Two Dollar Chair

Well, here it is.

 We were heading out to dinner one evening, and happened on an almost over garage sale. My husband and I jumped out, (against our children's wishes), and took a look. We saw this chair, and  I think it was marked down from $10 to $5. My husband and I looked at it, and the woman came up to us and said we could have it for $2. SOLD! Now, it looked pretty rough, but we could see it's potential.

The fabric was, as you can see, really worn out, and the arms were beyond filthy. I ripped the trim and nails from around the arms, to get rid of some of the yuck. 

Then I draped a blanket over it and there it sat, just like that for well over a year. Funny how after awhile you just get used to something, even if you don't like it. I couldn't decide on a fabric or color to recover it, so, it waited.

Then, when I put the chevron fabric on my wing back chair, I was inspired to finally do something with this chair. So, we un-upholstered it. It is the not fun part of upholstery, but not only to you get the yucky fabric off, you get patterns for your new pieces. 

You start at the bottom, taking it off piece by piece, and take a lot of pictures and remember the order that they came off. They will go back on in reverse order. This chair had 2 layers of cotton and horse hair on the seat, which I replaced with foam and dacron batting. It also had a major spring issue too, which required retying and new metal straps. Lucky I have an amazingly handy hubby, who loves to do that part for me.

This is what the bottom looked like after we took the black fabric cover off.

This is what it looked like after we took the straps and burlap off. It needed some major work. It was kind of wobbly too, and after removing the fabric and batting, we found the frame had a crack along the top. Again my hubby glued and screwed all the joints to make it sturdy again. 

After all that, we were ready to start putting it back together. I had found a fabric at Hobby Lobby that I liked, but it was a little pricey. That's probably why it sat for so long. But, with the 40% coupon, I decided it was my choice. I laid out all my removed pieces, figured yardage and went and bought fabric, gimp, foam, batting, staples and nail head trim. After I got the fabric home and started upholstering, I really fell in love with it. It's the coolest piece I have ever done.

It makes me happy every time I look at it!

The design on the fabric is shiny silver metallic. If you look in the cabinet to the right of the chair, the candlesticks are mercury glass I found at a garage sale last year. Perfect!

After

Before

It had great lines and the wood was in great shape, so it was worth the effort. I first just had gimp glued over the staples, but the nail trim really made it. 

One more shot of my new favorite!

Wing back Chair Before, After and After

Well, I'm going to try this blogging thing again.  New year, fresh layout. Also, new year, time to finish up those projects I started or purchased perhaps years ago with great ambition, but somehow they fell beside the way. I'm going to do my best to finish what I have started.

First off, I have a wing back chair I had made years ago. At the time all my living room furniture was a light pine finish. So... I wanted a chair with legs that matched, and at the time all I could find was dark stained legs. This was before craigs list and such, and I didn't have the common sense to buy a used chair and refinish the legs.  Duh, what was I thinking. Anywho, I had a chair made, finished the legs, and then had an upholsterer cover it with a lovely, (at the time!) navy, pink and green plaid.  I loved it, but some 20 years later, not so much.

So last fall I stained the legs a dark walnut, but it still wasn't working for me. Then the hubby and I recovered it in a green fabric to match our now living room colors. (Notice the before piano in a nice shade of aged orangeish pine!)

We lived with it like this for a year, and it was a definite improvement, but not really doing it for me. I wasn't really planning on ever upholstering  it again, as the front of those curved arms were a big pain. I figured I'd  

rather just sell it and start over with something else. 

But by chance I was at the fabric store one day looking for a gray chevron for a friend who wanted to recover a rocker for a baby room. Well... I found the most amazing chevron canvas prints, and they had one in green. I had to get a couple yards, just cuz I loved it.  It lay on the back of the couch for a couple weeks while I decided if I wanted pillows out of it. Then I got the bright idea of just recovering the cushion and back of the green wing back chair. Now, the greens don't match exactly, but I'm in love. Take a look!

 

I figured as long as I had to take the back off to recover the seat back, I might as well put the chevron on the back.  So now it looks cute from behind too!

Just one more picture, and then I have to get to my next project. Another chair we picked up at the end of a garage sale for $2.  It said $10, crossed off to $5, and when we looked interested the woman said we could have it for $2! Can't pass that up. Right now it's in pieces with springs hanging out of the bottom!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Grandma's Piano

Back to the living room re-decorating.  14 years ago, my grandmother gave me her piano.  I was the only child or grandchild that had taken piano lessons, and had any musical talent.  That being said, my musical talents are very slim, but I enjoy sitting down and playing a little, as long as no one is home to listen!  Anyway, she wanted me to have her piano then, so that after she was gone, no one else would lay claim to it.  So we rounded up a few strong friends, and moved it to our house.  It was a light blonde wood, that at the time, matched my living room pretty well.  The front legs had a little curve to them, that also matched my queen ann style tables.

