Yard Sale Chair Makeover

I told the story behind this chair here.  In my head it was going to be a quick easy weekend project that went smooth and turned out amazing.  Mmmmm.... I'm gonna say my head must have been pretty off that day!  This beastly chair was plagued with issues!

You know how when you have a fancy party to go to and you have your perfect outfit all picked out and you give yourself an hour to get ready because you know you've got this!  After all, you've been to a million parties so getting ready this time should be a piece of cake!  Then, you run up to slip on your dress and there is deodorant all over it,  you can't find the shoes to match, and you get a big zit...

A little scrubbing, borrow a pair of shoes from your best friend, and a bit of concealer and you are on your way!  It just takes a little longer to get ready!  In turn the stress causes you to need a couple extra glasses of wine...  OK, OK, I'm going to stop with the analogy, but you get the jist! 

I cannot for the life of me figure out the story behind this little yard sale find.  It appears someone starting stripping it but only did the front (obviously).  Maybe they just had it pushed up against the wall and didn't care what the back looked like?  That sounds like something I might be tempted to do (kidding... kind of)!

I started with a good sanding and a coat of primer.  Enter problem number one.  It bled thru the primer a bright pink! 

Nothing a little can of Zinsser Ultimate Stain Blocking Primer couldn't fix!  So, two coats of primer and another light sand.   I wasn't sure what color to paint the chair and I originally thought I would do a creamy white with a little distressing.  Then, I came across a super duper awesome Miss Mustard Seed to tutorial and thought I could totally do that.  Note to self....1) Stick to your original plan next time and 2) you are no where near as good as Miss Mustard Seed!!  Here is where I ended up next.

Whoa!!!  Okay, Kandi, don't panic!  Miss Mustard Seed says it is going to be alright...  I am supposed to dry brush a coat of light gray, distress, and glaze.  I did that.  It was bad... very bad!   See for yourself.

It was all me.  I am just bad at distressing.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it!  Also, the glaze I bought was a terrible orangy color (which she happens to warn against!)  It's not even pictured with the glaze because I was too mad at the point.  I ended up giving it another light sand and dry brushing the light gray back over until I was happy with the color.  It just took me about 2 weeks to get that far! 

Now time for reupholstering.  When I began I thought I would reupholster in an awesome Ikat pictured in the original post.  That didn't go with the color of the frame.  Went and bought a nice cream linen.  That didn't go with the frame.  Raided by fabric stack and ended up using a piece of creamy blue I already had.  It worked perfectly and I had just enough!  The insides were in great condition so the next part should be easy right.  Nope!  Nothing easy going to happen with this chair!  I've decided this chair is actually made of the hardest wood on the planet!  Staples breaking, nails bending, me cursing...  it was ugly!  So, many hours, sore fingers, and curse words later she was done.  The white gimp did go on with no major problems other than a couple hot glue blister.  On to the finished product that after all that I am very happy with!

A couple things. 

1.There is a bench that matches this chair.  I have no clue what to do to it but I need it to be awesome!  Rebekah and I picked up that pair for $45... seriously! 

2. I have a super quick and easy tutorial coming for the hydrangea wreath you see in the background of these photos. 

3.Lastly, go enter our Owl Friend Giveaway!! 

Kandi

Linking up here.

On Good Friends, and Good Finds!

You know you've met your "friend soul-mate" when you have a jam packed day, no extra time, but spot a bench as you speed by a yard sale, make an abrupt U-turn, and said friend jumps out and strikes an amazing deal ("said friend" is Rebakah, of course!).  The deal also included the chair that went with the bench... for get this... $45!!!!!!!!

Today I am working on that chair.  I started ripping the upholstery off which is pretty easy with needle nose pliers.  The back came right off but when I started on the front I ran into some padding that is breaking down.  Decision time.  Rip it off, embrace the mess, and start with a clean slate... or upholster of the existing upholstery.  Decisions, decisions. 

I cannot figure out what is going on with this one?  The upholstery is "new-ish"  as in, not original, but it looks like they had it upholstered without finishing stripping and staining the wood.  Why in the world would someone do this?

Decision number 2. To paint or strip and stain?? I WAS leaning towards staining but after consulting, who else, Miss Mustard Seeds blog, I found these inspiration pieces.  I've decided to paint.

I have decided on the fabric below which is pictured with my "helper".  Man, I hope I don't mess this up!  I did find an amazing Reupholstering Series from ThreeBoys.  Check it out if you are tacking a more in depth project. 

On another note... Rebekah is coming to North Carolina this weekend!  I am over the moon excited!!!!

