Woman Paints Old Leather Couch Orange to Save $600, Divides Opinion

Jun 23, 2023

A TikToker who painted her couch has blown up online, joining multiple others who have gone viral with their money-saving attempts to revamp furniture, but viewers are divided on the DIY hack.

On July 27, a TikToker who goes by Kaelyn posted a video that showed her mixing what appeared to be orange paint and a darker tone in a bowl, with an on-screen caption that said she was creating the "perfect living room" for her niece who was moving in.

She could then be seen applying the paint to a leather couch using a brush, filming updates as it gradually turned from black to terracotta when the first layer was applied.

The video blew up with 5.2 million views and over 200 comments from viewers who were torn on the project. Multiple popular comments warned Kaelyn the paint would crack on the leather as soon as anyone tried to sit down, although some were more optimistic and wrote that they were holding out to see the finished product.

"I'm going to trust the process on this project bestie," one viewer wrote in a top comment that received over 8,800 likes.

Kaelyn posted a follow-up video a day later which received a further 1.7 million views where she could be seen applying more paint to the same couch. She said she thought it looked "so cool," and told viewers she planned to add sage green accent pillows when she was done so it would resemble "a plant in a pot."

painting my LEATHER couch orange 🪴🤌🏼

Over 300 comments reacted to the video, many of which also expressed concerns about the longevity of the hack.. Kaelyn responded she was "not really" concerned, as the couch was "cracking and a mess" beforehand so she figured it couldn't get any worse. Some comments wrote that the couch should be fine if the TikToker used a paint specifically designed for leather, but it's unclear from the videos what kind of paint was used.

Others fully backed the concept and felt the look was coming together as she added more layers.

"Wait this is SUCH a good idea!!! Get succulent pillows!!!!" one comment read and received over 4,400 likes.

Another viewer wrote they "actually love" the idea but they would be too lazy to paint and would just buy an orange couch instead.

"Hahahaha i thought about it but they are like $600 so i was like paint it is," Kaelyn wrote in response.

Kaelyn has over 1.4 million followers on TikTok, and her videos include a viral series where she decorated a room in her home for her niece to move into, which included the addition of the still partially painted couch. She did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

She is not the first TikToker to go viral by sharing the process of painting their furniture, with some facing backlash as a result.

In July, a TikToker received millions of views and a barrage of negative comments when she rolled cream-colored paint onto a brown leather chair, and a woman who transformed a "vintage" sofa by spray-painting it blue received similar treatment after she posted the results online.

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