Pottery Barn Teen Inspired Furlicious Desk Chair

Like so many of us DIY fans, I have been known to brake for free furniture. You know the kind, it's usually on the curb the day before trash pickup. This is the story of what can happen when you find just the right piece of furniture on the curb.  Months ago I  passed this chair on the curb at a nearby neighbors' house.  I drove past it, then thought twice about not at least checking it out. A quick peak told me this chair was worth a closer look

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Here she is waiting patiently in my garage for her encore.  I discovered that the previous owner probably didn't understand how to fix the mechanism that allows you to raise or lower the seat.  I didn't know either, but after a closer look ( to be honest my son Brandon fixed it) it was good as new. A couple of months ago I asked my daughter and her friend to try their hand at putting primer on her after a good cleaning. I wanted a  white chair on casters in my craft room so...

Fast forward to this weekend and I finally got to it.

 My first try was to spray paint her white. I hoped that it might not  be too white,but it was.  I ended up painting the chair with the same paint that I used on the desk and lack tables in the craft room.

Next, I looked for ideas for the cushion, and these chairs really caught my eye. I love all of  these.

  This armless chair is currently on sale at PBTeen for $209.00 + shipping.

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The arm version of the same chair is currently on sale for $229 + shipping.

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And their furry version of a "wingback" chair is   currently $279 + shipping.
                                                    

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So while at Ikea on a recent visit, I bought this faux sheepskin rug...

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The cushion for the bot tom of the chair was made out of 100%cotton duck that I already had.

After stuffing it with fiberfill, I tacked the cushion to half of the "sheepskin".

  

A few quick snips of the "sheepskin" and done!

 

What do you think?.I got what I wanted, a white chair on casters with a "Furlicious" look.

Cost:

1 can of Rustoleum Spray paint $3.77 ( even though I painted over it)
1 "sheepskin"  $9.99

Total : $14.58 with tax!!

 

Just a Thought... Crushing on Black and White Stripes

Juat a thought...  Over the years there have been lots of color trends that have come and gone. Do you remember major appliances in Harvest Gold and Green? What about L:aura Ashley floral everything. Well, one trend that has remained a staple in design has been the color combo of black and white. I am so in love with black and white stripes. A quick search on the internet reveals tons of great examples of this design love.  Here are just a few that I love....

 

 This is a striking traditional look....

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Even though there's a grey stripe in there, I love it!

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What a statement, this is very slick.

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These roman shades add something special to this white kitchen.

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Who doesn't like a black and white striped pillow?

                                                    Available 8/1/2014  in my new Etsy store

The black buttons sets this apart.

                                                                         

  And even in fashion you just can't beat black and white stripes...

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So, do you have any black and white stripes in your life? Please share where you have or want black and white stripes.

TBT - Throw Back Thursday - Buffet Restored, Refinished, Encore Creation

I know you've seen people posting old pics on Facebook for Throw Back Thursday, well this is my TBT. I'm still processing most of the information that I pick up at the Haven Conference last week and one of the thoughts that has stuck with me is that I don't want to DIY for the sake of blogging. For me it's the other way around. At least that's how it started! Anyway, while filing away pictures, I realized I had never shared the story of the Buffets and Their Encores.  Well, here goes...

Once the restore, refinish,encore bug bit me I was always on the hunt for likely candidates. Which sounds a lot better than "I brake for curbside furniture"!! Well, I do but that's another story for another time.  My almost weekly runs to the many different Metro Detroit Salvation Army ( they were gold mines and too many to mention) Stores led me to a couple of really sweet pieces. Here's the first one...

She wasn't really in bad shape, she just needed a little "pick me up". I think I paid somewhere around $40-50 for her.  Since she didn't have a shiny surface, I didn't use any stripper, just sanding, My son actually sanded her down to bare wood for me. ( Sorry no pics of that phase).  I knew I wanted her to  have a light finish, one that resembled the Travertine table base shown here...

So I painted her a medium beige from a mis-tint I bought at Home Depot. I wasn't too picky about this color as it was only a base color. I then dry painted an off white satin and immediately wiped it off. I repeated this step with another mis tint in a taupe color. This was just trial and error, but I like the end result. I then sealed this piece with a satin polyurethane.

