Test in a hidden area, but the usual method is to put on a coat of slightly diluted latex as a base coat (to permeate the fibers) than apply several coats of undiluted top coats and whatever design you want. Finish with a couple coats of clear latex finish for protection.

OK ... it'snot as good as recovering, but it's cheap, fun and will get you sevreal years of wear out of the chairs, maybe more.

I once had a small boudoir (sp?)chair. It had a hideous pattern in swirls of orange, red and gold velvet that was extremely gaudy, BUT, I'd bought the chair for $5 and it was really in good condition and I loved the graceful shape of the chair itself. I didn't have the funds to refinish or order covers, since it had been so inexpensive I thought it was worth experiment with.

I added a regular bottle of chocolate brown Rit dye to a gallon of hot water and gently stirred thoroly mixed. I then filled and refilled an empty shoe polish bottle (the kind with the sponge applicator)and generously sponged the dye onto the fabric. The texture of the fabric beautifully disquised any variations in stain as a solid fabric might have done.

The browns came out with soft, muted shades, that reminded me of a tapestry with multi-shaded browns that looked quite rich with my taupe walls and white woodwork.

The dye was used generously and a few areas needed a couple of applications, when it was all covered, the chair sat outdoors in the warm sun until thoroughly dry... The dye did not rub-off on your clothing when the upholstery dried. BTW, pre-shampoo the upholstery before dying, dirty areas won't take the color the same as clean areas...and Wear Old Clothes and gloves! *S*, it is messy.

Good Luck!
Diana

Painted sofa

As for the paint, it's the cheap inside gloss paint from Walmart.
mix 6 (2oz.) small bottles textile medium to a 1/2 gal. of the paint. you can get textile medium at walmart or ac moore or michaels store.
Use a foam brush and really just slap it on, do one side of the cushions first and set them outside to dry. While that is drying, paint the rest of the couch, kept checking the cushions, when the are dry enough to handle paint the other side. It doesn't take long to dry either.
As for the texture of the couch, there may be some stiffness but nothing really hard and after a while the stiffness leaves. Guess with use anything will soften up, huh LOL
The sofa was terrible, dirty, stained but not torn.
Everyone that sees it can't believe it's painted.

""Forget all that nonsense about teensy bottles of expensive paint medium from the crafts store. You don't need anything more than regular latex semi-gloss paint--and a lot of guts. I found a beautiful Baker Chippendale camelback sofa, with cool curved arms and a fat down cushion, but it was covereed in a hideous glazed chintz in the ugliest colors I ever saw. I found some great yellow wool damask to reupholster with, but it would have cost me $3OOO just for the fabric and trim, so I painted my sofa instead.
Everyone freaked out when I told then the plan, but it worked. I was planning on painting my living room dark green, so I decided to go with red leather. First, I painted the whole thing with bubblegum pink semigloss latex paint, using the widest foam brush I could find, and brushing it on in long strokes front-to-back and up + down.
Think of that as the primer coat.

I let it dry 2 days, and sanded it super lightly with fine-grade sandpaper to get rid of the burrs--and there were a lot of them. When I couldn't feel any more sharp things, another coat of paint, spread thin. Dried and sanded again. Then spread--with my hands--a thin coat of raspberry red semi-gloss paint I had deadened a little with brown to make it a little less vivid. Because it was a deep color, there wasn't much white filler in the paint, so it was almost like a glaze or stain, instead of paint, which is just what I wanted anyway. I just smoothed it on, like suntan oil, and worked it into the pink paint. I let it build a little thicker at the back, on the inside of the arms and at the back edge of the loose cushion, so that the paler, thinner red took on an air of wear at the high points.

I let it dry 2 days, then CAREFULLY sanded the few new sharp things, and touched up those spots with my fingers. I let it dry 2 days, then waxed the whole thing with regular paste wax. After it was dry, I polished with a soft cloth, then dusted with talcum, and vacuumed it all off. It was a little stiff the first few days, but now it not only looks like red leather, it feels like it.

This worked great on my ugly glazed chintz, and probably would work on any smooth fabric, except that some may have more burrs and therefore require more sanding, but I wouldn't try it on anything with a heavy texture. And no, the paint doesn't peel off. And no, it's not stiff, either. Think about it--it's latex paint, and essentially, that's what's in those little bottles of fabric medium."

wet the fabric with a spray bottle, and prime it (gesso works, KILLZ' is way cheaper, and honestly, a better primer) let dry. sand gently (I prefer a scotchbrite sanding pad to paper) and run a 'tack cloth' over it to pick up the dust. after that... house paint, acrylic paint, those 50 cent tubes of craft paint...it all works. sponge it. stencil it. do whatever. let dry. scotchguard, or brush lightly with thompson's water seal.

I'm scouring craigslist now for some free or nearly so "ugly" upholstery chairs to try this on.