DIY French Linen Stripe Chairs

What’s a table without chairs? Having refinished the dining table, the chairs needed an equally fab makeover using Fusion Mineral Paint. Welcome back to a special series, Company’s Coming, and prepare to be hailed the host of the holidays!

French Linen Stripe Chairs

The french linen stripe is a classic look and one that works perfectly with this style of chair. It’s identified by the contrasting size of stripes, usually running down the middle of what has been upholstered.

SUPPLIES
TSP Alternative
Sanding Block
Painters Tape
Staalmeester Brushes
Fusion Mineral Paint Bedford and Lichen

STEP 1

PREP THE CHAIRS

Use Fusion Mineral Paint to paint fabric, and create your own DIY french linen stripe chairs. Use our line of french country and farmhouse shades to get the look for less.

The wood part of the chair was cleaned with TSP and got a light sanding to ensure optimal paint adhesion. We recommend all furniture projects start with these steps.

STEP 2

PAINTING THE FRAME

Before reupholstering the seat, we recommend you paint the chair frame first. In doing so, you don’t run the risk of getting different paint colours all over your fresh upholstery. With great prep work, painting the frame will be a breeze! Using our Staalmeester brushes, you can easily apply your desired colour for maximum coverage. The brushes will even get into all the nooks and crannies of a more complicated chair.

We painted the interior back of the chair a different color than the frame. A slight color contrast can show off beautiful detailing.

STEP 3

REUPHOLSTER

Although there’s not too much wrong with these chairs, they don’t match our freshly painted table. While we do have great tips on painting fabric, instead of painting over the orange velvet, we stripped the fabric and reupholstered them in a beige colour. As you can see below, we’ve already begun taping down our chair which means it’s on to the next step!

STEP 4

HOW TO CREATE A FRENCH LINEN STRIPE

With the seat getting a french linen stripe, we’ll be creating two stencils using painter’s tape. We recommend starting with the central thicker stripe. If you remove the tape immediately after applying your coat, you’ll get crisp lines as any excess paint (sitting on the tape) is removed before it can run.

When it’s dry, re-tape for two thinner stripes on both sides. Apply your paint and remove the tape as you did on the first stripe.

How to avoid paint bleeding when stencilling fabric

Any time stencil tape is involved, you run the risk of the paint bleeding through, unless…

You use little to no paint on your brush. After dipping your brush, make sure to remove as much excess as you can (even test it on a paper towel). You want it to look like a dusting of paint is being applied. This will avoid that bleed-through of the paint seeping below the stencil or tape.