Coastal Eclectic Bedroom Chair

It’s so hard to leave the beach. If you follow me on Instagram then you know we just spent a week at the beach doing absolutely nothing. And it was awesome. This was my view pretty much everyday. 

 

It’s kinda hard to get back into the groove of reality but at the same time it’s really good to be home. Anyway, we did a little thrifting while we were there. I love thrift shops in beach towns, they always have the best stuff. While I didn’t bring anything home with me I did remember that I never really shared the makeover of the chair I bought last year at the beach.

 Yep, LAST year. And it was only 20 bucks.I bought it not knowing exactly where I wanted to use it but I knew at some point it would be perfect somewhere. How’s that for vague? This is what it looked like when I bought it. 

It was a little dirty and a lot blah. It was in great shape though and it’s really comfy.Once I gave our bedroom a little makeover I knew  exactly what to do with the chair.I started by spray painting it white but I knew it needed something else. So I broke out my favorite Purdy brand paint brush to paint the wicker.

I painted it with this  Martha Stewart Specialty paint in Vintage Gold. This is absolutely one of my favorite gold paints. It has the best shimmery gold finish. 

Then I recovered the cushion in this greek key fabric. I found it on the remnant table at Hancock Fabrics. I geeked out a little bit right there in the store when I found it. It’s pretty rare to find something this fab so cheap. They sell remnants for around $5.00-$6.00 per yard.  I got about four yards so you’ll be seeing this fabric again.

Then I went back and forth with these two pillows.

I decided I like the grey one best. I love the mix of the patterns in the neutral tones and I especially love it against the shimmery metallic paint.

So it only took a year but it did finally get a makeover. Sometimes that’s how long it takes to get something right. It took me the longest to decide what to call this chair but I think it’s kinda coastal and kinda eclectic. So there ya go. You may have noticed I started painting the bedroom. No more Bittersweet Chocolate!  I can’t wait to get it finished so I can show you how much better it looks. And cross it off my list….

This is where you will find me linking up this week. Liz Marie Blog / The Shabby Nest / Suburbs Mama / Rain on a Tin Roof / The Blissful Bee / The DIY Dreamer

DIY Gold Painted Pillows

I have a quick project to share with you today. It’s really easy and can be done in an afternoon. 

If you have some pillows you want to jazz up then this is for you. Martha Stewart Metallic Paint. Every time I went to Home Depot I would eyeball this paint. I don’t know what took me so long but I finally bought some.

There are about a hundred things I wanted to use this paint on but I decided to start with these plain toss pillows I made a while ago. They were nothing special. I had simply sewn together some old fabric swatches I had lying around. They are so much better now.

This is what I started with.

Yeah they are FAR from perfect but keep in mind sewing is “not mah thang”.

I taped off the first pillow so that I would end up with two bold stripes through the center of the pillow. I measured about 3 1/2″ between the strips of tape.

Once I started painting I quickly realized it would work much better with a paint brush.

The fabric is textured so it was easier to get the paint to stick in all the grooves with a brush.

A couple of things I learned about painting fabric. 

• Paint on top of and away from the tape. Not toward it. It felt like the paint would easily slide under the tape.
• Don’t put a lot of paint on the brush but saturate the fabric really well so you only have to apply one coat.

For the second pillow I wanted a diagonal pattern so I placed the tape in diagonal strips about 3″ apart.

This is how they turned out.

This was so easy. Seriously, it only took a couple of hours including dry time. I LOVE this paint. Thanks Martha! I can’t wait to try it on some other things. Until now, painting something gold required spray painting which meant if it was raining I could forget it. Oh, and it’s kind of hard to tell in the photos but it has a GORGEOUS metallic sheen and it isn’t as deep of a gold that you get from most spray paints. LOVE!

I’m still playing around with where I want to keep the pillows but for now they look pretty good in the living room. Oh, and I now have new inspiration to refinish our dining chairs. Maybe I can get to that soon….

So have you ever painted fabric? Share!!

This is where I’ll be linking up this week. Come check it out!

Liz Marie Blog

Suburbs Mama

DIY Showoff

Give Me the Goods Monday @ Rain On a Tin Roof

If It’s Not Baroque

The Blissful Bee

Home Coming

 

Here I Go Again

I’m back at it again. Making more design boards for the bedroom. I still haven’t decided if I want to leave the room painted Bittersweet Chocolate or repaint it a lighter shade. Lately I’ve been finding myself drawn to white rooms. There is just something so fresh and clean-looking about a white room.