The final step was to replace these boring drawer pulls. I planned to look at Home Depot but remember finding these at Marshalls. The black and white was just perfect with the black, taupe and white that would finish the room.

  

Buffet # 2

This buffet was also from a Salvation Army store ( Gratiot and 16 Mile) in Metro Detroit. Wasn't in the market for him but for $25.00 and the marble was perfect, well what could I do. I had to buy him .
I remember he hadn't even been priced yet when I inquired and the furniture manager was overloaded with big pieces and just shook her head and said "put $25.00 on it". I tried not to dance right in front of them.

A quick sanding and black paint (flat) and my first lightly distressed piece was done. I did spray paint the metal inert in the doors a Brass colored spray paint that I'd had for ever!. This piece got 2 coats of wax and Done!

I've always invisioned this piece on a covered porch or patio as part of an outdoor living room!

Each piece is totally different but I think they are both great.

Just a Thought... Dorm Room tranformation begins

Hi all,

I just spent time at the 2014 Haven Conference last week and it was amazing. I met a lot of ridiculously talented bloggers and have so many ideas for my blog and my future that I can’t even share them yet. But watch out, there’s a change coming.  If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter, you may have seen some of the pictures from the Haven Conference.

 

Right now in my personal life, there are a lot of changes happening as well. The most important is the move to a college campus and dorm room apartment for my baby girl, Cass. So, I plan  to blog about some of  the diy projects that will help make her on campus apartment a home.

The starting point is her bedroom (each girl has her own bedroom) in this 4 bedroom, 2 bath apartment. This is a very modern on campus apartment with hardwood floors and granite counter tops! Boy oh boy, college life has really changed since , well never mine how long ago it was, let's just say, things have really changed!

Back to the bedroom. I saw this really cool comforter set at Marshalls and she liked it as well, so she is  going with grey, orange ( more a deep coral/orange) with touches of turquoise. Here’s what we are starting with.

                                                  5 piece comforter set and fleece throw                        

First up will be personalizing her orange throw ( less than $10 at Ross). Next will be adding a little something to  the grey polka dot box ( $5 at $5 Below)

                   1 of the pillows included in the set, the throw and a polka dot box for clutter control!

What do you think of this color scheme?

I'm thinking it was meant to be as I just happened to have both of these fabrics in my fabric stash just waiting to become throw pillows. 

And we're off... I'm thinking rugs and maybe curtains next!!

                             

The Nest Will Soon Be Empty!! College Bound Pajamas

Summer is quickly flying by. What's different about this summer is that this is the summer that my nest gets emptied. That's right my last little chick leaves the nest in August. While I've been through this before, it's a little different this time. This time it's my baby girl that's heading to college. That means a lot more fun shopping for the dorm room. Ha-Ha , I bet you thought I'd be teary eyed and all that. No way!! I am so excited for this opportunity that she has that while I will miss her, I can't wait for her to begin this awesome journey. Back to shopping and getting ready to go.

 A while back I saw some really cute pajama pants and pinned them on Pinterest.

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 Well, while she's been in Detroit visiting family I have had a chance to do a little shopping and sewing. OK, before I share, I admit I got a little carried away. It's not like Cass doesn't have any pajamas, it's just that these were so cute , easy and fun to make. I mean, if you have a teenage daughter, niece, granddaughter, you know how hard it is to shop for them. These are hard not to like so I got a little carried away.

The cotton fabric that I used for the shorts, capri bottoms and pants were all on sale, so Cha Ching , major savings.  If you sew at all you know each pair took less than 30 minutes from cutting out to finish. And yes the monograms did take a little bit of time but it was worth it.

                          Turquoise and blue shorts with turquoise racer tank and dark blue monogram

 

              Turquoise and blue pants ( different pattern) and teal t-shirt with lime green stitching. 

                       Pink and brown capri pants and pink v neck t-shirt with brown monogram.

 Red and white paisley print shorts with white ruffle trim, white v neck t-shirt and red monogram.

