The Girls' Room

It's almost done! Meg and I have been working on redecorating her girls' room for... a while. Meg has chosen adorable fabrics, curtains, paint colors and accessories and has arranged them all so creatively.

I offered to do the sewing and upholstery projects.
Several years ago I made a headboard for Meg and Ben that was a simple tailored rectangle covered in linen. When they gave it to the girls I cut it into a more feminine shape and slip covered it. The fabric is from only one pillow sham from Pottery Barn Kids, with all the seams opened it was large enough to cover the whole headboard! When Evie (5 years old) saw the quilted pillows with bows she said all the right things, she was thankful and complimentary, as usual. Then she asked me very diplomatically if I thought that they might need a little more "fashion". When I asked if little pillows made with the blue fabric and pink trim would add enough "fashion" she was satisfied because they would match her bed and "Relax Chair". Her "Relax Chair" was purchased many years before she was born at a yard sale for $5. A little paint and more PBK fabric made it just right for their room.

I made the lumbar pillow from a blouse that I bought for $1. It was no longer in style but, had beautiful embroidery, eyelet trim and shell buttons, so I knew it could have another life as a sweet little something.

All that is left for me to do is make the window valances (I think). I hope to show those to you soon! You can see their adorable, almost finished room on Megan's blog.
Annie added a little "fashion" of her own to the bed...

Bridgett's Chair

I met Bridgett through Megan. She is an adorable young mother and very talented children's photographer. She asked us to help her find props for photo shoots. We found this fabulous French Bergere at a local antique shop.

Meg painted it this playful funky green, Bridgette supplied the fabric, and I reupholstered it.
This vintage trim and fringe from my collection brought it all together.
Wouldn't you love to have portraits of your babies in this fun chair?

Janet's Chair

Janet recently found this great chair and ottoman at a garage sale!
They were covered with a funky "coffee-house" sort of fabric that wasn't too bad but,she bought this beautiful fabric on sale and asked me to recover them.

I love your choice, Janet. It looks so classy!

Storybook Chair

My sister rescued this great vintage chair from a trash pile in Riverside 30 years ago. She hired someone to recover it with sea foam chenille fabric. I don't remember how it came to be mine, but I do remember being absolutely amazed that someone could recover it so beautifully and thinking I could NEVER learn to do that. It was part of Megan's bedroom for most of her childhood and now it has moved to her house. She and her little girls will read stories in the same cozy chair where she and I used to cuddle with her favorite book.

I found this linen fabric at a decorator's sale and recovering the chair was not as hard as I once believed it would be.

Soon the chair will be complete with a monogrammed pillow and a copy of The Poky Little Puppy.

Nina's Playhouse

I made a playhouse for all of our grandchildren - in the closet under our stairs. Evie, our 3 year old granddaughter, was enthralled Christmas day when she went on a hunt for our play kitchen and found it behind a door that she had never noticed before. If you come over when Evie is here prepare to be invited to "her house" and remember to duck your head. I've spent more time in this closet in the last week than I did in the 7 years that we have lived here.

You'll probably have to "go to sleep" at her house. Turning the lamp and overhead light on and off is her favorite activity.

Of course it is decorated for Christmas and we're making plans for other holidays.

Evie said, "Nina, Thank you for my very own house!"

Anabelle, 15 months old, loves it, too!

They are looking forward to sharing it with future cousins.

That's not a hint.

Rich's Chair

BEFORE...
I found this chair in Goodwill a month ago. The size, shape and price were right, but not the fabric or the feminine details. The last person to upholster it took great care to add gathers at the corners of the skirt, a shirred front to the seat cushion and contrasting bias piping and trim. It was beautiful and creative in its day, but wear and 2 decades required that it have an update. AFTER...
This chair is for Richard so I chose a manly fabric; brown corduroy. These days I am drawn to classic fabrics in nuetral colors. I'm hoping I'll be happy to update accesories and pillows when I want a change instead of whole pieces of furniture.

This was my fastest work so far ~ only 2 days from purchasing the fabric to zipping the last cushion closed!

The couch now has a couple of pillows to match.

Fleur de Lis Chair

This petite wing chair was given to me at an estate sale, it was the last day of the sale and the sellers were motivated to clear out the house. They made the offer and I made room in my already stuffed station wagon.
It had the original 40's gold upholstery which I replaced with this brown w/gold fleur de lis fabric. I found almost $1 in change, a back- scratcher, and a wristwatch (that Richard put a new band on and wore for 6 months before it died) in its crevices. Cha-ching! The chair will soon be moving to my sister's house and I'm on the lookout for another.

Megan's Chair

My mother gave this sweet antique chair to my daughter, Megan, a few years ago. This old chair has had many different seat covers during its relatively short history in my family. Yesterday as I discovered 4 different fabric layers I relived family times, happy and sad, in several different homes where my mom has lived. It now has a new cover in a new home waiting for a new baby.

Megan chose a beautiful natural linen with an appliqued chocolate damask monogram.

Cheetah Chair

My sister has been shopping for the perfect chair for her sitting area. She found this comfy wing-back in an antique store and planned to have it reupholstered. I studied it for a while and decided to try my hand at it. I was a little intimidated by its shape and size, but I learned a lot about construction and techniques while I was taking it apart. I'm pleased with the results and I believe she will be, too.

"BEFORE"

(I forgot to take the picture before I started taking off the old fabric.)

"AFTER"

My sister chose to reverse the print on one side of the cushion. It's a little hard to see in the photo, but it looks great and gives her options.