember?) and reupholstering can be pricey. My next option was a slipcover but they're not my favorite unless it's a down-filled, sink-in-it, cozy couch. So where did my crazy mind go - how about if I paint them? I had read about other people who had done it, right?  I mean, if its on the Internet, then it must be true! But then I remembered I actually already owned a painted fabric chair that I bought for my daughter's bedroom from The Brocante Market.

Isn't it cute? 

So I can do this, I think to myself. I am woman, here my roar! Ok, a bit melodramatic but I do get excited when I have a project to work on. So off I went to Michael's to buy some fabric medium. You mix the medium with some paint (I used the eggshell latex paint I had used in the hallway and stairwell) and water so the fabric doesn't get too stiff.  It will be rougher than fabric but not much worse than outdoor fabric and truth be told, anything was better than the current fabric.

I took off the cushion and being my lazy self,
threw down a towel in front of the TV.
It was the perfect time to catch up on 74 episodes of
Days of our Lives. Yes, I still watch
it so don't judge me!

I first sprayed the chair with a light mist of water and then
I used a regular paintbrush and just started painting.
It was a bit addicting as I slowly started saying
good-bye to 1986!

This is the second coat.
I did a light sanding with 100 grit sandpaper
in between coats once the paint had
completely dried.

The third, and final, coat.
It looks kind of like a leather chair and
feels a bit like a fuzzy leather chair.

The only funny thing is that when you sit on it, the cushion slowly deflates. It's kind of depressing when you have been dieting hard but it does pop back up when you get off of it so that's a plus. We thought maybe if I didn't paint the back of the cushion it wouldn't do it but we will never know, at least on these chairs.

One last look at the Before . . .

And now the pretty after!

Overall, I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I used coupons at Michael's (I put them on my phone so I always have coupons) to get the Fabric/Textile Medium for cheap and since I used paint I already had, it really only cost me under $10 to change the two chairs! Hello!?!? That's a freaking good deal. I have some extra medium so now I'm constantly walking around the house to see what else I can paint. It's an issue, I know and I'm sure something will be my next victim makeover but that's for another post!

Kristin