Rejuvenate your walls and furnishings with paint, tape, and fabric in a perky palette of primary colors and geometric shapes. Here’s how we added playful pattern and punchy color to formerly lackluster furnishings using simple techniques and readily available products.
Stripe Your Wall
A gray wall provides a neutral backdrop that makes furnishings painted in vivid hues really sparkle. The wall gets a bit of its own personality with a subtle stripe. For an understated pattern, choose colors that are next to each other on a paint strip. For greater contrast, move down the strip one or two places from your first color choice to find the second color.
When taping off stripes on a wall, apply the tape in small sections for crisp, level edges.
Gather your materials
- Benjamin Moore gloss sheen latex paint: Early Morning Mist #1528 and Senora Gray #1530
- 2-inch wide Frog Tape
- Drop cloth
- Stir sticks
- Paint tray
- Standard roller frame with 9-inch roller cover
- Mini roller frame with 4-inch roller cover
- 2-inch trim brush
- Tape measure
- Brown colored pencil
- Level
Mask ceiling, baseboards, and trim with painter’s tape. Paint the entire wall with Early Morning Mist; let dry. Apply a second coat if necessary; let dry overnight leaving the tape on.
Starting at the bottom of the wall, mark 10-inch intervals going all the way up to the ceiling. Use a level and colored pencil to mark each horizontal line all the way across the wall.
Determine which stripes will be the darker color and place a small piece of tape to indicate them. Tape off below the bottom line of each dark stripe and above the top line of each dark stripe.
Using the mini roller, paint the taped-off dark stripes with two coats of Senora Gray, letting dry between coats. Remove all tape.
Reimagine a Classic Chair
Sunny yellow paint gives a chair frame new life, while off-white upholstery provides a neutral backdrop for jazzy patterned pillows.
Before the makeover, this chair boasted timeless style but dark and dreary finishes.
A redo in cheerful yellow puts the emphasis on the lovely lines of the chic chair frame.
Gather your materials
- Medium and fine-grit sandpaper
- Tack cloth
- Spray-on primer
- Household trim brush
- Benjamin Moore gloss sheen latex paint: Sun Valley #350
- Finish sealer
Sand all surfaces of the chair and wipe thoroughly with a tack cloth. Spray the chair with spray-on primer; let dry. Using a household trim brush, basecoat the entire chair with two coats of Sun Valley letting dry between coats.
Apply two or three coats of finish sealer, letting dry between coats.
Paint a Pillow
Hot colors on high contrast charcoal give these pillows graphic punch that stands out against the soft white chair upholstery.
Stenciled Pillow Fabric
Gather your materials
- ½ yard. grey fabric of choice
- Wide masking tape
- Non-porous foam core art board cut 24″ square
- DecoArt Americana acrylic craft paint: Cadmium Yellow #DA010
- Disposable plate
- Fabric painting medium
- Craft stencil: Cutting Edge Stencil Houndstooth #CRO11-SM
- Painter’s tape
- Stencil brushes
- Stencil adhesive spray
Wash, dry, and iron the fabric to remove sizing. Cut an 18″ square piece of fabric. Place the fabric face up on the foam core and secure with wide masking tape. Stretch the fabric tightly as you tape each side.
Spray the back of the houndstooth stencil with the stencil adhesive. Apply the stencil to the fabric. Gently pat and smooth the stencil in place to ensure that all areas have adhered well.
Pour a small amount of Cadmium Yellow onto the disposable plate. Mix equal parts of fabric painting medium into the paint puddle. Pick up a scant amount of paint on a stencil brush. Tap the loaded brush onto a stack of absorbent paper towels. Too much paint on the brush can cause the paint to bleed under the stencil. Using a tapping motion and light pressure, apply the paint to the stencil.
Check to make sure all stencil openings have been covered and fill in where necessary; let dry. Without moving the stencil, apply three or four more coats of paint until the desired opacity is achieved. Let dry and remove the stencil. Move the stencil and secure in place for the next repeat, matching the register marks.
Continue stenciling until the entire fabric piece is complete.
Striped Pillow Fabric
Gather your materials
- ½ yard grey fabric of choice
- Wide masking tape
- Non-porous foam core art board cut 24″ square
- Ruler
- Fine point marker
- Light colored art pencil
- DecoArt Americana acrylic craft paint: Cadmium Yellow #DA010, Royal Fuchsia #DA151, Snow (Titanium) White #DA01, and Neutral Grey #DA095
- Disposable plate
- Fabric painting medium
- Painter’s tape
- 1-inch wide flat crafts brush
Wash, dry, and iron the fabric to remove sizing. Cut an 18″ square piece of fabric. Place the fabric face up on the foam core and secure with wide masking tape. Stretch the fabric tightly as you tape each side.
To create vertical 2-inch wide stripes with ½-inch wide spaces between them across the width of the fabric, use a ruler and fine marker to measure and mark along the upper and lower tape that holds the fabric. Mark the intervals on the top and bottom tape. Use a long straight edge to match the marks at the top and bottom tape and a light colored art pencil to mark vertical lines on the fabric.
Use painter’s tape to tape off each stripe as you paint each color.
Pour a small amount of Cadmium Yellow onto the disposable plate. Mix equal parts of fabric painting medium into the paint puddle. Paint two of the stripes with three or four coats of paint letting dry between coats.
