Tuesday, February 19, 2013

An Upholstered Headboard from Grandma’s Piano

My daughter and I have finally completed another project using recycled parts from my grandma’s piano. We made an upholstered headboard for my daughter’s bed.

upholstered headboard 1

You may have seen the entry table for our summer cottage that I made earlier using some of the parts. You can read about it here.

entry table lamp

This is what we started with before disassembling!

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My son and I disassembled the entire piano! I think I may be able to get 10 projects out of this one piano!!

headboard frame 3

This is the part that we used. It is the top front area of the piano where the music sits.

headboard frame 5

The finish was very old and crackled.

headboard frame 9

Let’s take a closer look.

headboard frame 15

We used Citristrip to remove the finish.

headboard frame 10

We applied a nice thick coat and let it stand for a while to work its magic.

headboard frame 11

We then cleaned off the gunk to reveal a beautiful wood.

headboard frame 18

We then applied a quick and light coat of stain followed by a coat of satin finish polyurethane.

headboard frame 21

We cut legs from 1 x 3’s and attached them with screws. The legs will be painted the same color as the wall. I also cut a piece of 1/4 inch thick plywood to fit the opening and purchased a piece of 2 inch thick foam the same size.

headboard foam 1

The foam was covered with a piece of linen which was left over from another project and stapled on the back of the plywood.

headboard foam 3

I marked the back and drilled the holes for the tufting buttons then used a 5 inch long upholstery needle to attach covered buttons for the tufting. I always use floral wire to attach the buttons since I have had the thread to break so many times. The tufting is the most challenging part for me! I then used screws to attach the foam covered plywood from the back to the frame.

upholstered headboard 1

The tufting does not show up well in the photos.

upholstered headboard 3

upholstered headboard 5

You can see from the close-up shots that the wood turned out beautifully.

upholstered headboard 7

upholstered headboard 4

We were pleased with our efforts and are exciting about using it to update my daughter’s room.

I hope that you are enjoying the last few weeks of winter and are looking forward to spring as much as I am!

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I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.

Monday, February 4, 2013

Painting a Rug

I am always one of the last to get on any decorating trend. I have been thinking about this one for a while and finally got on board after looking for a rug but not being able to find one. I needed a rug for the kitchen to catch water drips in front of the sink and those coming off of dishes going into the dishwasher.

stenciled rug 1

I started by drawing the shape that I wanted and then cut it out of copy paper.

rug stencil 1

Next, I traced this shape onto a file folder so that it would be stiff and used a an exacto knife to cut it out. Notice that I left a connector strip in the middle.

rug stencil 2

I decided to start in the center of the rug.

rug stencil 3

I didn’t even tape down the stencil. I just held it down with one hand and used a 3” foam roller to apply paint.

rug stencil 4

I went back and filled in the centers with an artist brush and quickly had a full row.

rug stencil 5

I then added a row on top and bottom.

rug stencil 6

Finally I went around the border with the foam roller.

stenciled rug 3

Pretty nice transformation for an inexpensive rug from Target and it eliminates a lot of water spots on the floor.

stenciled rug 2

I’ll be linking to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch and to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style.

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