A woman spray painted a 'vintage' couch to update the color, but viewers are divided on the interior hack
TikTok: @kwolfephotography, Kelsey Whittaker
- A TikToker said she transformed a "vintage" couch her mom had bought for $15 using spray paint.
- Her video series about the transformation blew up but commenters were undecided on the design idea.
- Some felt she had ruined the fabric while others wrote it was a smart alternative to wasting it.
A woman who spray painted an old couch a completely different color has split opinion on TikTok, as some felt it was a smart hack, while others thought she'd ruined it.
On July 26, TikToker Kelsey Whittaker posted a video that showed her sitting on a piece of furniture with a voiceover that said, "Let's paint this vintage couch that my mom bought for me for $15."
In the upload, which received 238,000 views, Whittaker could be seen covering the wood on the couch with tape and plastic sheets, and proceeded to coat the cushioned sections with what she said was "outdoor fabric spray paint" from the home improvement store Lowe's, while inside her studio.
The same day, Whittaker shared another video that showed more of the painting process and racked up a further 562,000 views and over 230 comments that were split on the renovation.
While some wrote that they loved the idea and felt it was a much better alternative to throwing the couch in the trash, others suggested she may have ruined it regardless, as the spray paint could coarsen the couch material and make it uncomfortable to sit on.
After multiple viewers asked if it felt hard to the touch, the TikToker responded to one comment and wrote, "Only the slightest!"
Others wrote the smell of the spray paint would be overwhelming for anyone wishing to sit down on it, and questioned why she hadn't taken the couch outside before embarking on the project.
Further viewers pondered if the paint could transfer onto someone's clothes even after it had dried, and asked the TikToker how she planned to spot-clean the couch if something else stained it.
"Uh didn't even think about that," Whittaker responded in her comments to this question, and included a grinning face with sweat emoji, often used to suggest someone is nervous.
Whittaker received over 900,000 views in total for her spray paint series as she continued to upload more insights into the project, including a final look that showed a before and after of the furniture, which she wrote in the caption was for all the "haters."
The video started with an image of the original couch, with on-screen text that appeared to represent negative comments she'd received which called her "stupid" and labeled the idea "dumb" before it cut to a video of the final result. Comments beneath the upload applauded the end product, some dubbing it "perfection" and "beautiful" and praised the TikToker for putting her spin on the item.
Whittaker is a wedding and family photographer with over 73,000 followers on TikTok where she often posts videos about her photography business and studio which was renovated from an old church. She did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
For more stories like this, check out coverage from Insider's Digital Culture team here.