Light Filled Corner on a Dreary Day

This may be my favorite corner of our house at the moment. The large window is south facing, so it receives a lot of light during the day. The plants love it, and it maybe why we spent to majority of our time in this room(it wouldn't be because the TV is also located in this room).
Just recently I set out to tackle a little project that I had had on my list for quite some time.
Years ago I had dragged home a simple Mid Century dresser from a neighborhood alley, and even though the dresser wasn't in the best shape, it easily served its purpose.
So, fast forward to a couple of weeks ago I found a matching dresser from the same simple line of the first found piece, and even though it wasn't free, I paid $10, and felt like I still got a deal.
Now I was the proud owner of 2 simple dressers, with great lines, in rough shape.
This is what sent the wheels into motion on making these pieces more pleasing to the eye.

Dresser Drawers

It was a quick project, more prep work than anything else. Like I stated before, these pieces were far from perfect. I glued and clamped any loose veneer and even filled and sanded chunks of missing veneer.

If you are one of those types that cringes at the sight of paint vintage furniture(I myself can sometimes be that person) these dressers were never high end and one was even destined for a landfill.

I just used two cans of high gloss white spray paint to hide much of the damage these pieces had received in the last 50 years.

I also spent time with a bottle of restore-a-finish, steel wool, and wax-n-feed. This made the walnut cases look better, and what the before mentioned products didn't take care of, I also got at it a little with a wax furniture pencil.

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Yes, we do have a TV that we do watch, and it is big and ugly and requires cords and boxes and what not

Toy storage

If you live in a smaller home or older one with little closet space, you know how very important storage space is. This was a very inexpensive solution to house and hide those things that are needed but are not the prettiest to look at.

A Table with Potential

Laminate coffee table

I found this coffee table at the thrift store this week and loved the lines of it, but wasn't impressed with the laminate top. The thrift store was have a 50% off cash and carry furniture sale, so I decided to spend the $15 and try to work some magic.

I had a coupon for 50% off at Joanns fabric, and even though they don't carry the highest grade foam, I was able to get 56'' of 24'' wide, 2'' foam for $25. I also purchased a nice think batting that was already on sale, so about $5 went into that.

Little helper

Also on the materials list was this nice gray wool army blanket that was thrifted from savers, for $5. This is the only picture I snapped of the blanket before it was put into use. This also explains why I have a hard time getting any projects done lately. There is always someone wanting to "help", and believe it or not, it always makes the project harder.
When using vintage material for a project it is always important to thoroughly examine the fabric. Wool army blanket are great for re purposing, but make sure there are no moth holes. The blanket I found was in amazing shape, no holes, no stains.

It was pretty easy after that. I just detached the laminate top, cut the foam to size using an electric knife, wrapped the foam with my batting and used a staple gun to attach. I then cut the wool blanket to size and then placed it on the foam and batting upside down, pinned the corners and the used my sewing machine to sew the corners that I had pinned.

Once the sewing was done, I flipped it right side out, stretched it back over the foam and stapled it in place.

There you go. A table with potential. In all this project cost about $55 to complete, and that is including the cost of the table. It was a easy project, that anyone could complete. It gave new life to this piece of furniture that had an undesirable laminate top, but beautiful Pearsall-esque walnut legs.

Happy Halloween and a little DIY

 I was inspired to do a little DIY when I came across these glitter skulls at Target. I was going to make a concrete base for them, but while I was at the craft store gathering supplies, I came across these wooden boxes on sale instead. I started with weighting the boxes with plaster, since they are light weight. After letting the plaster dry for 24 hours, I drilled holes in the back of the boxes, above where the plaster stops. Then I cut wooden lids out of a separate piece of light weight wood, I also drilled a hole in the center of the lid for the rod and wiring to come through. I used a acrylic gray paint to finish the boxes, I wanted to still see wood grain, so I watered down the paint, brushed in on, and quickly wiped it off.
I had the threaded rod already, so I just used a hack saw and cut it in half. I used a long sharp object to cut through the skull enough to run the rod through. I purchased 16 feet of cloth cord from the lighting store, along with two plugs. I already had the nuts to secure the rods through the lid of the box, I just used one on either side to secure the rod. I had two brass Hubble sockets from an auction, laying around, and decided to use them since i wasn't planning on using lamp shades. They are really heavy duty and quite beautiful for a lamp socket, and design wise can stand on their own. I also top the sockets with chrome dipped light bulbs, which can be found at most hardware stores. This helps cast the light downward since there aren't any shades.
And that is it. I really easy DIY, that has a spooky look, but can be kept out year round. You can also adjust this project to your own needs if you aren't in the the glitter skull thing. You can put just about anything you want and the threaded rod and have custom lamps.

Bathroom redo, for the cost of paint

I have been wanting to redo the bathroom for quite sometime.

