{DIY Idea} Stool Update

So I was feeling the urge this weekend to DIY something.  Anything.  Cue lightbulb.  I had some fabric in my basement that was sitting around, I was bored with my kitchen stools...

So I took them apart by taking out the screws and lifting off the cushion.

 

I spread out the fabric on the floor and stapled it on all around the cushions.

 

 I then reassembled the chairs.  All of this took me maybe 30 minutes tops.

 

 I now have a fun punch of pattern on my kitchen stools.  It was a super easy, quick way to jazz up my boring stools with a fun punch of personality!

 

DIY: Chalkboard Frame

Here's a DIY idea, I stumbled across today while browsing House and Home.  This would be such an easy thing to recreate at home.  Just take any old picture frame or mirror that you like, and paint either the mirror glass or frame backing with chalkboard paint.  Chalkboard paint is available at any hardware store and it comes in many colors.

I plan on trying this idea myself by finding an old frame or mirror at a thrift store and then going to town with the chalkboard paint.  How easy!

Household Management Tip

For those of you out there who are desperately searching for the instruction manual when your furnace doesn't seem to be working or can't find the cleaning instructions for your carpet or sofa when you spill something, I have just the thing for you.  Since I was tired of having those same problems, I decided to take a clue from my interior design project binders and create a master folder for all my household appliances, furniture, paint samples & formulas, home insurance, and home association details.  Any information pertinent to the the care of my home is stored in this three-ring binder.  So, if I need to find my paint samples to bring to the store with me, I know exactly where they are.

I chose a typical three-ring binder to store all the info.

I labeled the binder Household Manual with my label maker:

 

I used clear plastic sleeves to slide all instruction manuals, floor plan, paint samples, etc into:

I labeled each section according to use and location. Ex: Kitchen appliances, Furniture, Paint, Garage, Insurance, etc.

 

 

So there you go!  It's a super easy solution.   Now, I have one place to go to look for anything household related that can help me out quickly when a problem or need arises.   This manual has come in handy on more than one occasion and has saved us a lot of time since we are no longer running around the house trying to figure out where that certain instruction manual we're looking for is lying around.  This will also be something that will come in handy when we decide to sell our house.  Potential home buyers will be happy to see that all the information they need about the stove, furnace, AC, dishwasher, etc will all be in one place for them to reference.

So the next time you find yourself searching for that elusive paint sample or instruction manual, I suggest you take a few minutes and create one of these household manuals.  You'll be glad you did!

Do you have any other ways to easily organize household information?  I'd love to hear all about your tips in the comment section!

 

Small Budget? No problem!

At my casa, small budget is the name of the game.  Since we're still newlyweds (kind of-we've hit the 2 year mark) and I've been in school most of our marriage, we have not yet had the luxury of 2 full-time incomes.  But because I am a designer I have a constant itch to have the house fully designed, like, RIGHT NOW!  Obviously that is not going to happen anytime soon, so we've slowly been buying pieces here and there and I have been stalking places like Home Goods and Goodwill for inexpensive accessories and furniture that I can revamp like my chairs that I recently shared with you. 

I do really like how our humble abode is coming together though and it has been fun to try to figure out how to turn pieces of furniture that I don't really love into something that I do.

  So last weekend I decided to take control of our dining room table.  This table has actually become a funny story for us.   When my husband and I first started dating we went to IKEA together because he wanted some help picking out an inexpensive table for his house which he shared with 3 other guys.  So of course we picked out the most basic table that sat 4 and could be banged up by a bunch of single guys.  Indeed it did get banged up a little, but we decided to keep the table when we moved into our home together because we wanted to spend our money on a sofa and other accessories instead of a table.  Little did I know that the table I picked out for him years ago would get stuck in our home a few years later!  If only I would have known....  ;)

Anyways, I wanted to make a change that would be big impact with low cost.  I chose a mahogany stain that I had left over from a previous project and went to work!  So here is the table that I started out with: 

The table had been lightly stained with a few coats of poly so I began by sanding the table down to rough it up so the stain would adhere.

Next, I applied the stain, making sure to do long strokes across the entire length of the table going with the grain of the wood.  The stain I used had poly already mixed in which allowed me to skip the final step of a separate poly and was a great time saver.

