…is not as difficult as I thought it would be!  Time consuming yes, but oh so simple ::

Finished Couch!

Here’s the blank canvas I started with ::

New-used couch, super comfy but I just wasn't feelin' the color

I went to an art supply store and got some paints that were made for leather (I also grabbed some bronze metallic powder, it looked too cool to pass up and I was in a rusty mood) ::

Paaaaaaaiinnnntttssssss. Actually I'm surprized I was able to cover the entire couch using just 4 tiny containers of paint. You have to paint it on pretty thickly to get opacity.

I searched images online for striped couches and found a few to use as inspiration, and then I made a few mock-ups in Photoshop so I could try different stripe directions before deciding on how exactly to proceed.  Here’s the mock-up I ended up going with, not too bad eh? ::

Many mock-ups were made, only one was chosen.

Then I measured and marked off the stripes with a sharpy and a straightedge.  I happened to use a black sharpy, but when I started painting the orange I found that it did not cover the black.  “Fool!” I thought at first, but after the orange was painted, I was happy to have a line to follow when painting the black stripes. Just don’t mess up when drawing the lines or it will be a b:tch trying to cover them up with lighter color paint.

I used pattern hooks and table legs to prop up the couch fat so the paint would dry in its crevices

I was using two shades of orange so that the color wasn’t so flat.  I just randomly chose what shade to dip the brush in each time I needed more paint.  Nothing to it.

The worst part was setting the paint.  After painting each section of the couch, I used an iron (over a piece of cotton fabric) to heat the paint and set it to the leather so it won’t rub off when you sit on it.  After all of the orange was painted and set (which took for-f::king-ever), I could start on the black.  I also sprinkled the metallic powder on the black stripes ::

I didn't bother taping off the stripes. I figured a little wiggle in the brush strokes would fit in fine with the wrinkles and creases in the leather.

And I made sure to add something blasphemous to the back ::

How could I not? Well, partially because I was quickly running out of orange paint...

At the end of it all, I set the iron to almost the highest setting and slowly set all of the paint one last time to make sure it would hold.

This would have been a great winter project due to the heat from the iron.  I, however, finished it in the summer.  Not so good.  But over the last several months the paint hasn’t come off at all, and it has kept the flexibility and softness of the original leather.  So yay for painting leather couches!  But do it in le winter.

:: KtB ::