A chair with flair!
Give your old chairs a make-over with this lovely Bougainvillea pink and plum purple. We show you how in this blog.
For our Jan/Feb colour insert for Ideas Magazine, we started the new year with a room makeover in our studio. Read all about the inspiration behind the colours in the magazine (page 106). This bougainvillea pink is still one of our best colour mixes - try it!
What you need:
Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in the following colours:
English Yellow
Henrietta
Emperor’s Silk
Napoleonic Blue
320 grit sandpaper
Annie Sloan Clear Lacquer
water
50mm Fibreglass Brush or Annie Sloan brush
STEP 1:
Make sure the item you are painting is clean. By clean we mean dust free, oil free and dry. (Give it a good wash with sugar soap if you are unsure of how clean it should be). If you are painting only certain areas of the piece of furniture, apply masking tape to the abutting areas that you want to keep paint free.
STEP 2:
Colour mixing.
Annie Sloan’s beautiful Chalk Paint colours are created with the idea of an artist palette – you can mix up any colour you can think of by using a selection of her colours. For our bright and happy bougainvillea pink we used the following:
Bouginvilla Pink Recipe:
1 part English Yellow
1 part Henrietta
3 parts Emperor’s Silk
Mix it through well
STEP 3:
Paint the first coat of paint on your peace of furniture – remember to use a little water with the process. If ever you feel the paint is sticky or difficult to apply – dip your brush in a bit of water and continue painting with the wet brush. Water helps smooth out the paint and also spreads the paint further. (Painting in an area where there are cute puppies also helps :) )
Step 4:
After the first coat is completely dry –apply a second coat. (paint as directed in step 3)
Step 5:
Seal the painted piece of furniture with either the Annie Sloan soft clear wax or Annie Sloan Lacquer. We used the Annie Sloan Lacquer as chairs generally take a lot of wear and tear in our workshop space – but also because the lacquer can be used on outside furniture and we do sometimes use our workshop furniture outside.
Now for painting the upholstered seat of the chair:
STEP 1:
Choose your colours :)
We wanted the chair's seat to fit with the flower patterns we are applying on the wall behind the chair. To get this deep purple aubergine we mixed Annie Sloan's Napoleonic Blue with Emperor's Silk in the Ration 1:1.
STEP 2:
To paint upholstery is not that tricky – but it takes patience, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and water J Make sure to wet the fabric you are painting thoroughly before you start painting. This helps the paint absorb into the fabric, almost like a dye, you don't want a thick layer of paint on your upholstery because it will just crack and flake off.
STEP 2)
Paint the first coat over the wet upholstery in Annie Sloan's amazing Chalk Paint. The fabric should still be wet with water, this will help the paint absorb into the fabric and you should be able to paint very easily.
Paint one solid coat of paint and let it dry. After the paint has dried you can sand it lightly with a 320grit sandpaper if it feels hard (or like canvas), the sandpaper will soften the paint. Paint another coat of your chosen colour if you see too much of the original fabric peeping through. * Remember to follow the same steps as above by wetting the painted fabric first with water, then to paint a solid layer of Chalk Paint.
Remember to wet the upholstery again before yo apply the second coat.
STEP 3:
After you are happy with the colour let the paint dry. After it has dried you can sand it lightly with a 320grit sandpaper if it feels hard (or like canvas), the sandpaper will soften the paint and make the chair feel as soft as suade. If you see any of the original upholstery peeping through, just repeat step 1-3.
I prefer not waxing upholstery after I have painted it - the wax gives extra protection against stains, but the unwaxed upholstery feels so soft and still like fabric. Waxing the seat will make the seat feel a little like pleather. In the end it is your choice - all you need to remember is to enjoy the process :)
Hope you have fun!
Best wishes,
Jani Augustyn-Goussard
