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

Bedroom Makeover: A Much Needed Change

Hey y’all! Hope you’re all having a great week. Mine has been a little rough. We had to say goodbye to our sweet little Lola. She was our furry baby and it was devastating to have to let her go. But I won’t dwell on that. I just want to say that we are so thankful to have been blessed with her in our lives and we SO appreciate all the kind words and prayers from everyone.

Anyway, I had been planning to give our bedroom a much needed freshening up and after what happened this week it seemed like the perfect time to just get in there and get it done. It was a GREAT distraction. There are still a few more things I want to do, like paint a white wall, add some artwork, and add a new light fixture and some accessories. But I did get a lot done and now it feels fresh and crisp. Exactly what we needed. 

Check out these before pictures.

This is what I’ve done so far. 

• Painted the bamboo chair in white and gold. Covered the seat cushion in a grey/white greek key fabric. 
• Reupholstered the headboard in a bright white fabric and added a nailhead trim. I used a table cloth from Target. 
• Replaced the wooden storage bench with an upholstered ottoman. 
• Pulled the white duvet cover from the guest room and kept the Nate Berkus indigo pillow shams. (If you’ve been following for a while then you know I was determined to use some of that indigo blue bedding). 
• Added one of my DIY Gold Painted Pillows along with some other new and old toss pillows. 
• Added a new rug from Garden Ridge. 
• Hung a set of mirrors above the bed. I found those at Target. I was trying to create the illusion of a taller headboard. 

I totally believe that if you make your home a happier place you’ll be a happier person. That was pretty much the goal this week, to make our home a happy place to be.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have a beautiful weekend!

Linking up to some fab linky parties this week.

Liz Marie Blog

If It’s Not Baroque

The Shabby Nest

Suburbs Mama

DIY Showoff

Rain on a Tin Roof

Homecoming

The Blissful Bee

A Stylish Interior

Simple DIY Christmas Stockings

Hey there! It’s been a while but I’m back. I have been busy going through some old Christmas decorations and picking up some new ones. I’m trying to incorporate some handmade decorations this year.

My first handmade project is Christmas stockings. I haven’t used stockings in a couple of years because I haven’t been able to find any I LOVED in my price range. Well, after looking through a book a friend had loaned me, I finally got the idea to just make my own. (duh). I have tons of fabric scraps lying around and many of them just so happen to be perfect for my theme this year.

Here they are!

Let me begin by clarifying something. I’m pretty bad at sewing. I have tried and tried but I’m just not that good at it. One day I will take a class and learn how to cord pillows and do all kinds of other fancy stuff but for now I’m happy with being able to make a simple stitch. My point is, that’s all you really need to know in order to make your own stockings.

This is what you need to do.

First, use fabric that you love! It doesn’t have to be red and green just because it’s Christmas! I’m really into black and white lately and I’m also really into metallics. So that’s how I came up with my theme for this year. I went through my stock pile of fabric remnants and came up with these.

Then I dug out an ooooold stocking to use as my pattern. I just placed it on top of a fabric I didn’t really like (so it wouldn’t matter if I messed up) then traced it with a sharpie.

Once I had the pattern drawn I cut it with fabric scissors. Then I placed it on top of THE BACK of each fabric I wanted to use as the front of my stockings and traced then cut, one by one. Since I only had enough of the patterned fabrics for the front of the stockings I chose a neutral fabric for the backs and traced and cut these one by one. This won’t really matter since you won’t see the back anyway and it’s a good way to cut your cost if you are buying fabric to make stockings.

Ok, now comes the fun part. (I’m using the term “fun” loosely here). Place the fabrics FACE TO FACE. Now you should really pin the fabric together but since I am the most impatient person in the world I never do this. I jump right into sewing, holding the fabric together as I go.

Once you’ve sewn all the way around (except across the top) just turn them inside out. Now I wanted to make this as easy as possible. So to give the top a finished look I simply hot glued the top of the inside, folded it in and pressed it until it dried. Then I cut a small strip of fabric for each stocking, made a loop and hot glued those one by one onto each stocking.

I know they aren’t perfect but I really just wanted some basic, simple, pretty stockings.  I also decided I had to put our new black and white chair by the fireplace and it looks so much better over there. What do you think?

Be back soon!

Ikat Chairs

This is a project I did a couple (?) of years ago but still one of my favorite things in the house so I thought I would share. Plus they’re  in the living room  where I will put the wingback when it’s finished.

These chairs have made me love grey and have made me OBSESSED with ikat. I just can’t get tired of these chairs.

So here’s the story. I bought them from a liquidator for $5.00 each. I think they came from a hotel or something like that because they had a ton of them.

This is what they looked like then.

The cushion and frame were in such great shape I knew they would be worth having reupholstered. So I picked up the fabric at Associated Fabrics which is an awesome fabric store. They have a great selection and are the nicest people.

Then I primed and painted the frames white,

and took them to a professional to have them reupholstered. Luckily, I had enough fabric leftover to have a couple of pillows made.

So after the cost of the chairs, the fabric, and paying the upholsterer I still only paid about $100.00 per chair.  They’re really comfy and the perfect size for our little living room.

Look What I Found

So so so excited. Let me tell you why. I have been looking for a wingback chair to recover for, like, ever to go in the living room. They aren’t that hard to find on Craigslist or in thrift stores but they usually cost anywhere from $50-$100. That isn’t terrible but we’re talking about a used chair here. I have probably been looking for about a year so you can imagine my excitement when I rolled up on this (minus the cat) outside of a local thrift store for $14.99.   That’s right, $14.99.

So I know it looks a little scary but it’s actually in good condition. The biggest problem I’m having now is deciding on a fabric. I have tossed around the idea of incorporating some coral like this

or this.

On the other hand, I might decide I want to put it in a bedroom at some point. So I thought a grey fabric might be better since it would be neutral plus I LOVE anything grey.

Something like this.

 I thought putting together a couple of mood boards might help me decide.

Board One

Board Two

Well the coral is definitely more exciting but the grey would be more versatile. Plus I could just add color with accessories….hmm……I could use some help here.  Anybody have any other suggestions?