It makes me think of that song by the Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces. Except in my brain it goes, WHITE Open Spaces. Yeah, that song is gonna be stuck in your head all day. You’re welcome. Anyway…..what I’m thinking about now is leaving one wall Bittersweet Chocolate and painting the rest of the room a soft white. Maybe ;)

Here is my latest design board for the bedroom. 

This is the plan:

• Reupholster the headboard in a coral ikat fabric.

• DIY some white window panels with some type of gold border.

• Hang some antiqued mirrors/frames. 

• Bring in my DIY capiz shell chandelier from our little home office.

• The indigo blue will come from the Nate Berkus bedding I already own. (I know what you’re thinking but it’s working in my mind.)

• Buy one of these chests I found at Garden Ridge. 

These chests are all $199.00 or less! So happy they moved into the neighborhood!

The white dresser is from my guest room and I should be able to pick up some mirrors and picture frames at a thrift store for practically nothing.

That’s the plan for now. Just gotta get it done!

Bling-y Bentwood Rocker

I have a problem. I’m somewhat addicted to gold spray paint. I feel the need to paint ev-er-y-thing gold. It just adds a touch of drama. I love that.

My dad gave me this old Bentwood rocker and I took it without much excitement.  I put it in the basement and forgot about it for a while until  one day when I just felt the need to paint something.

So I took it outside and painted it blue.

Yeah…not so much. Huge fail.

Then I put it back in the basement and forgot about it for a while. Again. Well, shortly after that my obsession with gold spray paint began and I had been thinking about all the different things I could paint gold. That’s when I remembered the rocker. I’m loving the new glam look.

So much better than the blue.

I just covered and taped off the wicker and spray painted the rest with gold metallic spray paint. I used both Valspar and Ace brand paint. Both are terrific spray paints. Then I used a paint brush to paint the wicker in Balboa Mist.

I still haven’t decided where it will stay but  I will probably put it in the living room. It would also be a great bedroom chair.  How cute would this be in a little girl’s room?

Do you have a go-to color for spray painting? I would love to know! Leave a link to your projects in the comments section.

Hope everyone has a fun holiday weekend!

This week I’m linking up at some very cool blogs. You should check them out.

http://madeinaday.com/2013/05/23/made-u-look-linky-72/

http://www.classyclutter.net/2013/05/spotlight-saturday-link-party-6.html

http://suburbsmama.blogspot.com/2013/05/sunday-linky-party-9.html

Restoration Hardware-Inspired: Wine Cabinet

Hey there! This week I finally finished up a project that has been in the works way too long, but the important thing is I did finish it.

I refinished, and restyled, a wine cabinet. My inspiration for this makeover comes from Restoration Hardware. I am totally in love with their Zinc collection. This piece in particular.

I love this look on so many levels. It’s industrial, sleek and chic all at the same time.

This is the before.

This is what it looks like now.

It really wasn’t that difficult just time-consuming. Let me break it down.

I started by spot spraying it with Krylon Outdoors Black Metallic Finish spray paint.

Then I spot sprayed it with Krylon Outdoors Silver Hammered Metal Finish spray paint.

I used the same treatment for the feet.

Then I painted the nailhead trim with Rub n Buff in Pewter to give it an aged look.

To apply the nailhead trim I simply measured the four sides of the front then cut the trim into four pieces. The trim is so easy to apply. I found the best way to do it is to hold the individual nailheads with pliers in order to hammer them in. And you will definitely need a mallet rather than a hammer.

Once that was done I had to apply the feet. This is much easier if you use straight top plates. They look like this.

So I basically just decided where I wanted each foot to go then measured for the same spot at each corner and marked each one with a sharpie.

Then I used the power drill to attach each plate and foot.

That’s it! It turned out exactly how I had hoped it would.

Now I just need to fill it up! ;) So what do you think of Restoration Hardware? Has it ever inspired you to refinish something?

