DIM (Did-it-myself) Reupholstery

For this type of project you will need:
1. A screwdriver or other appropriate tool for staple removal;
2. A hammer;
3. Pliers
4. An air compressor (you could probably do this without one, but you'd have to have a lot of upper body strength to put in the number of staples necessary to attach your new upholstery);
5. A staple gun and upholstery staples;
6. Tack strips;
7. New fabric;
8. Determination;
9. Patience; and
10. Strong hands & wrists.

I wanted the music room in our house to have a little lounge area where my husband would have a place to sit and play guitars either by himself or with a friend.  I was able to score these two mid-century modern style chairs for free from our church when they upgraded the office furniture in the pastor's study.  I thought these would be perfect because: a) Daniel loved these chairs and always commented on how comfortable they were; and b) They sit nice and low to the ground and have no arms (well one of them had no arms...the one that did were really easy to remove) so they're perfect for sitting and playing an instrument across your lap with no arm-rests getting in the way.

Here are the two chairs as they were when we brought them home:

(Under that swatch of fabric was some really attractive duct tape holding in the springs.)

Obviously they needed to be recovered.  I didn't take as many pictures of the process as I should have (I always manage to forget that step) but I'll try to explain the process as best I can.  I read on the internet some basic reupholstery tutorials to try and figure out how to start.  This was my first ever experience reupholstering anything, so this was definitely trial and error for me.  

The first step is to disassemble the piece you are working with.  I started by unscrewing the legs and arm-rests from the chairs.  Then I removed the back panel of the chair which was held on by tack strips.  I pried the tacks loose with a screwdriver and my husband's pocket knife (which I ruined...I would not advise using a pocket knife to remove staples... they make tools for that, but I'm impatient, so I went with what I had on hand... he wasn't very happy with me). Once the back panel is removed, it's a lot easier to see what you're working with and how the chair is put together.  Then, get to work removing about a million staples.  Once you have all the existing upholstery removed from your piece, save the pieces and use those to make the pattern for your new fabric.  It took around 7 yards of fabric to recover both chairs.

I am a terrible seamstress, and I knew I didn't want to tackle cording like the chair had originally, so I just stuck to the two simple seams on the corners of the back rest and seat.  To do that, once I had cut my fabric patterns, I took my newly cut fabric and placed it over the chair upside down, pinched and then pinned the corners together, then just sewed a straight line over my pins to give the fabric the 'box' shape for the seat and back rest.  Once they were sewn, I placed the new fabric over the chair to make sure the corners were  in the right places and confirm that it had a nice, snug fit.

Once you have your pieces cut and sewn, you basically just fit the fabric over your chair, and then pull it tightly around and start stapling... and stapling, and stapling...  To get the part where the back of the seat and the bottom of the back rest meet, you simply tuck/pull the excess fabric through to the back and staple, which you can kinda see in the pictures below.  

The sides are a little simpler since all you have to do is pull them taut and staple on the back of the wooden frame.  You want your fabric snug but not too tight.  If it's too tight it can pull and tear the fabric where it's attached with the staples.  

For the back panel, I salvaged the tack strips that were on the chair originally.  For these you have to poke holes in the fabric.  I started by laying the tack strip on the edge of my back panel and then fold it over, pushing the tacks through the fabric.  Your fabric should envelop the strip so you don't have any frayed edges or strip showing.  With the folded edge to the outside, I made sure the top of the tack strip was at the very top to get a nice crisp corner.  Then I just put it up to the back of my chair and used my hammer to gently tap in all the tacks, working top to bottom.  This gives your back panel a nice seamless edge all the way around and hides all the messy stuff underneath.  

Then, I simply screwed the legs of the chair back on.

It worked, people.  Amazing.  Don't get me wrong, this project definitely tried my patience and made my hands really sore.  If I had a lot of money in a piece of furniture, I probably wouldn't tackle this on my own.  All that said, they turned out pretty-not-bad... they're only a little wonky in a few places, but not too shabby for my first attempt.

I can't wait to get some coordinating cushions on these babies and get this room pulled together.  Check back later for some glamour shots once it's all finished!

I'd like to thank the Academy...

No, it's not the Academy Award, but I did get a Leibster Award, which is given to new or newish bloggers with under 200 followers. Continue reading if you want to learn more about me...

I would like to first take a second to thank the person who nominated me for the Liebster Award: Jackie Karlic of The Non Martha Momma.  She is one of the few (okay, if I'm being honest) the only person to comment on my blog most of the time so thanks, Jackie!   She is awesome and you should really check out her blog!