Kandi

A Muddy Update

Thursday was a magical day in my kingdom, both of my children went back to school!  And I was finally able to start work on my mudroom.  I have been dreaming of a more efficient and beautiful space but I don't have a big budget, only $200.  I am fortunate that I have a couple of pieces that I can repurpose for this project.  I already  have a wall of hooks, a  bench, and a rug that will  be used in this space.  I would love to replace my rug, but I am afraid that is just not in my budget.  But if it was here are a couple of rugs that have caught my attention.....

Garnet Hill Bogart Flat Weave

 West Elm, Andalusia Dhurrie

Garnet Hill  

I love the overall look of this last space!  I wish I was bold enough to paint my doors.....maybe....

Here are a couple pictures that have the feel I am after.....



I am going to leave you with one last picture...

  I purchaced this china cabinet for a whooping $100 at my local estate store.  I think that it will meet all of my storage needs.  It was built in the 50's so it is solid wood constuction with dove tailed drawers.  But boy is it ugly!  When looking for a second hand piece of furniture, look at the quality of constuction, and its lines.  In my case I wanted a sturdy piece that would hold up to two boys opening and closing doors and drawers.  This cabinet is going to be perfect. 
  I only have $100 left, and I will give you a hint to where that money is going.....Paint Paint and More Paint!

Rebekah

3 Money Saving Projects and a Basement Update

It has been a little more than a week and my basement reno is still not quite finished.  It kind of took on a life of its own and what was going to be a little face lift turned more into a major over-haul.  There were a few snafus that slowed me down... starting with the fact the color I bought [2 gallons of] was horrid and even worse the polyurethane I bought to go on my cabinets turned them from a beautiful white to full on banana yellow!!  Please learn from my mistake...ONLY USE AN ACRYLIC BASED POLY WHEN PAINTING OVER WHITE.  More on this topic and how I remedied it in a later post!  Then, of course my husband came home and got involved and we now have beautiful new floors down here and I won't complain about that at all!!  Thankfully the basement is about 99% complete now and I am only lacking a couple baskets to feel good enough about it to post it on the blog.

Today, I am going to show you 3 projects I did down here that saved me tons of money!  Who doesn't like that?

1.  Spray painted refrigerator.

What?  That's right!  I spray painted our little under bar fridge that was bought in 1980 and had the brown wood grain color to prove it!

I figured I didn't have anything to lose and if turned out horrid I would just go buy another one.  I taped up the handles, primed with Kilz, and then hit it with Krylon Fusion spray paint in Metallic Shimmer (2 coats). Easy as pie and less than an hour project including dry times!  I think it was 100% worth it and no one had any idea it was spray painted.   We are talking $5 rather than going to spend $150 on a new one!  Good stuff!

2.  Repurposed Goodwill Lamp and Walmart Shade. 

This was $5!!!!  Yes!!  They actually had a few to chose from but I wanted one that could take up a good bit of visual space on a big side table.  I was drawn to this lamp from Ballard Design, but the $169 price tag seemed completely unrealistic to me!

Pretty huh!  Here is a link if you don't feel like doing it yourself.

For the lamp base I first checked to make sure it worked before I did any work to it!  Wrap up the hardware with painters tape and next give it a quick wipe down a a coat of Kilz primer.  I would normally spray paint the whole thing but I didn't have any bright white and was sitting beside a big can of Super White Benjamin Moore trim paint.  I did two coats of that and then hit it with a coat of Rustoleum High Lustre Lacquer. 

The shade was just a little trickier but not much!  I found a $14.99 drum shade at Walmart.  I had a scrap of fabric left over from pillow making and used the plastic protective covering from the lamp shade as a template, traced it onto my fabric, and cut that out leaving an extra 1/4 inch or so around all the edges.  Next, just pin the fabric onto the shade, cut off any excess, and slowly glue (I used hot glue) the top edges all the way around. Lastly cut two lengths of matching ribbon to hide your raw edges and glue those down.  It turned out pretty close to perfect... close enough for me anyway!  One thing I learned is to line up the seams of your new cover with the existing seem on the lampshade.  Otherwise, when the lamp is on you will see both seams. 

I'm kind of in love with it and my total price including the $14.99 Walmart lamp shade was still under $30.  A far cry from the $169 price tag on the Ballard Design gourd lamp!!

3.  Gallery Wall. 
I have been pinning tons of gallery walls on Pinterest!  But, to price all new frames, mats, etc was gonna be a little ridiculous.  So, I gathered up tons of existing frames and a few other pictures and mirrors from around my house and got out... you guessed it... the spray paint!  I wanted to stick to the green, black and white so all I did was lay out my design and decide which frames to paint!  I even painted some mats and it worked beautifully!  Hopefully the glass pops out of your frames (some of mine didn't) which makes it very easy work.  Spray prime, spray paint, hang.  Easy as that!  I am left with a cohesive gallery wall that I think highlights the pictures which is exactly what I wanted!

There you go... 3 incredibly easy money saving projects that absolutely anyone can do!
Full room reveal this week sometime!

Kandi