California Cupcake: Painting Leather / Bed Makeover!

Hey guys! Today we're talking about our recently revamped bed. If you follow me on social media, you've probably picked up on my personal taste...white, bright. I'm not so into that black furniture in my house. Black definitely holds a special place in my heart..(see: My Closet), but I like a bright happy home.

When we moved back from California this past spring, we were in the market for a new bed. We found this great bed that was only $175 for everything and I just could not pass it up. The only problem was that it was a deep espresso wood with black leather...not so much my style. But, if there is one thing you can count on, it's the fact that a good coat of white paint can fix just about anything.

The other problem was the leather...what do you do with black leather? Well, the good news is that you can paint it. I'm going to be honest, I don't know how this would work on real genuine leather because there are more pores and cracks in real leather. But, most budget decor doesn't involve real leather...so I think we'll be fine ;)

Here's where we started..

Boring...

Thank god for friends with electric sanders, cause doing this by hand was just not an option for me. But once we got it all sanded, as best as we could, we were left with all the different pieces of the bed.

We wanted to go for a bright airy feel for the bedroom because it's such a small space and it was important to me that it feel breathable. So we grabbed some left over primer, some new brushes...the works.

For this project we used Flat White Behr paint to give it more of a distressed antique look.

Once I had everything painted (I believe we did about three solid coats), I grabbed some of that sand paper and distressed the edged a bit to give it more of an antique look. I didn't want it to look too distressed, because I wasn't going for a SUPER rustic look or anything, I just wanted to break up that white a bit.

Now for the Leather...

You want to use chalk paint or a flat paint for this. I used Behr Ultra flat paint. Choose whatever color you want. I went with a Greige to keep that airy feel.

The key to painting leather and keeping it usable (i.e. squish-able, sit-able, etc.) is lots and lots of really thin layers. It is going to look like a total disaster for a while. Don't be alarmed, it's normal. See...