Just paint it!

In our home if something stands still too long it's bound to get painted, which is probably why we have a pretty active family.  The latest piece to acquire a fresh coat of paint is the ottoman my husband gave me for Christmas.  It was, like most furniture in our home, "recycled" and in need of a little tender loving refinishing.  After contemplating recovering the piece, I thought "Hmmmm.....I wonder if I can just paint over the fabric?"

Sure enough!  All the fabric needed was a few coats of white Kilz primer as a base coat.  Although the floral fabric design was no longer visible, the primer leaves the fabric a little bit stiff.  Maybe not the most comfortable to sit upon, but for an ottoman, the stiffness factor was not much of a deterrent.

I was going for a whimsical, colorful look totally different from what the ottoman was in its past life.  Something cheerful, bright and summery.  Thus my choice of paint colors which included apple green, bright magenta, bright yellow, turquoise blue, pumpkin orange and a wee bit of crimson red. 

The top was painted with magenta pink, straight from the bottle.  It took a few coats of pink paint, then a couple of light pink swirls and dots to add an element of "just prop your feet up fun".

A bit of green was added to the cording, black and white checkerboard pattern to the cushion sides, a pattern of colorful stripes along the ruffle, and a peak of hot pink under the skirt.

Repainting the ottoman was super easy and, since I already had all the materials on hand, very inexpensive.  I love the lively color and joyful feeling the ottoman now adds to the room.

With a few colorful accents...bright flowers in an old pink thermos, surfboard garland hung across the mantel, yellow daffodils in a fanciful vase...

color-coordinated hand painted flowers, a tall pottery flower, a few small portrait paintings of my mom and the room starts to come together...

even the partially painted front door now matches when it's opened.

Painting the ottoman was so easy I'm afraid of what it might inspire me to do with the rest of my furniture! 

Ingredients for fabric painting

Kilz Latex Primer-Sealer, Acrylic paint, brushes, and water to wash out your brushes.  I'm not sure what I'll seal the ottoman with but am assuming, with our sandy feet and little animal paws, coating it with a sealant will be a pretty important last step.

Now off to see what else could use a fresh coat of paint....