DIY Furniture Makeover: Creating a Whimsical Couch with Fabric Paint
Having just seen Alice in Wonderland Thru the Looking Glass yesterday, I am feeling incredibly inspired by the fantastic job the Disney design team did on this film. While the plot was a lacklusterous 'meh' at best, what the film lacked in solid writing it made up for with visual artistry. The thing I really found myself immersed in - what took me down the rabbit hole, if you will - was the set design.
The Queen of Hearts had a castle that was Victorian Gothic in style with a curious, whimsical edginess. I loved everything about her palace, her decor was so much more chancy than my four white walls and dime-a-dozen brown leather couch.
Walking through our showroom this morning, something caught my eye that has the potential to be so Alice!
A bit much? Too big? Fear not, you can simply remove the center piece of the sectional.
Sure, it needs some TLC, a touch of creative flair, and an imaginative twist. An awesome DIY project via IJUSTLOVETODAY showed us that you can give old furniture fabric a total makeover…with INTERIOR PAINT! By mixing in a product called ‘Fabric Medium’ (available by Liquitex amongst others for a couple bucks on Amazon) you can turn any latex/ acrylic paint into fabric paint. I've done my research and I've seen people paint upholstery with chalk paint, spray paint, this that and the other, but this method seems to produce the best results. Fabric medium is straight out of Wonderland, actually. Somehow, you just mix this stuff into house paint and roll it onto a couch and it actually gives you a SOFT finish.
The possibilities are endless!
Check out Bethy’s before and after photos of her sofa project and think of what you could do with a can of red paint to spruce up our sectional into a piece any cheshire cat would love.
Before
During
After
photos via IJUSTLOVETODAY
If you don't want to stop at just the couch and you'd like to go for a whole Wonderland room, I feel like this is the perfect place to give a mention to a brilliant designer named Rania Peet who excels at whimsical DIY. She created these incredible Alice inspired illuminated mushroom lights.
I've had the pleasure of working with Rania on visual production teams at multiple music festivals over the past few years, and I've seen these mushrooms in person- they are PHENOMENAL! Here is her step-by-step tutorial on creating these magical lights. Surely the build could be slightly downsized into something more indoor-appropriate to go along with your new couch!
