Ever since we started Tuesday Transformations, we see more and more the endless possibilities that a piece may have. Rarely are any of our rescued pieces cut and dry; often, they fall into the upcycle category, the upholstery category, and frequently need repairs as well. Here are a few chairs that we not only used brand new fabrics on, but also had a chance to try out some of our new Paint Couture! acrylic paints and durable glazes.
Inspired by Country French and English Cottage designs, we wanted this dusty old upholstered piece to be a feminine statement when we finished with it. We were also hoping for a chair that would fit right in with a bright and floral springtime display, eventually leading us to call this piece the “Spring Chair.” After browsing through some of our inspiration images, we decided to go with a soft lilac color with floral accent fabric, framed with a soft silvery-grey finish with a slightly worn look.
Here's what we had to work with:
Removing enough upholstery to access the entire frame was just the start. Projects like this need to be done in a very durable finish, and while Paint Couture is known for being just that, we still thought it best to sand off any of the gloss that was present on the frame before painting. Next, we used British Grey as our base, and added a light coat of Zinc Glaze to give it an antiquated look while also adding some metallic shimmer. Last, we followed it with a dry brushing of Arctic White to soften the overall effect.
The fabrics chosen were meant to convey the comforting and soft feeling that is springtime in Ohio, with a reminiscence of a bright and natural French or English Cottage.
We loved our newly redesigned Spring Chair so much, we dedicated a whole corner to it – and had our local acrylic artist Karen design a matching table!
The combination of British Grey, Zinc Glaze, and Arctic White dry brush turned out to be exactly what we were hoping for; even though that isn’t always the case! This time, we liked the overall effect so much we did a very similar finish technique (same materials, just slightly modified in the amounts of application) on another chair we had to reupholster. In fact, we even chose a similar fabric, thus dubbing this second piece “Spring Chair Junior.”
Don't forget to check out our paint line, we sell Paint Couture products in house and online!