Vanity Chair

While in the process of recovering the dining room chairs, I decided to do the vanity chairs that will go in the master bedroom & the closet.
Here's the old material that I was replacing...

It wasn't that old, but I wanted something less funky, to go with the new master bathroom/closet style.

I had picked up this material months ago since I knew the style & colors I was doing in the bedroom & bathroom.

I ran up to the attic and brought down a black/white/gray rug that I had stored away.  I like how well it goes in there (it's just the right size!) although I'm a little concerned that it is going to collect & show a lot of dog hair, so we'll see how it goes!

Dining Room Chairs

With not being able to do anything in the kitchen or dining room for this week, I was definitely feeling the pressure to do SOMETHING productive to prepare for hosting Thanksgiving.

I decided on recovering the dining room chairs, since they were looking really beat (and super dusty from all the construction)

Some of the chairs are lined up in the hallway, to prevent the dog from busting through the plastic and ruining the floor staining!  (He busted through during the sanding, which didn't do any harm... but alerted us that we need to set up a better barrier for the staining/poly stage!)

The material on them was picked out for the old house dining room.

Definitely time for a refresh!

I went shopping for the new material keeping in mind my china pattern...

          

..and knowing that we are painting the walls a chocolate brown (above the board & batten).

Here's what I picked!

And one of the finished chairs...

I can't wait to get everything in there and see how it all pulls together!  It's definitely harder doing this  without the room finished so that we can try things out and see how it looks.  It's a lot of guessing, and hoping everything will look good together!

Ice Cream Parlor Chairs

It's been a while since I posted about a project that wasn't related to the kitchen renovation.  I was feeling like I just wanted to get a little fun project done.



 My parents had given us a bunch of these ice cream parlor chairs when they were downsizing.  I had picked up some black spray paint to touch up our wrought iron outdoor furniture, and decided to take these out of the garage and see how they would clean up.

I needed to remove the seat so that I can re-cover the cushion.  That's when I realized that this would split the chair into three pieces.

That made it easier to scrub them over with the wire brush to remove old chipping & peeling paint.

Then it took a couple of rounds of spraying to get all of the nooks & crannies without drips. 

I just rotated around to each piece of furniture to allow some drying time in between coats...

I wanted to get a material that would go with the house once it get's repainted when the extension is done.  That lead me to pick this print...

The photos make it look brighter red than it looks in person!

I also picked up some batting, so that there would be a little bit of cushion.

Since some of the chairs don't have seats at all, and others were cracked or just feeling less stable than others, Mike took the wooden seat from the chair above and used it as a template to cut new ones for me.  

I then covered the wood seat with the batting & material, securing it using the staple gun.  Then I re-assembled the chair.

 I'm quite please with the results!

One down... several more to go!

Update- check it out!  My chairs were featured on "The Dedicated House"!   Kathryn hosts a Before & After party that is a great place for DIY inspiration!

Family Room Update- New Chairs

I feel like the Family Room has come a long way in the past few months!  

I had considered it pretty much "done", meaning we didn't need to do any more painting, construction, etc.

BUT I've been wanting to replace some of the furniture for a while now.  I was just waiting for the right pieces to come along... first the chaise lounge, then the couch, then the coffee table, and finally matching chairs to replace the love seat!

We found them at a department store over Memorial Day weekend.  

The pattern's a little more bold than I usually go for, but I love them!

The colors in the print match perfectly with the room!

They're really comfy- perfect for snuggling up in to read.  I can't wait until winter when I can turn the chair and read by the fire!

Here's how the room is now looking...

Between the chairs, I put an antique pie crust table that my parents had given me- it's just the right size!

Here's a Before/After shot:

Bus Stop Bench

Last summer, my mom & I were out yard sale-ing and saw this bench... for FREE!

I had a moment of hesitation... Did we really need this?

Mike already teases that I have an addiction to old chairs!