Blogger Award: The Leibster Award

These awards are a lot of fun and you get to meet and learn so much from all of your blogger friends!

In order for me to win this award, there are several things I must do. Here is a list of the rules:

1. List 11 random facts about yourself.

2. Answer the questions the tagger has set for you, then create 11 new questions for the bloggers you pass the award to.

3. Choose 11 new bloggers to pass the award to and link them in your post.

4. Go back to their page and tell them about the award.

5. No tag backs!!

11 RANDOM FACTS ABOUT ME:

1. Between the years of 1999 and 2013 I moved a total of 15 times.

2. My college degree and my job have absolutely nothing to do with each other.

3. My husband and I got married exactly 1 month before our 10 year 'dating' anniversary.

4. I recently started a Zumba class 2 nites a week and I LOVE it, I wish she had it every night... it is seriously that much fun!

5. I still sleep with a blanket that I've had since childhood, much to my husband's dismay.  I know it's weird, but I seriously can't fall asleep without it.

6. I am obsessed with reading and books of all kinds... I get totally wrapped up and absorbed in the story and I'll freely admit I get a little depressed when I finish a particularly good book or series and miss the characters like they are real people that I actually know.  I have to read every day and I don't go anywhere without my Kindle!

7. The only movies I've seen recently have been movies based on books I've read.  I'm usually disappointed.

8. I am definitely NOT a morning person... I have such a hard time getting up in the mornings that I am late for work pretty much every day, and almost always late for church on Sunday.  I know, it's horrible!

9. I love the smell of freshly cut grass in the summer and woodsmoke in the winter.

10. I like to watch TV shows way better than movies.

11. I love to travel.  My husband and I purchased a vintage Shasta camper from the 1960's and hope to renovate it so we can travel around the country.  It's my dream to visit all 50 states.

MY ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS FROM JACKIE THE NON MARTHA MOMMA:

1. Last movie you saw in the theater? Beautiful Creatures Did you like it? Um, no.  (see random fact # 7)  I was disappointed.  Very disappointed.  Like it was really, horribly, terrible.  I don't know why they bother to make a movie based on a book when they practically make up a whole new story anyway.  Ugh!  

2. When and why did you start blogging? I started blogging in the summer of 2012 because my husband and I  bought a house and I wanted to chronicle our renovations... and because all the other girls I work with started blogs so I guess it was partly peer pressure :o)

 3. Do you have any pets, how many, what type, their names?  I have 3 pets that don't actually live with me.   They all started out as my pets, but after moving so many times, they ended up with my parents and parents-in-law where I figure they're more happy.  I have a Jack Russell terrier named Molly who lives with my mom and dad, a big sweet mutt named Drake who lives with my mother and father-in-law, and another Jack Russell terrier named Annie. We came home one day to find that she had been dropped off at our house and tied to the fence post, in the rain, looking pitiful, so we named her after little orphan Annie.  Even though they don't live with us, I still consider them my pets. :o)

4. Favorite type of food? Anything homecooked by my mom, mother-in-law, or Grandma.  And Cheese Doodles.  

5. Book you are reading right now or most recent book read? I am currently reading Beautiful Darkness, the 2nd book in the 'Beautiful Creatures' series.  

6. Year you graduated high school? 1999

7. What kind of car do you drive? A really old Mustang that I've had since 1999... which I'm currently looking to sell... any takers?? :o)

8. Do you believe in ghosts/spirits? I believe there are things out there that I'll never hope to understand and that should probably be left alone... I've personally never seen a ghost, but I won't discount the possibility.  

9. Oreos: do you like the cookie better or the cream? do you dunk in milk?  I like to take my Oreos apart and eat the cookie side, then lick off the cream... I like the cream the best, and I do not dunk in milk... soggy cookies, blech!  

