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.

Gingham Again

I found this vintage headboard at one of my favorite antique stores. It was just the thing that I had been looking for to upholster for our guestroom.
I chose a silk gingham fabric from Hobby Lobby (on clearance). I want to add one long bolster made of the same fabric. Pictures to come...

Rich really did not want me to drive screws into "that beautiful wood" so I mounted the foam and fabric-covered board with 3M picture hanging strips. It seems to be the perfect solution to the problem of securely attaching it without damaging the headboard.

I realize I have a gingham theme going in my last 4 posts. I can't help it. It's elegant in silk for a bedroom, cozy in a kitchen nook, and what is better than red gingham with big ric-rac in a playhouse? There are even little bits on baby clothes and lamp shades in the Sniglets post. It is a classic that never goes out of style.

What I did on my Summer Vacation...

...and most of Fall.
I have been absent, but BUSY with several trips and many projects. (Of course I don't have pictures of most of these things, I'm bad at that.)
I've been to Montana, Mississippi, Louisiana, Pensacola, North Carolina & Georgia; all to spend time with precious family members.

I have installed a tile back splash, scraped hateful vinyl flooring, rewired and restored a vintage chandelier, painted a living and dining room, tailored 2 sets of curtains, made custom bedding for a nursery, recovered 2 chairs, altered a duvet cover, sewed at least a dozen pillows, and covered 10 patio cushions; all for other people. Then in October I made something for us.

Our empty kitchen corner bothered me, this magazine picture inspired me, that little blue tool (a Kreg Pocket-hole Jig) enabled me, and Lowes assisted me by making the rip cuts in the plywood."Before" - Almost "After" - Our new cozy kitchen corner.
We now have more pantry and dish space plus 2 additional drawers (we had only 4 small kitchen drawers before). The bench top lifts for more storage space.
This cabinet shelf slides out for easy access to the coffee maker.

The sconces, accessories and furniture are all estate and garage sale finds. The cushions are a Goodwill bargain that I recovered.

I did have help, Richard has been my sheet rocker, wiring guru, muscle, sounding board, financier and constant encourager. Thanx, Babe

http://www.kregjig.com/

Den Decor

I've been redecorating our den for 18 months; since we had brick floors installed. (Not exactly one of those quick redos on HGTV.) I loved the floors but, everything else felt so dark, I wanted to lighten the furniture and accessories. Here are some of the results...

I found this secretary at one of my favorite antique stores, marked down plus 40% off. I have a "before picture", but I don't know how to get it from my phone to this blog so, you 'll have to imagine it with a dark stain and decorative panels over the glass doors. I painted and glazed it more times than I intended (6) to get the color I wanted.

The front of the top drawer folds down to expose the DVD player. I plan to add 2-way mirror film to the glass in the center door to hide the TV when it's off and see through when it's on. I'll let you know how it works. If you know a better way please share.

I reupholstered two bergere chairs that I found in a consignment shop. This is how they looked before.
The fabric was nice and they were well done, but I had 6 yards of linen that I'd bought at a garage sale so, here's the "after".I painted, monogrammed and distressed two small side tables. One came from a garage sale the other from an antique store. Both were very inexpensive. Here is the sum of all the newest parts, you can tell that I appreciate symmetry. I'm still shopping for a coffee table and artwork. Maybe this room will be finished in another 18 months, I'm patient, I can wait.

Jo's Chairs

I recovered this chair for a dear friend. That was the "BEFORE"... This is the "AFTER"...

...and its mate.

She chose a gorgeous ivory matelase fabric, very classy. Thanx for trusting me, Jo.

Upholstered Headboard

I've collected magazine photos of upholstered headboards for several years planning to make my own one day. I finally narrowed my choices down to this one because it had some interesting detail without being too feminine.I bought supplies and fabric, gathered tools, and went to work.The fabric is a dark taupe velvet. I'm pleased with the results and surprised that Richard is so excited about it. He even said that it was "Classy".

FYI ~ Richard found some great mounting hardware at Lowes. You can check out the "Hangman Mirror and Picture Hanging System" at www.hangmanstore.com

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.

"Rich Wrinkles"

Our couch last week... Our couch today...

Since we installed brick floors our den has felt so dark. Time to change colors. We've owned this sofa as long as we have been parents and it has been reupholstered once before. I studied it a while and decided to try my hand at recovering it myself since a couch is just a big (heavy) chair, right?

The fabric is a neutral linen and cotton blend that I love. The colorful salesperson that I bought it from told me that his southern-born mother would say that it would have "rich wrinkles". I love that expression. I would probably love his mother, too.

Labor of Love

I found these 70's style chairs and their matching ottoman at an estate sale a few months ago and offered them and the promise to recover them to our daughter, Megan, as a birthday gift. She chose the fabrics and repainted the chairs with a distressed finish. (She did this painting12 hours before her second daughter was born. Crawling around on the floor, reaching and bending may have helped to start her labor.)

"BEFORE" with 80's Fabric

"AFTER"

The 70's are back...
and classy with 2000's fabrics.

I learned that this is not my favorite kind of upholstery because every edge is a finish edge. Megan says that every time I complete a project I say that I won't do that again. I don't want to do this kind again, but I imagine I will when I find another great chair and have forgotten the labor pains of these "twins". I believe that Megan will have another baby one day, too.

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.

My Therapy Chairs

I rescued these matching club chairs from a trash pile 5 years ago, I remember because it was the spring before our daughter, Megan, and Ben were married. After all the activity of their wedding I needed something to occupy my free time and thoughts so I tackled the chairs. They were origionally upholstered in a "lovely" 80's mauve fabric. I chose to cover them with this plaid fabric thinking I would love it forever...
A few months ago our son, Neal, married Molly and I was in another post wedding activity lull. I decided to work on the chairs again. They now wear a neutral linen type fabric that I think I will love forever...


Someday, after our son, Reed's, wedding I hope to not need "upholstery therapy" and still be satisfied with this fabric. I'm getting faster at it, but I don't want to recover them a 3rd time.

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.

Anabelle's Car Seat

My daughter has been on bed rest during her second pregnancy and has had plenty of time to shop on-line. Shopping for a new carseat cover was high on her list. She found several that she liked, but they were very expensive so I offered to make one. She picked out the fabrics and I used the old cover for a pattern and the pad. This is the result... Won't Anabelle look even more delicious in this seat? Like icing on a cupcake.