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Kmart shopper divides with 'confusing' $7 furniture hack: 'Odd choice'
The Kmart fan covered an old chair with cheap chalk paint.
A Kmart shopper has divided opinion with her unusual ‘hack’ to upcycle an old rocking chair. The worn floral fabric looked old and wasn’t trendy, so she covered the fabric with layers of the retail’s $7 chalk paint.
The cheap fix took the savvy customer about a week at a leisurely pace, and she shared the finished result on a popular Facebook page.
“I updated an old rocking armchair that I was given ages ago using Kmart chalk paint, I’m really happy with how it turned out,” she wrote in the caption.
The Kmart fan first sprayed the chair with some water to make it damp, and then used a watered-down version of the white chalk paint. Since the original fabric had such a bold floral pattern, it took ‘at least two coats’ before it was covered.
“I didn’t water down the blue but did a light coat [on top]. I sanded with a fine sandpaper between each paint, and then dry [brushed] the white over the blue to help the pattern come through,” she explained.
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People in the Facebook group were baffled by her ‘odd choice’, with many wondering if it was a good idea to put paint onto fabric.
“I wouldn’t have thought you’d be able to sit on it without it showing on your clothes. Love to be proven wrong though,” one person wrote.
“Looks nice but could have achieved the same thing with a grey slip-on cover, softer too,” another wrote.
“I just can’t get my head around painting lounges??? Wouldn’t it be stiff? Wear onto clothes? All just so confusing lol,” a third asked.
“I have done this, and the paint is so hard, it’s disgusting to sit on. I ended up chucking the chair out…each to their own,” another remarked.
“I bought a padded footstool that had been ‘restored’. I didn’t realise it had been fabric painted until she delivered it. It looks cheap and nasty and crunchy. Awful,” a shopper added.
The shopper replied to a number of negative comments, saying sanding the couch between paint layers meant that it wasn’t hard, and no paint has rubbed off onto her clothing.
“I actually spilt my drink on it the night I finished, lol it wiped straight off and no paint came [off] at all,” she added in the comments.
SHOP:
A number of Kmart fans rushed to defend her, with one pointing out that using chalk paint to restore furniture is quite common.
“I think you’ve done a great job and what a cool idea! Thanks for sharing, you have inspired me to save my leather ottoman instead of tossing it out,” another added.
“My mum has been doing this for years to furniture. I was sceptical at first too but all her pieces have held up so well and no paint transfer,” a third chimed in.
“Wonderful hack and I think there will be a few people doing the same now!” another exclaimed.
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