10. Favorite subject in high school? Art and Fundamentals of Technology Least favorite subject in high school? Algebra and History

11. If you were a crayon what color would you be and why? Magenta.  Because it's an awesome dark pink/fuchsia color and because it was one of the first colors I learned to spell when I was a kid.  I thought I was hot stuff because I could spell "Magenta".  See?  It just sounds pretty!  :o)

11 QUESTIONS TO MY NOMINEES:


1. What is your all time favorite TV show?


2. What is the worst job you've ever had?

3. What is the messiest room in your house?

4. Do you play any musical instruments?

5. What book are you reading right now or what's the most recent book you've read?  Is it/was it any good?

6. Are you a cat or a dog person?

7. If you won the lottery, what are the first 5 things you would do with your winnings?

8. What's the best vacation you've ever been on?

9. What's your biggest pet peeve?

10. If money was no object, and you could do anything for a living just for pure enjoyment, what would you do?

11. What's your specialty...i.e. what's the best dish or meal that you make? (Feel free to share your recipe) :o)

MY 11 NOMINEES FOR THE LIEBSTER AWARD:

1. Kami from What Gabby Wore Today
 http://whatgabbyworetoday.blogspot.com/

2. Diana from Sassafras
http://sassafras9192.com

3. Kelly from Journeys and Journals
http://journeysandjournals-kelly.blogspot.com/

4. Everyday Gourmet
http://marksusy.blogspot.com/

5. Country Charisma
http://countrycharisma.blogspot.com/

6. Asher at Thrifty Little Pretties
http://thriftylittlepretties.blogspot.com/

7. Nate & Emma at Broke Ass Home
http://www.brokeasshome.com/

8. Kristi at Life With 3D
http://lifewith3d-kristi.blogspot.com/

9. 8)(8 at Butterfly & Bungalow
http://butterflyandbungalow.blogspot.com/

10. Becca at Keep Guessing
http://www.keep-guessing.com/

11. Aki at Minted Strawberry
http://mintedstrawberry.blogspot.com/

Congrats girls, now it's your turn to respond (if you choose to). Thank you again Jackie for nominating me!

xo, Misty :o)

Share the Love

This year at Valentine's Day, my church is trying to share some love with a really deserving little girl in our community.  Her name is Abbey and she's an 8 year old little girl with an inoperable brain tumor.  She LOVES to receive cards in the mail so this year at Valentine's Day we're trying to send her a ton of valentines to show her that there are people out there thinking about her and sending some love her way.  We did the same for her birthday and she ended up getting 155 birthday cards and sent us a thank you with a photo of herself sitting on the floor surrounded by cards!  We're trying to beat that number this Valentine's Day.  I remember being a little kid and getting so excited to get something in the mailbox just for me!  It's just a little something we can do to brighten the day of a sweet little girl with a pretty gloomy future.  If anyone would like to share the love, send me a private email and I can give you her address.  Hope everyone has a happy Valentine's Day!  XOXO

Kitchen and Laundry Room Makeover

Just wanted to share a few befores and afters with our kitchen and laundry area so far.  In our house, these areas are teeny-tiny and all kind of in one big room.  Eventually, I'd like to put up a wall between the two but for now, these two rooms just have to live happily together.  Now granted, in the long run I'd like to completely gut the kitchen and laundry area, add all new cabinetry with smooth-sliding drawers and doors, a fancy stainless french-door-bottom-freezer refrigerator, dishwasher, nice front loading washer and dryer, built in microwave, upper cabinets, granite counter tops... you know, the works.  But for now, since we're on a not-so-huge budget, I decided to just go with paint and some open shelving.  Overall, I think it made a pretty big impact on a pretty small budget!

The walls in both rooms started out like the rest of the house: boring builder's beige.  I wanted to liven them up with some fresh colors.  Here are a few before pics and you can see how the kitchen opens up into the laundry area.

Anyway, I decided to go with a cool blue for the laundry area.  The color spoke to me... as in, it's actually called "Clothesline Fresh" so after seeing that, it basically HAD to go in my laundry room.  It only took a couple hours to paint the laundry area.  It really brightened up the room and makes it feel a lot more open and airy.

The kitchen, however, was not so simple.  I wanted a pale lime for the kitchen walls.  You wouldn't think that lime is such a hard color to pick out, but for me it was.  I picked out several samples at the store and none of them were right.  They were either waaay too bright, too minty, or just too something.  So I ended up painting this room twice.  That's right... twice.  And I don't enjoy painting.  Anyway, I finally ended up with a color that I like.  It brightens up the room without looking like a highlighter threw up on the walls, which is what it looked like after the first go-round. (It's hard to tell in these pics, it looks more green in real life.)

On a whim, I also decided to paint the kitchen cabinets a olivey-gray color (the same color that's on my living room walls).  It helps tie the rooms together and keep the flow of the colors in the house more cohesive.  And it also helps to camouflage any smudges or fingerprints much better than the original white paint.

