Trying New Things

My sis got these chairs as freebies from her neighbor and she wants me to help her fix them up. Check out her post here:

Trying New Things.

I ran fabric paint by her:

Painted chair project via A Pinterest Addict.

And reupholstering with budget upholstery fabrics from IKEA:

Rosmarie at IKEA

Benzy Skepp at Ikea.

Premier Fabrics:

Newell in Stone/Denton at Premier Fabrics.

Barber in Stone/Denton at Premier Fabrics.

Or using Joann’s 40% off coupons to get some cool looking pleather:

Eaton Square Adrift at Joann’s.

Here’s another view of this style of chair (by complete coincidence, I pinned the exact chairs from a Craigslist ad a few months ago on Pinterest).

On my CL Treasure Hunt board on Pinterest.

I’m going to meet up with her on Friday to take a closer look at them (so far, I’ve only seen pics). I’m so excited! What would you do with these chairs?

The One That Got Away…

Dining room from Rue magazine (l) and chair currently for sale on Etsy (r).

I bought a desk not long after I returned to the Seattle area. It is a lovely CL find that I fell in love with as soon as I laid eyes on it. It needs some TLC and a nice desk chair to make feel less lonely.

So I searched and searched and somewhere along the way I had the brilliant idea that it needed to be a more modern chair, preferably with a brass finish… And I found this:

"Modern Glam Chair" from Gallivanting Girls on Etsy.

It’s brass. It’s modern. It’s beautiful. It’s also out of my part time job price range at $180. I resign myself to the fact that I’m probably going to be a wish monster galore on this one…

A couple of weeks later, I head over to Rue Magazine and lo, and behold! There is this swank little room with not one but two of those very perfect chairs. They are chrome (and not brass) but still the lovely modernist shape and with better fabric to boot.

Dining space from the February 2012 issue of Rue Magazine.

Someone out there is like me and wants this chair badly. They saw that spread in Rue too… And they can’t get their mind off of the beauty and perfection of those chairs. They want them and they’ve been searching but they can’t find them. Well, at last here it is. Solo, yes… but one is better than none. Grab it while you can. 🙂

Pillow Talk

I promise this is the last time that I’m going to post about the office chair… but I had to share the final piece of the picture: two pillows a friend sewed up for me in a coordinating fabric. The print is called Barber by Premier Prints, the colorway is corn yellow/kelp slub. I think it looks really nice with their corn yellow slub Zigzag fabric. Don’t you?

So there it is! The final touch on the office chair. I’m likely going to put this piece up for sale in a week or two… so if you know anyone that needs a dashing office chair, point them in my direction!

I’ve got a meeting today (I’m on the Social Committee, planning fun stuff for my fellow coworkers… fun, right? :-D) and a few hours after that, more than likely spent stocking up the Swedish Food Market. It needs it after the crazy weekend we had. I’m sure we could have filled a football stadium with the number if visitors we had this weekend!

Anywho, I hope your Wednesday is a quick and happy one, everyone! Until tomorrow. :-*

They Call Me Mellow Yellow…

Quite rightly! Seriously this chair was kind of fugly when I bought it but it was comfortable and looked like it’d be easy to update. OK, also it was dirt cheap. In fact, it might have been cheaper than dirt! Anyway, you all (patient, lovely people aren’t you?) know how long it has taken me to get this chair together but there is an AFTER (at last) for this BEFORE.

You can see my progress report here. I broke down and bought a staple gun. I spray painted the frame yesterday in Krylon’s Satin Nickel. It’s really pretty. Stapling the fabric was a two man job (thanks Kirsten Marino-DeShields!) but it got done. I forgot to staple the fabric from the back on the outside pieces so you can see the wonky staples. I decided I’m going to hot glue some yellow ribbon over it.

Whooo! I’m so glad that I got this project finished. It has been a longer process than expected… but a rewarding one!

Have a great Wednesday everyone and enjoy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Totally Inspiring Room

Could a room be any room be sunnier looking than this ode to yellow? It’s a nice shot of happiness during this season of cold, gray, rainy and snowy weather. This is the kind of room that cheers the spirit no matter what the season.