Following the same procedure, paint the white stripe with Snow White, paint the pink stripe with Fuchsia, and the grey stripe with Neutral Grey.
Refresh a Footstool
Painted with leftovers from other projects, this small footstool boasts freehand stripes on gray suit fabric. Mock nailhead trim is made from dots painted with a dauber onto gray cloth tape.
Gather your materials
- Medium and fine-grit sandpaper
- Tack cloth
- Spray-on primer
- Household trim brush
- Benjamin Moore gloss sheen latex paint: Gypsy Pink #2077-30
- Finish sealer
- Grey fabric of choice (enough to cover your footstool)
- Non-porous foam core art board
- Ruler
- Fine point marker
- Light colored art pencil
- DecoArt Americana acrylic craft paint: Cadmium Yellow #DA010, Royal Fuchsia #DA151, Snow (Titanium) White #DA01, and Neutral Grey #DA095
- Disposable plate
- Fabric painting medium
- Painter’s tape
- ½-inch wide flat china bristle brush
Sand all surfaces of the footstool and wipe thoroughly with a tack cloth. Spray the chair with spray-on primer; let dry. Using a household trim brush, basecoat the entire chair with two coats of Gypsy Pink letting dry between coats.
Apply two or three coats of finish sealer, letting dry between coats.
Wash, dry, and iron the fabric to remove sizing. Cut a piece of fabric to fit your footstool. Place the fabric face up on the foam core and secure with wide masking tape. Stretch the fabric tightly as you tape each side.
To create vertical stripes across the width of the fabric, use a ruler and fine marker to measure and mark along the upper and lower tape that holds the fabric. Mark groups of stripes as desired with narrow spacing between stripes within a group and wider spacing between groups of stripes. Use a long straight edge to match the marks at the top and bottom tape and a light colored art pencil to mark vertical lines on the fabric.
Pour a small amount of Cadmium Yellow onto the disposable plate. Mix equal parts of fabric painting medium into the paint puddle. Load the ½-inch wide brush and paint stripes using a sketchy start-stop motion.
Following the same procedure, paint the white stripe with Snow White, paint the pink stripe with Fuchsia, and the grey stripe with Neutral Grey.
Vinyl Floorcloth
A remnant of vinyl flooring provides the foundation for this geometric masterpiece. Painted on the reverse of the remnant, the design is created in sections with a straightedge, ruler, and tape.
Gather your materials
- Vinyl flooring remnant measuring 4′ X 6′
- Small foam paint roller and appropriate size handle
- Painter’s tape: 1″ width
- White latex primer
- Benjamin Moore satin sheen latex paint: Blue #2066 and Rocky Mountain Sky #2066-40
- Ruler
- Long straightedge
- Pencil
- Finish sealer
Use a paint roller to apply two coats of primer letting dry between coats. Apply two coats of Rocky Mountain Sky letting dry between coats.
Divide the floorcloth into six 8-inch-wide sections. Use the ruler to mark off 5 stripes and draw straight lines across the length of the floorcloth using a long straightedge. Use painter’s tape to tape off the long vertical stripes.
Use the yardstick to mark 7-inch intervals along each vertical stripe. Use painter’s tape to tape off diagonal lines along the length of each vertical section.
Alternate the direction of the diagonal lines in each section.
Use the paint roller to apply two coats of Blue letting dry between coats.
Remove all painter’s tape.
Apply two or three coats of finish sealer for protection.
Check back with our next post for more instructions on wall decor, the dresser, lamp, lampshade, and window shade.
Produced by Meredith Drummond
Project painting by Pat Garrington
Photography by Cameron Sadeghpour
Unless otherwise noted, all paint from Benjamin Moore; benjaminmoore.com.
- Dresser paint color—Caribbean Blue Water 2055-30, satin, in Advance Waterborne Interior.
- Wall paint colors—Early Morning Mist 1528 and Senora Gray 1530.
- Chair paint—Sun Valley 350, gloss.
- Floor cloth colors— Evening Blue 2066-20 or Blue 2066-10 with Rocky Mountain Sky 2066-40.
- Lamp base paint— Gypsy Pink 2077-20, gloss.
- Shade paint colors: Base color—Stormy Monday 2112-50 (pale gray) with stenciled zigzags in Gypsy Pink 2077-20, Magenta 2077-10, Spring Azalea 2077-40, and Brown Sugar 2112-20.
- Footstool—Body painted in Gypsy Pink 2077-30. Footstool trim— Newbaum’s Cloth Tape in gray from Cycle Club Sports; cycleclubsports.com.
- Chair fabric— Astamor in Ivory by Robert Allen Fabrics from the Essential Windows Collection/Linen Textures available at Calico Corners; calicocorners.com.
- Dresser— Malm 3-drawer chest in white from IKEA; ikea.com.
- Applique— Greek Key Double GKD629H, ½-inch thickness from Overlays: myoverlays.com.
- Roman Shade stencil— Herringbone Shuffle from Royal Design Studio; royaldesignstudio.com.
Lamp shade and pillow stencils:
- Tribe stencil and Houndstooth craft stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils; cuttingedgestencils.com.
- Yellow Stripes on plates, pattern on vase— Short Cut spray paint in Sun Yellow and Short Cuts paint pen in white from Krylon; krylon.com.
© Caruth Studio