Since both of these spaces are really small, I needed a lot more storage.  There were no cabinets above the washer & dryer or above the oven, so I had Daniel make some shelving for me.  He actually designed and built custom brackets for my shelves.  (It's handy having a husband that's an engineer in a metal fabrication shop) They look like tree branches, which is sort of a theme in our house.  We added the shelves over the washer and dryer and also in the kitchen, so again, that sort of ties the two rooms together.

 

I really like how it turned out.  Now both rooms live nicely together.  There are a few things that still need to be done, like changing out the boob light in the kitchen, and ADDING A DISHWASHER (yes, please!) and making a cabinet for the refrigerator, but overall, I can live with it for now.

KITCHEN BEFORE:

KITCHEN AFTER:

LAUNDRY BEFORE:

LAUNDRY AFTER:

Green with Envy

When I first started this blog, I declared that when we moved to our new house, I would have a lime green door.

This was my inspiration:

Here's what we started with: (this pic is from our first tour of the house before moving in)

I really liked the door, but I was dying to get a few coats of paint on it!  After TONS several different trips to the paint store, purchasing 5 different samples of lime green paint, and after hours of agonizing over which lime green to use,

I finally just dumped all five colors together with my leftover kitchen paint (which was a lighter shade of lime green) and got to work.  I started by lightly sanding the door to get off the shiny finish that was on it, to get off any oily grime from fingerprints, and and to sand down and smooth out the 3 paint swatches I had painted on it that you see above.

I also taped off the glass and the hinges so that no stray paint would end up there.  Then I got busy painting away with my custom mixed lime green paint!

It took two full coats to get the door completely covered.  Our green ended up a little lighter than my inspiration door, but I like the way it came out.  It blends nicely with the cool blue on the walls in the laundry room and since you can see the door from the kitchen, it echoes the pale lime on the walls in there as well.

Here's another before and after:

Definitely much lighter and brighter.  I am no longer green with envy because it's ALL MINE and I love it!  :o)

Distressing Furniture

I recently took some furniture pieces that I already had lying around the house and decided to paint them so I could use them in our house for a new fall look.  I have to have a project and have a short decorating attention span, so I'm constantly changing things around.  I bought a sample can of paint from Lowe's Hardware in a teal color for $3 and it was more than enough to paint a mirror and a table and do a little distressing action on the two of them.

I always forget to take a 'before' shot until I'm well under way in a project, so I'll just have to describe the table and mirror for you.  My table came from Daniel's grandmother's barn.  It was a small white farmhouse style kitchen table that we found when cleaning out the smoke house at his grandmother's place.  The tabletop was very warped but the base was in good shape.  Since it was small, I decided to use it for a coffee table.  I took it home, ripped off the top and replaced it with new tongue and groove pine boards cut to fit, stained and distressed the top with chains and hammers to make it look worn, cut off the legs so it was more coffee-table height, and spray-painted the base black.  Then I distressed the black paint using sandpaper so that some of the original white paint could be seen.  After I had completed this project, I was all psyched about my new coffee table until I realized that it was too big for our living room.  Wah wah...  It got stored away in the garage and has sat there for about 5 or 6 years now.  Since our new living room is a little bigger, I was able to use it.  I knew I wanted to re-do the color scheme in my living room for summer and fall without damaging the furniture I already had so I would be able to switch things out from season to season.  Out came the coffee table and some new teal paint, and I started in on her again.  I put a very thin coat on, so you could still see some of the black showing through.

You can kinda see in these pics how thin my layer of paint was and how you can still see some of the black paint showing through.

Then, once it had time to dry, I got to work with the sand paper.  To distress furniture, you simply take your sand paper and sand over the edges, corners, and any other spots where it would naturally get wear and tear until you get your desired distressed effect.  You can go as light or as heavy handed as you like depending on how distressed you want your piece to look.  It's really pretty hard to mess up.

If you have several layers of paint like I did, you will start to see each layer the harder you sand.

I like to sand around nails and imperfections in the wood to really bring out the character of the piece.

Pretty much the same with my mirror.  It also came from Daniel's grandmother's house from a dresser set we found there.  It was a dark brown stain, so I painted a light layer of the same teal paint over top and then sanded the edges and corners to bring out the design in the molding.

Ta da!  Totally distressed and ready to go dress up the room! Here's the finished product in the room with all the other fall decorations:

So easy and it makes such a big impact!  And come Christmas when I want to switch everything around again, I just have to change out my coffee table and mirror, a few pillows, the rug, turn my decorative doors around, and presto-change-o, it's a whole new look!