Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Another Chair Rescue

Last week I completed another chair rescue.

new red chair 2

For a while I have wanted to update an old chair with a bright bold fabric and I finally did it! Take a look at the before…..

old chair 1

I think this was the dirtiest project I have ever undertaken. I ran across this beauty at an antique booth for $15 and decided to give it a shot.

old chair 3

I used a hammer, a flat screwdriver, and a pair of needle-nose pliers to pull back the upholstery.

old chair 5 

The fabric was absolutely rotten as well as filthy dirty.

old chair 7

I’ve never seen purple batting before and I am suspicious that the chair got wet and the fabric faded on it. I found a remnant of this bold red and white fabric, 5 yards for $25 and got to work.

new red chair 2

Before I started, I painted a very thin coat of black paint on the legs to cover up some scratches.

new red chair 1

I won’t go over the step by step details of the upholstery but I will give a few pointers that I have learned. A staple gun that uses an air compressor is absolutely essential.  The little blue compressor in the corner of the photo below is what I used. It was pretty inexpensive (less than $50 I think) and has been used for many projects. It was well worth the investment. I have tried other heavy duty staplers and an electric one but none are sufficient for good upholstery. Also, taking time to match any pattern on the fabric gives a very professional finish to the project. Also, cording, or piping, adds an additional professional touch.

new red chair 3 

If you look closely, you can see that I used a row of double cording to go around the arms and a row of single cording around the piece of trim at the bottom.

new red chair 4 

This chair is for my son’s room at our summer cottage. Because the room is small, it’s hard to photo in there. The idea is that he will put the pillows from the bed on the chair at night instead of throwing them in the floor. Hey, a girl can dream can’t she?

red chair - blue room

There is room to squeeze by at the end of the bed.

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Another project checked off my list! I hope that you are having a fun and productive summer.

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I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style,  to Home Work at Worthing Court, to Inspire Me Tuesday at A Stroll Through Life and to Be Inspired Friday at Common Ground. Click over for lots of inspiration.

 

Monday, June 17, 2013

Adding Some Wall Art to the Guest Room

I am still adding a few touches to our guest room. If you missed my previous posts on this room you can see them by clicking here, here, and here. I had decided that I would try to find a vintage school map to hang on the large blank wall. I was lucky enough to find exactly what I had in mind on my last trip to Scott’s in Atlanta a couple of weeks ago!

room w map

The map is almost 4 feet wide by about 3 feet tall. I just happened to have a piece of 1/4 inch plywood almost this exact size which just needed a little trim. I then attached molding around the edge and gave it a coat of coral paint.

frame for map

There is a map on both sides so I just used push pins to mount the map on the plywood.

map frame and table

The map is of the Pacific Area of World War II. Let’s take a closer look.

close up of map

This map has special meaning to me because my grandfather served in the Pacific fleet in World War II. Actually, his Navy pea coat that he wore is hanging in the closet in this room! Occasionally my kids or I take the coat out and wear it since it is still in great condition. I’m sure that my Grandpa could tell me lots of stories looking at this map!

I hope that you are having a great summer!

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I’ll be linking to Wow Us Wednesday at Savvy Southern Style and to Be Inspired Friday at Common Ground.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Tour of the Summer Cottage–Part 1

I have so enjoyed the summer home tour at the Shabby Creek Cottage and wanted to join the party. Click on the link to see lots of inspiration! I have never gotten part 2 of this post done but that is on my “to do” list for this summer!

Lakehouse exterior 1

This was our fourth summer here and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I have done many hands on projects but it has truly been a labor of love. You can read my post about the construction process by clicking here. The rust stains have been removed from the sidewalk and you can see how I did that here. I’ll start with the view when you step inside the front door.

hall view 1A

It was difficult for me to get a good picture, but I think you can get the picture! The French doors leading to the screened porch are aligned with the front door so that you can see the lake from the front door. Our main living area is on the lake side of the house, putting the bedrooms near the front door. The master bedroom is to the right. Warning……I LOVE color. This is NOT a neutral house!

master bedroom 1

The furniture was all bought second hand with the exception of the mattress and box springs. I made the custom bedding from Robert Allen’s Summerlin fabric. The drapes and bed skirt are silk. I’ll do a post later on the headboard which I purchased at Scott’s in Atlanta.

master bedroom 5

The light fixture is one of my favorite things and you can read about how I made it here.

master bedroom 9 

The comfy chair in the corner is a hand me down that I re-upholstered in a coral colored upholstery velvet. I used the same fabric on the headboard.

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The painted secretary serves multiple purposes:  storage, a desk for bill paying, and it houses the television. You can read about that project here and here.

master bath 1

Because of the small footprint, it was hard to get good pictures, but the master bath is done in the same colors and fabrics as the bedroom.

Guest room 1

The guest bedroom and bath are directly across the hall from the master bedroom. All of the furniture in this room was either hand me downs or purchased second hand with the exception of the mattress and box springs.

Settee and floor lamp

The settee and floor lamp were two fun projects that you can read about here and here.

hall bath 1

Because the guest bath also serves as the powder room, I added a shower curtain made of very loosely woven linen in front of the glass enclosure to provide a little separation.

hall bath 3

The framed humming bird prints were vintage prints that I purchased at Metrolina Antiques in Charlotte. I considered buying all of the prints that she had and using them as wallpaper but changed my mind.

hall bath 2

I asked the builder not to install any bathroom mirrors and I purchased framed mirrors instead. I think that little detail adds a lot of  interest.

hall bath 4

This is my favorite piece of granite in the entire house! It is honed instead of polished. The texture looks like leather but it is very soft to the touch. Because we only needed a small piece here, we were able to use this which was actually a remnant.

laundry room 1

The laundry room is nothing fancy but it is very functional. It is the only white room in the house!

laundry room 2

laundry room 3

I painted the ironing board cabinet with chalkboard paint to use for shopping lists.

laundry room 4

laundry room 5

The vintage locker baskets were purchased at a flea market and I built the shelving of plywood so that everything would fit. Since we have a considerable amount of company here, the idea was that guests could put their things in the locker baskets.

lake house entry table

Because the hallway is so narrow, our “entry table” is at the end of the hall but it provides a place to drop keys and phones. You can read about how I built the table from parts of my grandmother’s piano here and you can read how I made the slipcover for the lampshade here.Our main living area was designed to blend the indoors and outdoors together.

den 1

The den area is to the right.

den 2A

The kitchen and dining area are opposite of the den area. Three sets of French doors open to the screened porch.

den chair with casters

Because this club chair sits in front of the doors, I removed the feet and added swivel casters with rubber wheels. That makes it very easy to move it around without damaging the hardwood floors.

kitchen 1

The kitchen is also on the small side but very functional. I added the under cabinet lighting to the custom cabinets.

kitchen 3

To make the most of the small space, I chose to use drawers instead of cabinets with doors.

kitchen 4

I also used some drawers in the island.

kitchen 5

For the kitchen sink, I chose a large, extra deep single bowl. It is great to have a sink that is big enough to wash things in.

kitchen 2

The dining area adjoins the kitchen.

painted dining table 3

The dining furniture was handed down from my mother. You can read about how I painted it here.

screened porch seating 1

The screened porch may be our favorite space of all. You can read a post I did about it here. You can see  how I made the lamp here and you can read about the black server that I rescued for $20 here!

screened porch upper dining 2

When the weather is nice, we eat our meals here.

screened porch 3

That’s it for the main floor. This is our view from the porch.

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As you can imagine, we always enjoy our time here.

 I hope that you are enjoying your summer. I certainly am.

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