It sounds tacky, but I have been surprised before.

How much you paid for it doesn't matter. Would you feel better if you had paid more for it?

What matters is that your husband loves it and you seem to think it is good quality. When it is recovered, you can also have them add fill/batting to make it almost like new.

Haven't tried it, but I've read you can use chalk paint on fabric.

Trying new ideas like painting a slipcover is not tacky! I say go for it! It's only a slip cover so you can't ruin the chair :) good luck! Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Does the color fit with your decor? That fabric is coming back in style again. Not kidding!
What about an afghan thrown over it.

I am not a slipcover fan. They always look like........slipcovers.

Can we see photos of the room?

cdr, you make a good point. You'd never know the chair was 20 years old (if you couldn't see the material it is currently covered in). and DH loves it. And I have been searching the internet a month looking for a faux cowhide covered wing chair unsuccessfully (on the off chance I could coax DH into giving up his teal baby). So invest $400 or more into a new chair (if I could find) that DH may or may not learn to love, or go with the known entity and just give it a fresh, bovine look? This chair has HISTORY! I held my newborn in this chair.
Our late parents sat in this chair. My beloved departed dog liked to hang out in this chair (when protected by a blanky!). The actual value of the chair doesn't matter as much as the value to me and DH. I think I know what I am going to do. Thanks!

I'd say slipcover, if you can't find one, make one. Even though a paint job could turn out fine, don't ruin a good quality upholstery.

The room is a blank canvas right now. In my spare room, I have stored tables and lamps and rugs and pillows. The painter is coming next week. Then I am sending my husband away for the day and I am dressing the room, because he is going to freak. He's a bit sensitive to change. But it's going to look so great! It's just that he sees each piece individually and not in context, he'll start getting very, very nervous. The main issue was that crazy wing chair, which is actually kind of set on the periphery of the room so DH can look at the view. I am going to finish it off as his reading corner, with this fab little aqua and glass table and some kind of killer lamp----I am still working on the lamp in my head. I thought table, but now I am moving toward floor so the little side table is clear for books and magazines and coffee cups. But I am totally going to post before and after pictures plus my inspiration photo, because I love hearing everyone's opinions. I know some people will hate it and some will like it. This is Houzz, after all!

Okay, you definitely have to keep this chair. You said an aqua table? Could you just keep the chair the same fabric for now and put a teal animal-skin pillow on it?

Here are some photos for you for inspiration. Also, consider painting the legs a really fab color!!

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I love the Murray Hill and Living Room Vignette---especially the Living Room Vignette. I wanted to go with the cowhide look because I have a turquoise La-z-boy on order plus my home's style is a SW territorial, so I felt like I needed to give that a funky little nod, while steering the theme of the family room---the house---toward the contemporary/moderne/retro-chic look I love. Because of the room layout, the La-Z-boy has to be on the same side of the room as the wing chair, and I don't want all that bright color unbalancing the room. So my thought was that the La-z-boy would be the POP of color, along with accents of turquoise and orange-y red and yellow in pillows and accent pieces, like the little aqua table. The largest piece in the family room is a cream leather sectional. I was actually thinking the faux cowhide would be a neutral element, in a way.