But then I thought about how we have all this property- we need a place to sit & enjoy it!  ...And the price was certainly right!!!!

So into the back of the car it went!

This was also the same yard sale that we picked up the ceiling medallion at.
A good day!  :)

Last weekend it was so nice out!  I took the opportunity to work on the bench.  Happily, we had already bought some white wood stain in anticipation of painting more of the picket fence... so I had all of the materials I needed on hand.

Once it was dry, we put it out at the end of our back driveway.

 This post has a photo of what it looked like last week.  It was taken after the little Leyland Cypress was planted, but before the bench was placed.

I dug around in the workshop and found a flower pot to put next to it... I still have to buy some plants for it!

With all of the nice warm days we had earlier this week, we've really enjoying sitting here while waiting for the school bus, instead of in the car!

Here's the Before/After shot:

Chair repair- glued

It's pretty bad when the whole thing
just falls right out!

Last chair post this month- I promise!


The rungs on our dining room chairs have become loose...


I think it's the fact that my 3 year old climbs onto the chairs using the rungs as a step, plus the fact that they're old chairs to begin with!


I've posted on the other Chair Repairs here and here.
This one was quick & easy  to tackle!




All it took was a little wood glue, placed into the holds and then holding them tight until the glue dries.




I didn't feel like walking out to get Mike's clamps (yes, a bit lazy!) but I needed something to keep some weight on until the glue dried.  I improvised with the other chair I was working on...

Ha- it might not be pretty, but it did work!

Foot Stool Fix

Since I had some left over fabric from re-doing the chair, I decided to also cover this little foot stool.

The stitching that was on it was in great shape, but didn't match my colors...
So I left it intact, and just put the new material right over it.

Ten minutes later, I had this:

Here it is with the chair I was working on, even though they aren't going to be placed together in the room!

More Chair Care

Another chair project...
This guy has been sitting in the barn, just waiting for some attention.  It actually sat in our garage at the old house for about 7 years!
 
In fact, here's a photo of it in the barn  --->
(along with several friends!)






I love the carving on the chair back, but I needed to replace the material, and glue the bottom rungs back together, and somehow never got around to it- until now!

One of my favorite parts is taking the seat off, and seeing the past lives of upholstery.

The top striped fabric was faded & dirty 

Second layer was this tapestry material

While the top was off, I took some wood glue and secured the rungs.


There was also a crack on the corner (I think it fell during the move!) that I needed to secure.


We used a screw on the inside, so it shouldn't be noticeable. --->




Here we are all cleaned up and waiting for the seat.

This is the material I found- on sale for $3.00/yard!
It's tan & sage green, which will go perfectly when this becomes the formal living room.

Anyways, I got out the staple gun and got to work...

Here's the completed project:

I think I'm going to pair this chair with my desk, since I currently don't have a chair for it.

I love when things (finally) come together!

Chair Repair- toothpick trick

I love old chairs.  I see them at yard sales and can't resist bringing them home.
Our dining room set is made up of various old chairs- I love that they're similar, yet not quite matching.


Unfortunately, many of these old chairs need a bit of TLC.
I decided to work on some chair care that I'd been putting off for WAY too long.
Here's the first of three chair repairs I did last weekend...

The seat kept falling off this guy.  No matter how many times I screwed it back in.

My friend's 5 year old child almost fell through when they were staying with us one weekend- yep, that was embarrassing!  
Turns out the holes in the seat board had gotten to big, so the screws didn't have anything to grab to.

Here's a tip for fixing that- courtesy of my father-in-law!



You can see here how the hole in the seat bottom is all frayed.

Take some wooden toothpicks, place them in the hole one at a time and snap off so they're at approximately the same height as the hole.  


Repeat until the hole is filled.

This now gives you a surface to screw into. 

All that's left is to line up the frame onto the seat (a little tricky, since you don't want to turn the seat upside down or your toothpicks may fall out).






Ta-dah!  The chair is as good as new!