Should You Paint Your Cane Chairs?

 I debated and debated. Consulted with my sister who did not paint the cane chairs she acquired. And decided YES, YES you should, or in this case, I should!!

 

 I bought the pair of cane chairs from Craig's List for $30!! They needed to be reupholstered, that was a given. The previous owners had cats and the fabric was white and nasty. The cane was ok, but they were very worn and chipped, so I decided yes I was going to paint! And I am so glad I did, they look AMAZING!

I splurged on the fabric, and purchased this fabric at $25 a yard!!!! I never spend this much on fabric, but since I only needed a little, I splurged. 

 Aren't they pretty?? I am so happy with how they turned out!!

 And for about $25 a chair, you cannot beat that!!! Take the risk, paint your cane chair!!!

Kitchen Bar Stools Upholstered

One of my most FABULOUS and AWESOME Craig's List finds were 4 brand new bar stools that were un-assembled for ONLY $50!! For all 4! (Seriously might be my best CL deal so far!!!) Target sells ONE similar chair for $70! And these were from a furniture store, but the original owner only wanted the table and it came as a set. So lucky me I am the owner of the 4 new chairs!

When I first bought them I knew I was going to upholster them (they came with a hard wooden seat) and originally I was going to paint them black. I decided not to paint them and am very glad I did not, I like the color as is - plus less work!

Once I had the chairs assembled, I had the very difficult choice of picking which fabric to use! I was debating between 3 fabulous patterns I got while in New York at Mood! (Seriously I want to go back to New York just to go to Mood!!! Such a fun store!!!!) I decided on the pretty grey fabric (the others will be around at some point... just need to figure out one what!!!)

I purchased 2 inch foam square cushions from Joann Fabrics. I debated on the 1 inch but thought that seemed too thin and ended up with the 2 inch. At first it looked like 2 inches was going to be too thick, but I think they turned out great.

I used one square per chair and had some help cutting them out!

Little man had to make sure they were going to be comfortable enough... it is important to test out your hard work before you put in all of the hard work!!

I traced around the seat with a sharpie and used a fabulous orange handled scissors to cut right through the 2 inch foam.

The most important step I did (I don't have a picture of) was to cut a small amount off of the top of the foam at an angle so the seat was not so square looking when covered. I was not neat about it and once the fabric was on and stapled down you could not tell that I was not neat, but it does help to make the upholstery look like it was meant to be there and not something I added on at the last minute! (You can see the curved edge in the final pictures!)

I then found my staple gun and stapled the fabric to the chair pulling the fabric tight without stretching the fabric "pattern." I also had help on this step! But this time little man thought it was fun to jump off of the chair seat.... I guess the extra foam gave him more lift...

I made sure to do my front corner the same on each chair so they would look consistent - the back on mine did not matter as much because that part was screwed into the base!

Then I screwed the seat to the base and we have fabulous new bar stools!

I love how they turned out and the fabric I decided to use! We have used these stools every day for the past 3 plus months and they still look just as good as they did when I made them.

My new chair

A few weeks ago or so when I was on one of my many trips to Target on I stumbled upon this chair that at the time was an online only chair (they now sell this chair in the store) so it was on sale for $49! I didn't think twice and grabbed it!

While it's a very nice gray colored chair, it didn't really go with any of my rooms. I originally thought I would recover it for my master bedroom, but after thinking about it, in our family room if we have people over we seem to not have enough room for seating, so I decided to keep it on our first floor to move around as needed.

For this chair recover project, I used fabric I bought this past fall when I was in New York and went to Mood. So I sadly have no clue what it is called and have not seen it anywhere else (if you know what it's called let me know!!)

I don't have many during pictures because this was NOT as easy as I thought it would be. I pinned, pinned and re-pinned. The bottom cushion was not as hard, but the top was a bit more of a challenge. I found that pinning it in sections was the easiest.
I pinned and sewed the top in 4 different sessions.
I took out chunks of my fingers while sewing this from the pins! (My poor fingers still hurt!!!)

