DIY Network

Painted Upholstery Yes, you can paint upholstery! From "B. Original" episode DBOR-137

Bring beauty into your home with painted upholstery.

Crafters wanting a different look for upholstered furniture traditionally had two choices: reupholster or make a slipcover.

No longer: Michele Beschen shares the secret of painting upholstery. With her techniques—and an all-important bottle of textile medium—you can give any fabric-covered piece a facelift. The process works on everything from throw pillows to couches.

Now it's easier than ever to B. Original and bring color and energy to your décor. Scroll down for Michele Beschen's easy how-to.

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Painted Upholstery

Materials:

upholstered furniture
textile medium or GAC 900
water-based primer
acrylic paints
paint brushes

	Figure A
	Figure B
	Let your creativity shine with upholstery painting!

Note: The key to painting upholstery is to mix textile medium or GAC 900 with every coat of paint and primer. This keeps the paint pliable; without it, the paint will stiffen, crack and generally look and feel horrible. Michele Beschen used textile medium for this project.

• Select a piece of upholstered furniture that has a firm body and fairly smooth upholstery fabric.

• Mix primer with textile medium according to the package instructions and prime the piece (figure A). Let the primer coat dry completely.

• Mix the base coat paint with textile medium and apply (figure B). Allow to dry completely. Michele Beschen uses regular latex wall paint for her base coats, then uses her artists' colors for the design and details.

• Sketch your design lightly on the pillow with a pencil. Make sure to use a pencil that won't smudge excessively.

• Mix the paints for the design with textile medium and paint the design on the chair. Michele Beschen uses regular acrylics instead of the more expensive fabric paints, since the textile medium keeps the paints pliable.

• Some brands of textile medium recommend setting the paint with a hot iron, but Michele Beschen has had good results without heat-setting.

B. Original and give your upholstered pieces a fresh, painted look today!