Over time, the "blonde" had turned rather orangeish, and after painting or staining everything else in the room, the color of the piano was really bugging me.  I threatened to paint it for a few years, but never had the nerve.  Finally I had enough and decided to tackle it.  When I was a kid, my parents bought an old upright piano off someones porch for $75, took it apart, stripped it and refinished it.  So I knew what I was up against.  I don't have the patience for stripping, unless the piece is really awesome.  I just planned to paint it a creamy off-white.

I proceeded to dismantle it, and for the most part, pianos are designed to be taken apart rather easily.  I took off the top, front pieces, knee board, and all the keys.  I laid them in order on the floor, so they would go back correctly.

The dust inside, under the keys was horrible.  I gave it a good vacuuming, then lightly sanded the surfaces to be painted. 

Ready to paint.  I didn't take any pictures while I was painting, only the finished product.  I decided to paint the body with Rustoleum Heirloom White, and stain the top with Dark Walnut Gel Stain.  I've used the gel stain on my fireplace mantel, family room end tables and a few other pieces. It's amazing stuff.  You don't need to strip the existing finish, just rough it up and start staining.  I'll do another post about it and show you my family room re-do, and how to apply it. I just laid drop cloths around it, and painted it right where it stood.  The piano turned out great.  I am so happy with the change, and  glad I had the courage to try. 

 Here's a peek while it's going back together.

And here it is, all done. 

   

 After painting, you really need to wait a few days or week(s) before setting anything on the new surface, as it takes awhile for the paint or urethane to cure.  I learned the hard way by setting a TV on a dresser in our bedroom.  There are little rings where it sat. :(   Lesson learned!!

The picture on the piano is my grandmother, holding a rose.  So appropriate, I really loved her a lot.  She is the only grandmother I knew, and I spent lots of time with her.  She was a grown up child, (in a good way!) and loved to play with her grandchildren.  We went on many trips and camping adventures with my grandparents, and I can still get teary eyed thinking of them.  I'm sure she would be happy with the results.

Thanks for spending the time to read this, and feel free to leave any comment or questions.

Linking up to

My Repurposed Life

Miss Mustard Seed

  

The Living Room

I guess the idea to blog really began about a year and a half ago when teenage daughter decided she didn't care for my living room decor. (Secret: Neither did I) I told her to take out the stuff she didn't like. Well... she emptied the room.

And so it began!  It was like dominoes, start here and end up changing everything.  She thought it would be fun to redecorate without spending any money, and blog about our journey.  So the majority of our projects are craigslist freebies, repainted, reupholstered, repurposed or just changed out.

This is the couch we've had for years.  It is a high end Baker couch that my grandmother gave me years ago.  I had it reupholstered in the mauve stripe, but a few dog years later it was pretty grungy, so I slowly reupholstered most of it.  I still rather like it, but it was dated, and locked us into a style.  So, back it went to my aunt's house, and fortunately, my Craigslist addicted hubby found a sweet antique couch for free. 

It was sitting on a porch, and pretty stained up, but the style and wood were gorgeous.  So we stripped the fabric off it, and actually found horse hair inside.  I guess it's pretty old!! 

We found fabric, real similar to what was on it, on clearance at Field's.  (Never pay full price for anything!)  Taking a piece of upholstered furniture apart is a great way to learn how it's done.  You just put it back together in reverse order.  Also, an air stapler and 2 people make the job go way easier.  Don't even attempt it with a hand stapler!! Save the pieces you remove as approximate patterns for your new fabric, and take lots of pictures as your pulling it apart.  It's really not as bad as it seems, if your handy.  We really enjoyed doing it together.



The upholstered ottoman in the last picture is another redo.  I'll show you that project soon!

Here We Go

     Well, here we go.  I have been wanting to  blog for like 2 years or more, but I didn't have the courage.  I keep asking questions, and researching, and I suppose avoiding it with the excuse that I don't know how.  Then the other day my teenage daughter told me to be independent, and just do it! So... here we go.  


     I have a house full of remodeled, repurposed, reclaimed or just diy stuff that I would love to share.  I have probably tried most every type of craft that's out there, and when I find a new idea, I can't wait to try it.  I'm hoping that this blog will inspire others to be brave a try a project.  I have oodles of pictures I've been collecting to share with you!  Some will be things I have done in the past, and if I try something new, I will share that too.  Hopefully I can save you some fails, and help if you get stuck.  Feel free to comment and I'll do my best to respond.  If I try something I find online or on pinterest (my latest addiction!) I'll link back to the original source. 


     Here are a few pics of things I have done in my living room.  Next time I will share the story of the living room and the projects there.  
  

     Thanks for stopping by!