Design

Ikea Cushion Hack

Today on the blog I have the super talented Sharon from I Restore Stuff sharing with us her Ikea Cushion tutorial. This is so cute I know I am going to have to make one myself!

I’m excited to be sharing on Love Swah’s beautiful blog today, my little creative Ikea Cushion Hack. Such a simple idea, but one that will transform a plain, drab cushion, into a pretty addition to your bed, lounge or sofa.

Here are a list of items I used for this project:

50x50cm cushion cover ($5 from Ikea)
A stencil (I bought a cheap set from Typo that had some funky designs)
Fusion Mineral Paint (37ml sample pots from I Restore Stuff for $8 in 24 colours)
Cushion insert 50x50cm ($6.99 feather insert from Ikea)
Stencil brush (I used a small Websters waxing brush I had in my stash that I bought from Dandelion Wood) but you can use any flat bristled brush.

I started by laying the cushion cover down on a flat table surface, placing some scrap paper or newspaper inside the cover, just in case paint was going to seep through.

I selected the stencil I wanted to use, and taped it to the cushion using painter’s tape so that the stencil wouldn’t move during the painting process.

Using the stencil brush, I dipped the tip of the brush into the sample pot of Fusion Paint, and wiped off any excess on the edge of the pot. You can also dab excess onto an old newspaper. You do NOT want your brush to be full of paint when you’re stencilling.

Using an up-and-down dabbing motion, slowly fill in the stencil area that you wish to paint. Dab continually until you see that the paint has filled the area before moving around in sections. I used a few colours in this stencil, so if you plan to do this, be very careful not to accidentally cross into the next colour area. You can avoid this by placing a piece of paper over the stencilled areas you don’t want to paint.

For the bowl of this fruit basket stencil, I used Fusion Copper Tinting paint. I love the Copper trend that is in at the moment, and although the tint and gilding pastes are a little more expensive than the paints, you hardly use any and they give a great effect.

When I had finished each of the colours, I carefully lifted the tape and stencil away from the fabric and allowed the paint to fully dry. Overnight is best.

Once fully dried, I ironed the painted cushion using a tea towel to cover the painted part, so iron wouldn’t stick to the image. I used a warm to hot iron. This sets the paint into the fabric.

I inserted the feather pillow and added it to my daughter’s bedroom, which was already suffering from pineapple overload! I do believe she is over this phase, but I let her know it was purely for photo display purposes, and I will add this little cover to my Etsy store soon.