I was so happy when I thought I was done, only to realize that I ran out of thread on the bottom and it didn't sew the last part..... so I had to re-pin is AGAIN!!!!!
Here is another before shot! Once I had the slip cover sewn, I used my staple gun and my glue gun to attach it to the chair. (And I burnt a finger with my glue gun..... so my hands really hurt after this project!)
Here is my finished chair! AND I LOVE IT!!!!!
I purposely took the time to make sure my top seat cushion lined up with the bottom seat cushion. (It would have looked VERY VERY funny had I not!)



I love my new chair! And am so glad it's done! I thought it would take one nap or so to finish, but it took a lot longer than that!!!

My Current TO-DO list

To try and keep myself honest and ACTUALLY get things DONE, I thought I would post my TO-DO LIST to be completed by April 1. And cross them off as I do them!!! Why April 1, well we have a big birthday in April so I figure that's a nice time frame. It also gives me time before my sister's wedding in May and then doesn't put the pressure on to have a million projects to do over the summer!

1. Finish Little Man's room - DONE - just need to blog it someday

This was done before, but I made some changes, so its no longer "done" I don't have too much left in this project. Just some new art work and things for the wall. Super EASY! I should be able to cross this off of my list in a week.... right??

2. Re-Do Wall of Guest Bedroom - DONE - sort of.... its a fix for now....  again need to blog it

I love my guest bedroom, but I don't love this wall of the room. It just doesn't quite cut it. So I have plans to re-do it. Not 100% sure yet what it will look like, but it will include the Red Envelope "You make me happy when skies are Grey" artwork.

3. Organize Craft Room - DONE

OMG this room is a disaster!! Trust me it's a mess and is in desperate need of organization! Some days it looks better than others... but most of the time its a stressful place to work on projects. I have started a gallery wall in this room, which I love, but need a few additions.

Update: This room is done!!! Check it out!

4. Add Some Style to the Master Bedroom - Working on it

I love our end tables, headboard, the lamps, the sconces above the bed... BUT this room just needs MORE. Besides what you can see in this picture, there is one photo on the wall, which is directly opposite of the bed. To the left is a big blank wall, to the right is a nice big wall of windows with white curtains. I love the start of this room, but it just needs MORE! Like another gallery wall, and maybe a stenciled wall behind the bed. We will see! Check out my Master Bedroom Pinterest Board...

5. The Living Room - Still a hot mess!!

We have lived in this house for six months and I still have not gotten around to this room. And of course it's the first room you see as you enter the house! When we moved in I put those black shelves up but I don't like them. The empty room has been a 4th playroom for my son... and worked out well for our Christmas tree... and currently holds Little Man's train table... but it's time for this room to at least have a place to sit! A while back I bought 2 chairs on Craig's List that need to be refinished, so I have to tackle that project! A while back I started pulling staples... I didn't get very far because it was hard work! ... and I have upholstered easy chairs before like these and this... but never a big chair... Then of course I want to paint and curtains, artwork... oh the possibilities.... check out my Pinterest living room board...

6. Paint Guest Bathroom Vanity - NOTHING.....

Just because I have the paint and I want too... and I think it would look fabulous with the Dr. Seuss decor of the bathroom!

7. Paint the Main Floor Bathroom - NOTHING

It's a pale green, and its fine, but I don't like fine in my house! I am thinking white and turquoise!

8. Finish Little Man's Photobooks - ONE DOWN.....

When Little Man was born I had the brilliant... crazy... something... idea that I should make one photobook PER month for him... Little man was born in April and I think I did the first month pretty quickly... and then things slowed down. As of 2 weeks ago I had only finished the first 6 months (which is PRETTY good considering my insane idea) then 2 weeks ago I completed 2 more books. So I am ONLY a year behind and need to complete January of 2011 until April 2011. THEN I need to figure out how I am going to do year 1... Obviously I should NOT keep doing this insane idea of one photobook per month for the rest of his life... too insane, plus any additional kids we have. I am debating either one for the entire year or maybe 2 for the year... we will deal with that when it happens... hopefully before his second birthday!!

9. Lose like 40 pounds - NOPE DIDN'T DO

I ordered my bridesmaid dress 2 sizes too small so I need to make sure it fits!! Even though my son is almost 2 years old, I still have not lost the baby weight... but that's a whole other story... so it's time to lose it and get on with my life!!!

