Yes, I spray painted upholstered chairs. I’ll admit it sounds odd, and it’s not the move for most people. But when you’re a determined person with a risky plan and a stack of slipcovers ready to hide any missteps, strange things happen.
These are the Craigslist chairs we found last March—hotel castoffs with faded and stained eighties fabric—but they were only $25 each, so we took a chance.
My first attempt was to paint them a soft apple green following a tutorial I’d seen, but that didn’t go as planned. After a messy experiment I abandoned the idea and tried other options.
We considered sticking with green for a while, but with so many chairs in one room we didn’t want them to compete with our patterned curtains and boldly painted built-ins. I picked up off-white slipcovers from World Market at a discount, but they clashed with the trim and accessories, so I dyed them brown to better coordinate.
The slipcovers tightened up nicely after drying, but over time they got baggy and sloppy. They looked loose and unkempt unless freshly washed and dried, which isn’t practical for a low-maintenance setup. In photos from our house tour the slipcovers already appear a little droopy on the sides.
Since I’d already painted one chair previously and found that it worked fine under a slipcover, I realized I could test a bolder idea with little to lose. Instead of craft paint mixed with textile medium, I decided to try spray paint—specifically a can I already owned.
Yes, I did it. Armed with eight slipcovers as a safety net, I went for it.
First, I protected my shoes with trusty “spray painting socks” to avoid sticky soles. Practical, glamorous, and effective.
I started with very light, cautious coats on a single chair—thin layers, no drips. I was nervous, but after several light passes the fabric began to look cohesive rather than chaotic. The embossed pattern in the fabric still showed through, but it was no longer an attention-grabbing eighties swirl.
After a few more thin coats the chair looked surprisingly good. Instead of the expected disaster, the paint produced a unified, gunmetal-charcoal finish—very close to the color of our sectional, which was an unexpected but pleasant result. I’d hoped for a dark brown oil-rubbed bronze tone, but on upholstery the finish read more charcoal, which balanced nicely with the surrounding rooms.
The spray paint we used (Rustoleum Universal Metallic in Oil-Rubbed Bronze) gives a subtle metallic sheen at certain angles, but most of the time the fabric reads as charcoal gray. Lighting and perspective can make the embossed pattern more or less visible, and some photos exaggerate that texture compared with real life.
I also sprayed the worn wooden legs, which took on a classic oil-rubbed bronze look—dark chocolate with a hint of metallic sheen. Those legs are one of our favorite details now; whether we keep the slipcovers or reupholster later, the legs will remain a strong feature.
In wide shots the chairs can appear darker or more patterned than they do in person. We’re planning a chandelier above the table and a large rug to break up the expanse of wood floors and furniture, which should help the chairs blend into the room without fading into a single dark mass.
People often ask how the fabric feels after spray painting. Surprisingly, the chairs feel very much like they did before—firm and durable rather than rough or crunchy. My guess is that the spray paint sits thinly on the surface, especially on heavy upholstery fabric, so it doesn’t drastically change the hand. A reader suggested the hotel fabric might be Crypton or similarly treated, which could prevent the paint from penetrating and help it sit smoothly on top.
To be clear: I wouldn’t recommend this for delicate fabrics like velvet or silk, which could become stiff if coated. My confidence came from two things: I’d already painted one chair and seen it work under a slipcover, and I had slipcovers ready to hide any mistakes. Different fabrics and different application methods can produce varied results, so always test on a scrap before tackling a full piece.
Another common concern is transfer—will the paint rub off onto clothing? After letting the chairs cure outside for several days, they stopped smelling like paint and didn’t transfer color when rubbed with a wet cloth. Because the paint is oil-based and fully cured, it shouldn’t rub off like wet water-based finishes might.
As for how we feel about the final result: we like them more than the green paint disaster and slightly more than the sloppy slipcovers. They’re a practical interim solution—“fine for now.” We still have the brown slipcovers if we want to go back, and someday we might recover or reupholster the chairs properly. For now, the spray-painted finish gives the room a more cohesive, balanced look, and that’s enough.
Lesson learned: $25 Craigslist chairs can be a great deal, but busy or unusual patterns may clash with ready-made slipcovers. We’ve painted, slipcovered, dyed, and re-painted these chairs more times than I can count, but they’ve served us well. If you’ve ever reached the point of spray painting something in a fit of creative frustration, you’re not alone—sometimes stubborn persistence pays off.