Our shower surround is some kind of laminate, and it has been that way since we moved in. I would love to tile it, but I'm afraid to start a project like that, with only having one bathroom and no experience tiling.

I had been putting off doing any thing to the bathroom since I couldn't do it the way I wanted to.

I had finally had enough, and decided that I wanted to like the way our bathroom looked.

I bought paint at home depot, the paint-plus-primer, and that was it. Everything else used to redo the bathroom we already had.

I started with a light gray, and painted the walls, ceiling, and trim the same color. I then took both light fixtures down, and replaced then with a nice pan light I already had in the garage, and used a simple vintage porcelain socket for between the medicine cabinet and mirror. I paint both with primer and flat black spray paint. I then used 2 large round white bulbs, for both fixtures.

The medicine cabinet was found in an alley, and it was primed and painted flat black. It was found without hinges, so we used two left over hinges from our kitchen switch. My husband then hung the cabinet on the wall , next to the mirror, that I also replaced. The mirror the husband has had for a long time, and had never really found a place.

For the hand towels, I used a hook that I also had laying around, and attached it to the wall, by the sink. I found an old gray cotton cafe curtain with my fabrics, and decided to cut it in half, and hem it to make the two new hand towels. I also switched out the handle and the cabinet under the sink with a simpler handle, also left over fro the kitchen.

I had been trying to come up with a way to hide the shower, and decided a floor to ceiling, wall to wall curtain would do the trick. I had the tapestry with my fabrics also, and it was almost the only piece that was large enough. My husband then used piping as a curtain rod, and an extra piece for the toilet paper holder/curtain tieback.

The rug is also something that I already had, just a cotton saddle blanket. We may do one more long pipe for a towel bar for our bath towels, but for now there is a hook on the back of the door for those towels.

I am very happy with how the bathroom turned out, and you can't beat it for the expense. It only took a couple of days of work, and now I wished I would have done it sooner.(and that all the other rooms would only take that long to paint)

Girly retro chair...

A new chair that I've been working on. I have started a lot of projects lately and not many of them have been finished for different reasons. It really wasn't bothering me and I knew that i would get a chance to work on them again soon.

Then last night as I lay in bed watching "Hoarders" one of the hoarders in question said that his hoarding started with projects that he brought home and wasn't able to find the time to finish. He now was trying to sort out his life on a TV show in front of everyone watching. His family was sad and effected, the city had already fined him for the mess that was his yard.

Well, after the show was over I sat up in bed and made a little "to do "list. This made me feel a little bit better, but I knew that I was going to have to spring into action.

So, today nothing on my list has been done, but I did finish this little chair project that had been sitting in my entry way for about a week.

Last week on my alley rounds (not looking for projects, but looking for something to help finish a project) I found 3, yes 3 great chairs in need of a home. What was I to do? Leave them there awaiting large trash removal day. Or work the jigsaw puzzle it was to try to cram 3 large chairs into our car knowing the car seat had to stay.(I really wasn't thinking about leaving my son in that alley, I'll leave his bike 4 hours away to haul furniture home, but never would I leave my little helper!) Well, they all fit. One in the back, one next to the car seat and one next to me in the front seat.

So, back to the part about me not ever wanting to be on a TV show about hoarding, I finished a quick makeover on this great chair. In its previous life it served as a scratching post for some lucky kitty, and the was some paint splattered on the back of the legs. I started by taking a bark cloth panel and cutting three sections and then sewing two seams to go right about where the legs are in the front. I then used my cardboard strips and upholstery tacks to tack the fabric around the front of the chair. This was previously done this way but with just the same fabric. I then stapled the fabric underneath the chair and used whatever they call that stuff that is used to finish the underneath of furniture.

Then with some help from my sidekick, we used goo-be-gone and extra fine steel wool and were able to remove all of the paint from the legs. After a good cleaning was done to the whole chair, I listed that pretty little thing on craigslist.

And there you go, no hoarders here!

Vostra

So here is a little story about a girl who loves to find things in alleys. I picked up a couple of chairs awhile back in an alley not far from here, one was in pretty good condition and the other looked as if a cat had been living onto for about 50 years. The one that was in good shape was sold pretty quickly since the white upholstery doesn't mesh well with a three year old and his chocolate milk lovin' ways. The other was placed in the basement of doom, to be reupholstered when I finished the 32 other upholstery projects I have going.

Today being a beautiful day, I decided I was going to tear the chair apart and rid it of the smell of all of the cats that have loved in so much in the passed.