This last set was a great color choice but the thread that I used for the monogramming was a major mistake. I thought about not even showing these, but mistakes are part of the real process, they do happen sometimes. This thread was so tight on the spool that no amount of tension adjustment helped, it pulled the white bobbin thread up in many places. Now, if these were for someone else I would be making them over and using a different thread, but I think Cass will give me a pass on these. (smile)

            Fuchsia and orange plaid shorts with an orange racer tank top with funky Fuchsia stitching.

All of the tops were from Walmart. I spent the most on the turquoise t shirt, $3.47. Because Cass is small she could wear an XL from the kids department. That was great because they didn't have another option for that print. The tanks and other t-shirts were all on clearance some for as little as $2 none were over $3.  My total cost for materials, including $1.99 for pattern ( I already had the elastic) was approx. $35.00. That's for 5 pair of monogrammed  pajamas!!  The inspiration pants shown above sell for $30.00 Now I know I didn't add the cost of monogramming to these but since it's my machine, my time and My Baby Girl...

If you want to make these, they would make great gifts for Christmas, brides maids, kids, etc. Why not!! In place of the monograms you could by iron on initials at Michaels, JoAnns, Hancock Fabrics or Hobby Lobby. I think I will even make myself a pair.

Next up for the college bound shopping is the dorm room bedding. Stay tuned..

Just a Thought...

This post really doesn't have anything to do with my love for how people express their creativity. This post is meant to offer support, love, comfort and encouragement to a dear friend who is suffering the tragic loss of her two sons this past weekend. 

This is one of my favorite scriptures. Kim, as you go through these days and wonder how you will continue, please remember....

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Mothers, daughters, sons and friends, don't wait to tell those you love how you feel. Tell them today.

 In Memory of Kalen and Keenon Morrioson

Little Dirty Footprints -Seat Cover DIY

Hi all,

I know you're all getting ready to celebrate the 4th of July, and for some of you that means car trips with the kids. I don't have any "kids", my "kids" grew up  while I wasn't looking. LOL. A friend has a wonderful little grandson who, wonderful as he is, leaves footprints on the back of granddad's car seats. When my kids were riding in the backseat, they were on booster seats ( remember those) and their legs didn't reach the back of the seats in my SUV. By the time they were big enough for that, no more booster seats. Hey, don't judge me, we lived dangerous, reckless lives in the 80s!! And we lived to tell about it!  Anyway, as with most men and some women, the sight of a footprint on the back of the front passenger seat is not a welcomed sight. Of course it's easily brushed off but... I had other plans.  A Seat Back Cover!. 

Materials:

1/2 yard fleece or bath towel
scrissors
stiff interfacing
Velcro
Sewing machine
matching thread

Step 1.   Buy a 1/2 yard of black fleece or even a black towel. Of course you can choose any color that matches or compliments your seats.

Step 2.  I didn't measure anything as I wanted this to be a surprise. For my cover I folded the 19"x  62" piece of fleece into a 19" x 56" rectangle. I folded it in half creating a 19"x 28" rectangle.

Step 3. I cut a piece of stiff interfacing 19" x 28". I sandwiched the interfacing between the 2 sides of the rectangle.

Step 4. I stitched the two long sides and then turned the rectangle inside out. I then stitched across the rectangle every 2 inches. No real reason why, just wanted to added a little more detail to the cover. You can skip this stitching if you want. I then folded the bottom up a 1/2" and creased it, then folded it up another 1/2" and stitched the bottom closed.

Step 4. From the remaining piece, I cut a 2' by 19" piece for the strap. Finish the strap piece by folding in 1/2"  on each long side then folding again, in half.

Step. 5 Sew strap to cover on one side and sew Velcro to the unattached end of the  strap. Sew the other piece of Velcro to the cover. Again, I didn't measure, I just estimated the width of the headrest brackets. And in less than an hour I was done

Who out there doesn't know I loved All things Monogrammed?  Well you better ask somebody,  I just had to add a large circle monogram.

After I made it, I searched the internet for them and only found one aimed at keeping the footprints off the seat, it was $14.50 plus shipping. This is plastic and could be wiped clean.

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Here's my Seat Back Cover, it took about 1/2 an hour and cost me about $2.00. The fleece was the only thing I didn't have on hand. Now I know you could just toss a towel up there and anchor the end under the headrest, but come on, this looks a whole lot nicer. Don't you think?