 

 

As you can see the table definitely needed a second coat.  I let the table dry overnight, then lightly sanded any drips or rough spots again and made sure to completely wipe off using a tack cloth.  I then applied a second coat of stain and let dry.   I think it turned out great and it is amazing what a difference it makes in our dining space.

 

I really like how my white dishes stand out against the mahogany tabletop now.  It feels much more contemporary and gives this piece a whole new look for cheap, cheap, cheap! 

If you feel yourself getting tired of the furniture in your home, but are not ready to replace it, staining or painting is such a quick and easy fix to instantly update your home.

Thrift Store Revamp

My recent project was painting and reupholstering two chairs that I found at the Goodwill for $4 a piece.  What I liked about these chairs was the backs.  I immediately pictured them painted in a creamy white color to really make the criss-cross design of the backs pop.

So, I took them home and began the revamping process by unscrewing the bottoms of the chairs and pulling out the old staples.  It turns out these chairs had been reupholstered three times!

Underneath all that fabric was a nasty pile of dust and foam so I scrapped it all and layed down a new layer of foam and batting.

 

The easiest thing to do is place the plywood seat on top of the foam and trim around the edges with a scissors.  I ended up having to use two pieces of foam because of the shape of the chair.  I used a glue gun to glue down the foam pieces to the chair so they won't slip around when sat upon.  I then wrapped a layer of batting around the foam and stapled that down.  Finally I took my fabric and cut it to the size of the seat by laying the seat on top of the fabric and trimming  around the edges leaving about 2 inches of extra fabric. Then I stapled that down on top of the batting.  The key to getting a smooth fit is to pull the fabric tight as you staple your way around the perimeter of the seat.  When it comes to the corners, wrap them as you would a present and staple the overlapping fabric.  You can go back later and trim the excess fabric off if you wish.

 

 

Once I had the seats upholstered I prepped the chairs for painting by sanding them down to create a rough surface for the paint to adhere to.  I then used a spray paint primer, let that dry and did three coats of Rustoleum Heirloom White spray paint.

 

Because this chair had a lot of detail, I went back with a very small brush, sprayed some spray paint into a small container and used that to go through the tight grooves of the chair.

 

  

 

The last step is to attach the seat back to the frame by screwing it back on tightly with a screwdriver.  

Here are the final results!

 

  

{fabric close up}

 

Hope you enjoyed reading this as part of Metamorphosis Monday!

DIY Plywood Art

Hello readers!  Today I want to share with you a super simple piece of art that I created last week.  I promise that anyone can do it.  It is so simple and fun!  All you need is a cut-to-size (whatever size you'd like) piece of plywood, some leftover paint, and letter stencils.  I picked up my plywood at Home Depot, used the leftover paint colors that I had from when we painted our living room, kitchen and dining room 2 years ago and picked up the stencils at Michael's.  Total cost: $14.  Here's how I did it:

1. Take your piece of plywood and whitewash it with paint color of your choice.  I used white paint, mixed with some water to achieve the whitewash look.

 

2. Once the whitewash is dried, take out your letter stencils and arrange how you would like your quote to layout on the board.  Start painting stencil with a stencil brush, making sure to dab the paint on, don't brush it, to achieve a smooth look.

 

3. After I was finished with the stenciling, I decided to add some more interest by taking the paint stir sticks from each of the colors I used and drizzled the paint all over the board in a random way.

 

 

After this step, all you have to do is let the paint dry and figure out where you will put your new art!  See, I told you it was easy.  If you want to hang your new painting, buy a picture hanging kit found at almost any store and attach it to the back to hang on the wall.  If you don't want to hang it, you can easily lean it against the wall on a shelf or bookcase.  I chose to temporarily lean it above my kitchen cabinets since I have 12' ceilings.  I love the interest it adds to my otherwise still bare walls up there.

It would also be fun and easy to add graphic objects to your board as well such as a bird stencil or the outline of a city skyline or circles and squares for a geometric look.  The easiest way to do this is to find an image you like online and print it out and cut out the inside of the image to create your own stencil.  You could also add texture to your art by layering on images cut out of balsa wood or some other thin wood veneer which can be painted or left as is.  Have fun being creative and come up with your own ways to make your piece stand out!

Happy creating!