So there we have 9 super easy projects that I can easily get done in 2 months... right?? Time to get off the computer and get doing... something...

Update: So as of April 1, I had 3 things done. I picked April 1 because I knew we were going to be on vacation for a week and it was Little Man's birthday.... and my sister's wedding... so yeah not all that great.... oh well, on to the next goal list... 

Entry Table Makeover

My new entry table redo using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!
My before Craig's List find. It was in pretty decent shape, but it has some character flaws I decided not to fix to add to the charm!
There is a little crack on the top of the table, but I thought it added character. I love the bright and happy color, Arles! This was my first time using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I read so many reviews on the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint that I had to try it out. I liked that I did not have to prime, but I did end up putting on 3 coats of paint. Looking online I was not able to find a lot of examples using the color Arles, so I was a bit hesitant ordering the color without seeing it, but I was so happy with the color!

The new pulls I was surprised to find at Target. I was going to reuse the pulls that came with the piece, but I really like the look with these pulls.
I originally was going to distress it, but for now I am going to leave it as is.

Refinished Dining Room Table and Chairs

My dining room table and chairs set is finally complete! I started sanding the table in May! But could not decide on chairs and then fabric for the chairs! I am SOO happy with how it turned out!

I blogged about refinishing the table previously, you can view it here!

After I was done sanding my table, I realized there was no way I would have the patience to refinish the chairs, so I was in search of "new" chairs that I could use instead. I found these lovely chairs on Craig's List for $15 a piece. They started off SOO ugly!!!!





I was afraid to remove the cushion to see what was there! I gave these chairs several coats of spray paint. I did spray prime these before using about 8 cans of Rustoleaum Heirloom White.


So ugly!!!


The hold up, was I was not able to figure out what fabric to use to upholster the chairs!! Below are a few fun patterns / prints I enjoyed!


I went to the store thinking that I wanted to do gray or gray and yellow, and these were my only choices! I do really like these prints.


My newly upholstered chair! And I realize I did not take any pictures of the upholstery part! It was SOOOO easy!!


My finished chair and finished table! I LOVE IT!!

Table Refinishing Project

We inherited a solid oak table from my husband's grandma which I love! But it showed some wear and the color was not exactly my first pick of color, so I refinished my first ever piece of furniture!

This is the table before, shown in our old house!

A close up of one of the table leafs.
I was nervous about refinishing this table since it has family history, and I have never refinished furniture before. I knew I wanted to stain it a darker color, so I started sanding...

And sanding and sanding and sanding! I did not realize how long this would take me! But it took a lot longer than I thought it would take! I found having a beer while sanding helped make the sanding easier to deal with! I drank a lot of beer while refinishing this table (and beer is not my first choice of drink!)

An original compared to a sanded leaf.



Once I was finished sanding, I was WAY too excited that I was done, that I did not get a completed picture of the sanded table! I was so excited to be onto the next step of cleaning up, wiping the table down, and picking out my stain color.

Picking out the stain color was A LOT harder than I thought it would be! I thought I would just run to Home Depot and pick out a color and be on to staining the table. Well I was wrong, it took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do with the stain.

I ended up getting two Minwax stain colors: Ebony and Jacobean.


I did some experimenting with color on the bottom of one of the 3 leafs until I found the shade I wanted. I figured I had 3 leafs and if I ruined one I would be fine with the other two.

I ended up using 2 cans of jacobean to 1 can of ebony Minwax stain. I combined them into a plastic container and later transferred the mixed stain into an empty paint tin.

I wiped the mixed stain on with old t-shirts, and wiped of any excess.

To get the color I wanted I put on 3 coats of stain, which I experimented with in my sample.


I then gave the table 3 coats of spray polyurethane. I was not happy with how that covered, so I also gave it an additional coat of brush on polyurethane.

I am so happy to be done with my table!!! HOWEVER, the chairs that originally matched the table and as seen in my first picture, are way too detailed for me to sand down and re-stain. I do not have enough patience's for re-doing those chairs! So that lead to the next problem.... what to do about chairs.

So after lots of searching on Craigslist, I was able to find 4 chairs that will work with my new table. The finished table and my new chairs I will post as soon as I finally finish them!!