Some standout points of interest for me: the hits of black throughout that keep the room grounded, little bits of shine, and the flame orange art on the far wall. The whole space looks comfortable, happy, and pulled together. It’s definitely a totally inspiring room!

On a side note: the office chair has a fresh coat of Krylon’s Satin Nickel spray paint on it’s frame. In a bit I’m going to head over to Walmart to get a staple gun so I can get the fabric on… hopefully today!

Running Around

The view from the front door during the move

Whew! What a day! I helped a friend of mine move a friend of hers… before looking at two rooms in my friends house that she’d like to makeover… going to Lowe’s to buy paint stripper, safety goggles, and gloves… stripping the drawers for a dresser we’re working on… and making plans for our next DIY session.

Stripping the drawers

The disassembled office chair… still working on the upholstery staples.

Then… disassembling the office chair I told you all about last week. Next Friday (our DIY day), we’ll be painted the drawers, staining the body of the dresser, and stripping the paint off the office chair. Then, hopefully, if time permits, we can at least get a primer and paint on the frame.

Dalesford fabric by Duralee at Lewis & Sheron.

I found another DIYer at work that likes to sew and has said she’ll help us out with the fabric. I’m thinking about using Dalesford in the green colorway with an emerald green paint on the frame. I like Benjamin Moore’s Emerald Isle. I’m open to suggestions (Thanks, Michelle, for yours!)

So you can see what I mean by running around, right (and why I’m posting at nearly 9pm)? I’m grinning from ear to ear though because I’m totally enjoying this! It feels amazing to be finally doing something I’ve always wanted too.

I hope you all are having a rocking Friday. Have a great weekend. I’ll see you next week!

Thrift Store Score: Office Chair

So, yesterday for my birthday, I went thrifting with my friend Dawn and I scored this chair for diet cheap! Aside from being in need of a visual overhaul, it is comfortable and easy to update since the seat and back unscrew from the frame.

I’m stumped though. I can’t think of a good paint color/fabric combo to save my life. Any thought?

I hope everyone’s week is winding up nicely. See you tomorrow. I’ll be sharing some of my faves from another trip I made yesterday to West Elm. Ciao for now!

PS. Check outthe nice things my sister wrote about me on her blog, Supermom Plus, called Drum Roll Please.

Domesticate

Clockwise from top left: Watercolor Drops, Peacocked, Freeform Arrows, Hot Indian Princess. All at Domesticate for Spoonflower.

Jenny Komenda from Little Green Notebook recently did a post on Babble about fabrics from Spoonflower.com. Spoonflower lets you upload your own designs, which they’ll print on various different natural fabrics from quilting cotton to upholstery weight canvas to silk. You can order swatches, fat quarters, and yardage. Truly an inspiring palace to shop and create for lovers of color and fabric!

Above is a picture of four of favorites from a shop I’m following called Domesticate. If you like bold colors and patterns you’ll love this shop! You can see some more of my favorites here. Happy shopping… and creating!

Thrift Store Score!

On Saturday me and my mom went by Value Village to pick up some wing back chairs we’d seen on Memorial Day. They were only $25 each!

The chairs side by side in the living room.

Close-up of the chair legs.

Detail of the flamestitch fabric.

They are really sturdy, solidly built, and really comfortable. The fabric is actually not that bad looking; it has a muted range of warm pastel tones in a flamestitch pattern. However, there is some shredded fabric on the back of both chairs so they’re  definitely going to end up becoming projects.

Lindsay Reid’s outdoor dining area with the Clarence House linen print ‘Dahlia’ gracing the table. -House Beautiful

I’d like to find a more affordable version of Clarence House’s Dahlia linen (as featured in Lindsay Reid’s cottage in the June 2011 House Beautiful). If anyone has any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Friday Finds

My favorite things from this week…

Dear Blank cards from Sapling Press on Etsy.

Noir jewelry featured on the Lonny Magazine Blog.

Alan Campbell Wavelength fabric by Quadrille.

Alphabet Drawers by Kent and London.

Donald Judd daybed (as inspiration only! $35,000 for a pine bed is… not my thing).

Owl measurings cups at West Elm.

Sea measuring cups and spoons at West Elm.