P.S. -Linking up at some awesome blogs.  Check out their stuff!!

 http://classyclutter.net/

madeinaday.com

sixsistersstuff.com

suburbsmama.blogspot.com

http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/04/175th-power-of-paint-party-popp.html

http://www.houseofhepworths.com/

Furniture Placement: Getting it Right

We have a weird living room. I know, people say that a lot. Seriously I have rearranged the furniture in here about a zillion times. Well I think I finally got it. I decided the best way for us to use this space is by breaking the room in two by floating the sofa in the middle of the room. So we have a small TV area on one side and the dining table (which is just off the kitchen) on the other side. The part that I just couldn’t get right was the area behind the sofa. Until now. Thanks to this little grey table.

I found this little guy at my favorite thrift store just down the road. He was sitting out front, all sad and 50% off, just waiting for someone to take him home. Take him home, I did. This is the perfect spot for him.

This table works in so many ways.

• It completes this TINY conversation area I was trying to create.
• It’s functional. It’s a spot for a lamp which gives us the lighting we need while sitting on the sofa and it provides much needed storage.
• It’s the perfect little spot for me and my husband to sit and chat while having a snack and a drink at the end of a long day. (I call it the lounge.)

Also, since it’s right off the kitchen it’s the perfect spot to sit and chat with my husband while he cooks dinner, which he does a lot lately. I know, I’m a lucky girl.

It makes me really glad I kept those Ikat chairs. At one point, for some reason, I decided to sell them and I actually put them on Craigslist. I got a lot of e-mails from people who loved them but didn’t want to drive to Chattanooga from Kansas to pick them up. Yeah….I accidentally posted them on the wrong city’s Craigslist page. Oops. Good thing for me because I love them and they are totally working in our space now.

Anyway, this is what the table looked like when I brought it home.

I started by painting it with one coat of homemade chalk paint in a grey that I mixed up using the following three colors.

• Slate Brown
• Bolboa Mist
• Baby Seal Black

Then, after lightly sanding it I mixed up a lighter shade of grey using only the slate brown and balboa mist. I used the lighter shade only on the top, around the bottom, and inside the grooves of the doors. Then, after another light sanding I applied a poly in a matte finish.

I also changed out the hardware. I found some really cute glass handles at Hobby Lobby and they were 50% off so I only spent $10.00 for the pair. Oh, and I got the table for $12.99.

I love the way it turned out though I might eventually get a smaller table and move this piece to the bedroom to use as a nightstand. For now, I’m loving this little table and how this area has come together.

Before

After

Linking up this weeks at some fabulous blogs!! You should check them out.

sixsistersstuff.com

too-much-time.com

notjustahousewife.net

 

Rub ‘n Buff Rocks

Rub ‘n Buff is an excellent product. It’s easy to use, doesn’t create a mess, and results in an AWESOME finish. If you aren’t familiar with this gem of a product it is basically paint in a tube that is made with waxes, metallic powders and pigments. Just apply and buff.

This is why I think Rub ‘n Buff rocks.

Exhibit A.

It took this piece of floral artwork from drab to fab. Looks much more crisp.

Exhibit B.

It made this yucky brass hardware go from boring to glam.

Exhibit C.

Shiny new nailhead trim gets an aged and weathered look. Exactly what I wanted for a project in progress.

Even better is the selection. It comes in all of these finishes.

It’s available at most craft stores and at Amazon. There are so many things you can do with it.  So if you have ever thought about using it, do it! It will change your DIY life.

Finished (Almost) Dining Chairs

My dining table and chairs are (almost) finished!! I’m still adding the upholstery to the rest of the chairs but here is the first one I finished.

In case you forgot here is another before pic of the table and chairs.

I ended up going a different direction with the chairs and I’m so glad I did. My plan was to paint the chairs the same white as the table base but when I finished the second chair I just wasn’t feeling it. They just looked too “new” or something.

So I took some sandpaper and started distressing one of the chairs. I still wasn’t crazy about it. So then…I tried wiping a dark stain on it. Uh..no that didn’t work. It just turned it a yucky beige color. Then I remembered the paint that I used on the edge of the table and it hit me. Dry-brushing! So that’s what I did.

Here’s the breakdown of how I got the look.

• Step 1: I gave the chairs a good once over sanding with the power sander. Really just enough to knock the shine off so they looked like this.

• Step 2: I painted the chairs with two coats of chalk paint and I lightly hand-sanded them between coats.

• Step 3: I distressed the chairs with the power sander to make them look a little “beat up” or “aged”.

