My Love Seat

I have decided that I am just a whole lot of crazy.  After our camping trip, I decided to tackle my $25 Goodwill couch and give it a bit of a face lift. Unfortunately, I didn't take a before picture.  But, it was a sad looking piece of drabness.  

Rinar took a couple of kids to St. George for a quick golfing excursion and I got out my massacring tools: a chisel and needle nose pliers.  And then I went to work dissecting this couch.  There were staples everywhere.  My carpet was coated in them.

When Rinar got home and saw the destruction, he was speechless for some reason.

I found some beautiful fabric at Home Fabrics, for a great price. Since I paid for the fabric it was too late to go back.

The couch was really worn down, so I added a back cushion to it, to fluff it up again.  But then I was worried that it would slip down, so I decided to tuft the back.

At each step, I would get stumped as to what I should do. So I would take a break for a day or two and think about possible solutions. When I could think of something that would work, I would go back to the couch and try again.  

The seat cushions were probably the hardest part of the whole process, but I figured out something I could live with and just finished the darn thing.

Ta-da! 

This is definitely the hardest project I have ever completed.  It was a beast, but I did it.  I don't think I would ever do it again.

Reupholstering My Office Chair

I am always really happy when I finish a project.  I have a little bit of paranoia about not finishing things. I don't like it when things are unfinished. When you start something, you finish it. At least, that is what I repeatedly tell my children.  

About 5 years ago, I found this neat little chair at a thrift store. I think it was a thrift store. Although I am not too certain. It was a long time ago. But I bought it with every intention of reupholstering it.  It was in such rotten shape and I knew I could make it pretty. But after we started using it as an office chair, the ugliness became invisible. 

After a very upsetting November, I needed something to do to keep me busy. Plus, I was going to finish this project no matter whay. And boy, did it ever keep me busy.  

There were about a million upholstery tacks to remove, layered on top of another million staples.  Then I had to re-stain the wood, because it just needed to be spruced up a bit.

Upholstering it was very tricky. When I would get to a point where I was stumped, I would just walk away from the project and then try again about a week later. This happened many times. But somehow, I was able to figure it out and I am super happy with the results.  

The chair is beautiful and it looks very finished. I think I am ready to conquer more reupholstering projects. With a plethora of thrift stores, a compressor, needle-nose pliers and Home Fabrics, the possibilities are endless.

Repurposed Dresser

Like I promised, here is another repurposing project I finished a couple of weeks ago.

I found this beauty on the side of the road in front of our condo in St. George. I made my poor husband put it in the garage. It is pretty darn heavy. It may look like junk to the regular guy, but I could see its inner beauty. It was missing one drawer and the top had pretty much peeled off.

Here was my solution...

I found the blue hexagon tile at the Habitat for Humanity Restore, and since I didn't have enough, I found the extra small glass tiles at Home Depot.  Then Rinar and I frantically got to work laying it all out before the cement dried. It was a whole lot of little cuts with the tile saw.

Rinar added on extra molding at the top to give it a border and then I added on moldings on the sides and on the drawers to give it some architectural interest. Now it is a chic toy cabinet in my family room. Sorry, I was lazy and took the picture before the toys were picked up. You get the idea.

Repurposing Frenzy

I have been on a repurposing rampage.  We just moved into our new rental house and I have wanted to get some furniture redone and looking good.  

I have had this bookshelf forever and finally stained and polyed it.  It now officially does not look ghetto anymore.

This was the find of the century. I needed a dresser for Julia's room. I went to the Goodwill Bargain Bin and found this beauty for $7. It is solid wood and very heavy.  It was already primed and just needed a good coat of paint and some cool hardware.  

I think it took me 90 minutes to finish it.  It got a cream coat of paint and a brown glaze.  The new hardware is from Home Depot.

A few weeks ago I went to a yard sale and saw this. It was a kids dresser, with a heavy coat of minty green paint.

Unfortunately, with the picture they look the same color, but they are not. 

Before I started painting, Rinar added a beautiful trim to the top and bottom of the cabinet and on the edges of the two shelves.  This is an easy way to really change the look of a piece and make it look expensive.

I painted the entire cabinet in a teal color, then did a green apple acrylic wash. This was an extra step, but it was totally worth it. Plus, it is really easy. I just got a small bottle of acrylic paint from Walmart, in the craft section.  I put the paint in a bowl and added some water and mixed it up. Then I wiped down the cabinet in the green apple water. I finished off the paint treatment with a dark brown glaze.  And I just love the look.

Here is a close up of the top drawer. I got these cute pulls at Hobby Lobby when I was in Salt Lake City.

Inside the cabinet. I lined it with some cute fabric.

I also redid these two dresser a very light tealish blue, for my boys rooms.  They go so perfectly with everything else in there. Once I get the room cleaned up and totally done I will post the finished product.  But it is looking totally rad.

I have several other projects I am hoping to complete in the next few weeks. I want my garage cleared out so that I can park there.  Repurposing is such a fun thing to do.  I get excited just thinking about it.  Take something trashy and ghetto and making it wow.  Stay tuned for my next round of stuff.  

An Idea For Your Children's Artwork

I sprung for a babysitter yesterday and took the afternoon off to do my favorite thing: Goodwill.  What else?  I did really well.  I was very happy with my new treasures.  When I perused the art section, I came across a framed Picasso poster that looked pretty darn groovy. I wasn't sure where I would put it, but I just couldn't pass it up. I mean, it is Picasso, right?

The poster was too small for the large wall where I wanted to put it. It needed some companion pieces. Then I had an epiphany.  I put some of my kids old artwork in frames I have acquired over the years at thrift stores (of course).  I then hung them on either side of Picasso.  Children's artwork looks very sophisticated next to modern art like this. I got the one frame (on the lower left corner) yesterday as well at the Bargain Bin. It cost $1. I still have room on the wall to the right to continue adding my kids pieces. 

Since we hosted a work party at our house I felt under pressure to actually finish up a few projects.  This next one is something I brought up from Vegas: two lamps I got at the Goodwill near my house there.  They are brass and were quite shabby. I just really loved the shape of them.  


So this morning I whipped out the Primer/Paint spray paint.  Did you know they do that now? I saved a whole step because I didn't even have to prime it.  Sweet!   A little spray here and there and five minutes later, the lamps go from this....

 ...to this.  

I did purchase new lampshades at Walmart. They look sleek and smart now. What can I say? I love me some spray paint.

Bargain Bin Sideboard

I picked up this beauty at the Goodwill Bargain Bin for $5.  I was so excited. I wanted something narrow that I could put in one of my hallways.  This fit the bill perfectly.

A little bit of paint, a little bit of fabric, a little bit of stenciling and here you go.

   
My latest creation. The paint is from Walmart. It is a Glidden color. It matched some fabric I had on hand. I decoupaged the fabric onto the front, to create an interesting front detail. After carefully measuring and cutting, I immersed each panel in the glue and then laid it onto each cupboard front.


I still haven't done anything with the pulls, but I just need some spray paint and it will be done in a jiffy. I just couldn't wait to put this on my blog.  It was a fun way to spend an afternoon while the babies were napping.

I printed a stencil pattern off of the internet. Then I cut it out by using wax paper, which I layered in blue painters tape.  I then glued the pattern on top. I rearranged it a bit to get the look I wanted, then I cut and cut while I watched reruns of Project Runway. It was kind of a pain, but I wanted to challenge myself and try something new.