The shape of the chair was a dead ringer for a Jens Risom Knoll webbed lounge chair, and by now I hope you know how I LOVE webbed vintage furniture. So I peeled the red crushed velvet back that had been so loosely stapled on, to find the sides of the chair also served those cats as a scratching post. No biggie, I was going to web that bitch anyway. Mind you I already looked for a makers mark and came up with nothing, I took out my utility knife and began to cuts those years right off that chair. The buttons went first, then the scratched and stinky upholstery. I tore through the blue composit batting, pulled all of the horse hair roping and burlap. I started pulling tacks, and so noticing how beautiful the wood was from the structure of the chair, and for those of you that don't go pulling furniture apart I will let you know that the wood inside isn't ever as nice as the legs and exposed parts. I was so happy that my little faux knoll chair was already working in my favor, then when I flipped the chair again I spotted what I thought was,"voltra". A quick google search turned up nothing, and I had never seen an upholstered Jens Risom chair of this shape. I then thought that maybe the "L" was a "S'' and quickly with my google search my heart sank to the bottom of my stomach.

For quickly I found that in Germany the chair was produced by Walter knoll under the name "Vostra" during the 40s and 50s, being designed by Jens Risom. The exact frame was used for the webbed chair as was for the upholstered chair.There it was, what am I to do? If I chose to continue with my plan would that destroy what the chair was, but since its the same frame are they inter-changeable? At this point I have left the springs intact, do I go ahead and reupholster? Do I list it on ebay in its current state knowing that we really shouldn't have nice things in our house with a child and two dogs? I'm so mixed at this point, i don't want to devalue the chair by completely changing it's original state. Please if you have any suggestions I'm all ears.

slow and steady wins the race

Just a little update.

(You can also see the new gray trim of my bedroom.)

finished ottoman and chair guts

Two posts in one day! Crazy. The first photo is of the ottoman I reupholstered, of course I didn't think to take a picture until I had already unpeeled the layers. But, this poor ottoman had seen some things. At some point they straps/webbing had given out. The previous owners had wedged a metal rod underneath to support the piece of wood they were using to replace webbing. The original foam had dry-rotted, so to keep the ottoman in use they then placed a thin piece of foam on top and used another piece of fabric to cover and used a combination of nails and thumb tacks to secure.

I had already wiped the wood legs down with danish oil, and then after the layers were removed I used jute webbing in a basket weave pattern attached with a staple gun. I then used 3'' foam and a nice layer of batting to bring back the cush. For you that haven't had to buy new foam you may not know how expensive it really is. The foam I used from Joanne's fabric is 24'' wide and cost $49.99 a yard. My ottoman is 24'' by 21'', so this means that the one cut they give you at the fabric store was perfect for my project, I just bought exactly 21''. So, a little over half a yard and I had a 50% off coupon, I got my new foam for about $13. Good deal.

I then just put the felt on upside down pinned my corners, stitched with my sewing machine, stapled in place, used upholstery nails on the corners to insure no shifting. I covered 4 matching buttons, used a large upholstery needle to pull them through, tied them underneath with some scrap felt in the knot so they won't pull through. That's it, pretty easy project.
The last picture is of the matching chair that I started to take apart last night. There is one more chair that goes with this set, it has a lower back, and is considered the Mrs. chair. They all belong to the same set as the couch I just finished. I know it doesn't seem too imaginative to be using gray felt again, but I change and move my house around so much that I've found to stand the test of time, neutral is they way to go. Everything else can change around your major pieces without ever having to change your furniture.

bedroom inspiration

I am still slowly tinkering around at transforming our master bedroom from a kids playroom back to where adults sleep.

The first photo I believe is from AT, and I loved the trim color around the windows. I wish we had some exposed brick, but that can be a later project.
The second photo came from the brick house archives, and I believe she used it as inspiration for her DIY handles on her bookcases. We have two crawlspace doors in our bedroom that I want to make a pair of these handles for, and stain walnut.
The third picture is a window treatment that I have been looking for, for a couple of weeks now. I have seen it many places, but when you start to look for the picture it can't be found. I finally found the picture via Doorsixteen. I'm thinking unbleached and gauzy, but with two hooks on either corner of my windows and may be just two grommets on either corner of window panel.
The last photo is from D16 also, and I like the box spring cover. Our mattress and box spring is on the floor(since I sold our bed frame)and I have already covered it in unbleached burlap.

Things are starting to come along. I am also working on reupholstering a set of chairs and an ottoman for the bedroom. I finished the ottoman this weekend and I will try to post a pic later today.

Almost finished...

The sofa is almost finished, its hard to find time to work on it, with a three year old running around the house and wanting to help, or claiming that the tools that I'm using are actually his tools. The sofa is so large, and by far the biggest upholstery project I've done, and I have had to work on it in place. I have yet to do the back panel of the sofa, but that should be straight forward.

As you can see in the last picture, the previous owners used a 2x4 to support the right leg. That issue will also need to be addressed, but since it is solid I haven't been in as big of a rush to deal with that issue.

We have also had some other things going on around the house. We decided it was time to take the master bedroom back over, and my husband built a loft bed for Baby J in his new room. When I feel these projects have been completed, I will also post photos of our once again master bedroom, and Baby J's bed up in the air.