Monday, March 15, 2010

Slipcovers & Painted Furniture










The Blogging Bee At Homestead Revival gave me pause to think -- had I learned anything this week that was thrifty or organic in any way? Well, I have a few thoughts on food, but this week was more of a do it yourself decorating weekend. I was inspired by The Nester to reconsider my hard pressed contentment with the color of this chair. I love the fabric, I loved the price when I bought the set ($85 down from $150 on craigslist.com) but I do not love the color. It's too cold, burgandy-ish. I would love a warmer color of red or a big buffalo black check.





This chair joined our family at Christmas when we needed a little extra seating in our home in Georgia.(long story soon to follow.)
It was calling me at $16 saying 'I'm blue check & relatively clean... take me home....'. How could I walk away? Now it sits in my bedroom, waiting it's future home. The ottoman goes with a pair of wicker chairs that reside in my living room, but don't have adequate space for the ottoman.
Both of these chairs are my idea of fixer-uppers in the upholstery world. I had a career in interior design & we seldom 'did our own', but I operate on a whole 'nuther budget than most of our clients. So I still stick to the favored method of glean as you go, and when it all comes together, fabric, time & chair -- go for it. Now I've found a great tutorial so I think its time to jump into this project.


My last picture is a sort of before(still looking for this picture) & after. But I just had to show you. This is where we've been doing our bird count. I bought this about 5 years before Eric & met, and it's been painted so many times, well, I've lost count. It has no name, it's too simple for a 'buffet', 'cabinet' just doesn't flow, ? China cabinet... ? please, there's been no china on this since 3 months after we married, and the wedding gifts were safely stored. I painted any surface with chalk board paint, and left our growth chart on the sides where we've marked it. (If you move you still have to chart these permanently somewhere.) But for now it stores playdough and a small do-dad cabinet the boys enjoy storing little things. I enjoy having a little extra storage space for cereal bowls & coffee mugs. Our cd's are also stored here with our 'hi-fi' system.





So even tho I've never recoverd these items I thought you might also enjoy visiting The Nester & the tutorial she shared for recovering furniture.

2 comments:

Annesta said...

Hi Laura!
I like it when you write about creating things. I don't create "things". But, I am thinking along those lines. We are soon to be empty nester. I am working, thinking, praying about that season in my life. One of the things that I have thought about is to pick up a hobby that my hubby and I can do together.
He has refinished furniture before and done a great job. We recently cleaned out the garage for our remodel project, so it is a perfect time. I have a dresser that needs a "face lift".
I also have a chair that needs to be recovered and even have the fabric. I was going to take it somewhere but just maybe I am inspired by your, my dear friend!
Blessings your way today in all that you do.
~a

Unknown said...

I have wanted to learn how to do this a long time (slipcovers), but I am a little intimidated by managing all that fabric - I want to do my sofa! Perhaps I should find a chair to start with... someday.

Do post pictures if you recover the chairs!

Education, Easter and Early Mornings - April 9, 2023

 'No doubt I should have begun hunting a job at once, but I was hungry for books, anxious to be learning, so I rented a room in a small ...