Recovering a dining room chair

I have had these horrible chairs from IKEA for years.  Originally they were beige and very uncomfortable.  I dyed the cover a bright yellow a few years ago to go with my decor.  They were still very uncomfortable, but at least they looked nice.  Well, not anymore.

 

Enough was enough.  I decided to reupholster the chair using some Pinspiration.

 So I didn't use the exact same technique as the pin above, but it was a very useful pin. Here's the chair with the cover removed.

I actually covered the most difficult parts of the chair first, the edges, and then covered them with the big swatches of fabric.  I got about 4 yards of fabric from Joann's - this teal is beautiful and sturdy.  I am hopefully it will be less cat friendly than the sad yellow covers.

Again, next I covered the sides of the arms with big swatches of fabrics, followed by the front/back of the chair, folllowed by the seat.  I only used scissors and my staple gun.  I could've pulled the fabric a little tigher, as you can see in the picture below.  It looks way better.  I have them in my office/craft area.

I am working on redying the yellow covers to a similar dark teal color, since I like the fabric so much.  We'll see how this holds up in the meantime.

E

Fabric Spray Painting an ottoman

Hi everyone,

Another project I worked on this past weekend was the poor cat "claimed" ottoman.  After convincing the boyfriend that the tufting made it look "expensive" and not "girly", we brought it home from HomeGoods.  Two days later, Rey, the gray cat, peed in the tufts.  He's done it two or three times since then, usually when the cat box hasn't been cleared for a few days.  What a dick.

 

I spent a lot of time cleaning the ottoman with our spot wet vacuum and other Pinterest inspired tips.  Unfortunately, they lightened up the areas surrounding the stain, making everything look even more discolored.  It was horrible, yet people continued to sit on it.  O and I only place our bags on it.  We don't ever sit on it anymore.  The cats occasionally sit on it when they want to cuddle with our bags.  Terrible.

So I thought about reuphostering it, but that would've been more expensive than the ottoman itself.  I decided to try fabric spray paint.  I bought this one on Amazon.  The reviews were mixed, as it has some vinyl in it, which people said made fabric uncomfortable.  To me, uncomfortable fabric = no cats = less cat hair cleaning out of tufts.  Win win.

I did a light coat to start, and the ottoman already looked better.

After a few hours, I did a second coat to even things out.  I decided to just do coats on the top, since the color difference was not very noticeable.  I guess I picked the right shade!

The fabric does feel a little rough, and I'm wondering if that will change with time and use.  The ottoman was fully dry after 24 hours and again, the color difference is minimal.  I am no longer embarrassed to have it in our living room.  If Rey pees on it again, I may use it on him.  Kidding.  Sorta.

Nightstand with a marble top

Yet another Craiglist find being posted below.

I had been meaning to replace my nightstand for some time, as it just doesn't have enough storage and isn't really my style.  I tried to refurbish another old nightstand of mine, but the wood splintered and cracked after painting and I had to move on.

I had planned to paint the old one gray (yes, I really like gray) and had already bought a 18 x 18 marble tile on Amazon to put on top of it.  I love Carrarra marble but since it is so high maintenance and not "life friendly", I thought a nightstand would be a safe place to put it.

Here's the tile:

Cue cheap Craiglist find:

Unlike my old nightstand, this nightstand's top was not exactly 18 x 18.  It was more like 20 x 18.  I used a saw and cut approximately 1.5 inches off each side.  I had to then sand the edges to a "bevel" leading up to the top, because I would have cut off the sides of the nightstand if I had cut off more.

I then cleaned it up and painted everything on the outside gray.

I found a really cute knob at Anthropologie:

I decided not to paint the inside of the nightstand.  I may paint the edges of the door and add a shelf on the inside.  For now, it is way more spacious than my previous nightstand.  It is also beautiful!

Painted Bench

Hi everyone,

As promised, I got lots of projects completed this weekend.  With many more to come.  It got a little chilly here in Baltimore, so everything I did was an indoor project.

Without further ado, here's the first project: a painted bench.

I got this bench off Craiglist for a very cheap price.

I really liked that it opens ups and stays open.  It seems like a piano bench, but it's a little bit short for me.  Anyway, I wanted to add a decorative element.

First, I painted the entire bench gray.  I waited a day for it to dry. Then I taped off a stripe with great care, using my trusty level.  I did a lot of tape securing, pressing down on it repeatedly to make sure it was holding.

I let the bench dry for another day.  I then removed the tape from the first line and taped off another line, perpendicular to the first one.  This one I did not secure quite as firmly.  I had to do some touch up paint over the escapee white paint.  I used a piece of cardboard and laid it over the white line and painted alongside it.  This cleaned it up nicely, but it was still not quite as awesome as the first line.

Here's the finished product.  Right now I have it at the end of the bed in the guest room, but I'll probably sell it on Craiglist, since I haven't come up with a better use for it.

Projects in Progress

 Hi everyone,

It has been a while.  I have been immersed at work, but I had last weekend and have next weekend free to catch up on some projects.

Here is a teaser of things I hope to share on the blog in the near future:

Craiglist projects - painted piano bench with a stenciled top, nightstand with marble top, and a refurbished china cabinet

Using fabric paint to cover up cat pee stains on our ottoman

Redoing our master bedroom closet

Old rocking chair refresh

Recovering chairs

Removing carpet from stairs

...and many more...

In the meantime, last weekend, I was able to do a quick fix to our living room curtains to allow the cats a little sunshine.  In reality, it was so that they do not destroy my curtains using their claws to try to see their father when he is sitting on the front porch.  Cats.  I kid you not.  See existing damage below.

They like to meow at their father when he is sitting on the porch.  It is both cute and super annoying.

Anyway, I of course, was inspired by Pinterest (and bad cat behavior):

Successful Homemakers

http://www.sortrature.com/decorate-windows-charming-curtain-tiebacks/

We took the hooks previously in the coat rack and attached them to the wall.  I then took some old necklaces and wrapped them around the curtains.  It worked (and looked glamorous) for a short while.

We then updated the ties to a yarn/rope that was more boyfriend friendly.  It is unfortunately also more cat friendly.  We are making modifications as I type this post.

I also decided it was time to welcome in spring with a change in wreaths.

Here's the winter one, from Target:

For the spring one, I took my old grapevine wreath, added a little fresh baby's breath, and voila!

We'll see how long it lasts.

Later,

E