Hand-painted Peacock Chair ...The basics for painting your own upholstery....

I wanted to do a painted chair. I've done pillows, but I wanted to tackle something larger.
You can paint your own custom upholstery!
I found it was easier to paint it right on the piece for placement instead of upholstering it later. I used a thicker muslin canvas. I prepped the fabric by unsung clear gesso in the area I thought I was going to be painting over.
 I started by sketching out my image in watercolor pencil. That way when I painted the pencil will blend right into the paint. But you could also use a transfer technique for your image.

I under-painted the image in black paint to add depth to the piece.
The peacock is complicated, but this works for simpler images too.

I started adding and layering my colors, and referring to my picture for the details.

I used my art paints.
By adding a fabric medium to the acrylic paint, I could use any color I wanted instead of having to stick with straight fabric paints.

I painted, aged and stained the wood and finished the chair before-hand.

I upholstered the seat with the art work and then stitched out in red thread, to keep it from fraying.

I found these amazing vintage nail heads, I love how rough and textural it makes it look.
I was kind of sad to se this one go!

~Jen