• Step 4: I used the dry brushing technique to apply the slate brown paint.  This is where they start to look “weathered”. If you’ve never dry-brushed something it’s really simple. Basically you just put a tiny amount of paint on the tip of your paintbrush, dab it on a cloth or sponge to remove the excess, and lightly brush the paint onto the furniture with quick back and forth stokes.

I totally lucked out on the fabric. I decided to go to Hancock Fabrics one last time before I ordered any fabric online because I still wasn’t exactly sure what I wanted. I couldn’t believe it when I found this. ( My fabric is a little more blue than this).

It was tagged $12.95 a yard and  it was on sale for 60% off that price which made it $5.18 per yard! Woo hoo! ! I went ahead and got four yards at that price even though that’s probably more than I need. I’m sure to use the extra fabric somewhere else.  So after I removed about a MILLION staples from the chair seats (while being stared at),

I started covering the chairs with the new fabric using my trusty staple gun.

I’m loving the contrast of the “aged” chairs with the clean look of the table base.  I cannot wait to get this room finished! My next step is to paint the room and figure out what I want to do about the window panels. I’ll repost when EVERYTHING is finished.

So what do you think? Would you have left the chairs white? Do you like chairs that match your table or do you prefer a “mixed up” look?

P.S. Little safety tips (useful if you are clumsy like me).  Always wear a mask when sanding and always wear safety goggles when using a staple gun. :)

Stay Tuned!

Dining Table Update

Well last week was a little crazy with wind storms and trees down everywhere but I did manage to find some time to work on the table. There wasn’t a whole lot else to do without power.  No complaints here though. It could have been a LOT worse.

So…while my very nice and thoughtful husband did this:

I did this:

Good thing my power sander was already charged so I could give the legs a few final touches before painting them. I’m diggin’ this look by the way.

This is the table now.

Totally in love with this table. No really, I just sit and stare at it. Does that make me a little weird? Probably.

This is the table before.

So if you are wondering how I did this here goes.

I started by completely sanding the stain off the top with a power sander using 80 grit sanding pads since I knew I would be staining it. For the base I only gave it a rough once over sanding since I would be painting it. Then I did a little research online about “weathering” new wood. There are several ways to do it but this is the one I went with.

• Step 1: Prep the stain. Soak some steel wool in white vinegar in a glass jar for at least 24 hours. I used steel wool grade #0000 and used enough vinegar to completely cover the wool. Here’ s a little tip. DO NOT screw the lid on tight.  After about 20 minutes of it sitting on the kitchen counter we heard this strange noise like frying bacon or running water. When we realized it was my little science experiment, and found that the jar was HOT we panicked a little. Luckily Bill was brave enough to take it outside and open it. I was totally prepared for an explosion but thankfully nothing happened so I just sat the lid loosely on top. Crisis averted.

• Step 2: After you have soaked the steel wool for at least 24 hours and are ready to use the stain you need to brew a strong cup of hot tea and let it cool.

• Step 3: Apply the tea to the table. I applied one coat using a paint brush. Not a lot but just enough to soak into the wood. It totally freaked me out because this is how it looked wet. It went back to the original color after it dried and it dried pretty quickly.

• Step 4: This is the best part.  Apply the vinegar solution. I used a paint brush but you could also use a cloth. Just rub it on then wipe off the excess. It’s that easy. I actually applied a second coat just for kicks and because it looked a little light. You could give this a REALLY weathered look by banging the table up a little on the top but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I loved the look too much. I figure it will get beat up enough when we start using it.

About the edge of the table…. it wasn’t wood so I had to paint it to match the color of the table top. I just applied one coat of Clark & Kensington paint then distressed it a little with 150 grit sandpaper to make it blend in with the wood. The color is called Slate Brown. I had originally found this paint swatch at Sears but I took it to Ace Hardware and they whipped it up for me.

I painted the base of the table with two coats of homemade chalk paint in Balboa Mist. It is a Benjamin Moore color but again I had it made in Clark & Kensington. If you don’t know about chalk paint I will just tell you. It. Is. Awesome. No sanding required, it will stick to anything, and it is easy to distress. There are a lot of ways to make it but this is the recipe I use. I found it at lizmarieblog.com. FYI…her blog is GREAT!

So that’s it for now. I’m currently working on the chairs and hope to have them done soon. I am painting them the same color as the table base but I’m thinking I will distress them so they look a little different from the table.

Now I just have to decide on a fabric for the chair seats. I’m loving ALL of these fabrics from fabric.com!!

Thoughts?