Upholstery Project #2: My Croffice Chair

Here is a little sneak peak at a part of my Croffice. This room has yet to be shown on my blog because for the last 4 and a half years it has been, well, a mess. It's getting better and getting closer and closer to it's cyber debut. However, I think it is high time I show you My Croffice chair Before and After. After all, this chair has been kicking around these parts for almost a year and has been finished since September. I love it!

I found this dirty little cutie on KSL for $10. It was hanging out in a garage in Layton just waiting for someone to come along and rescue it. It definitely needed a new chance at life.

Although slightly disgusting, the chair had GREAT bones and was actually surprisingly comfortable. It hung out in the garage through late spring into late summer when it finally got a chance to be made over. In the meantime I sat on it a ton while working on other projects.

I wanted something with a little pizazz. Something I knew would be fun and would give my Croffice a little personality. So I found this super fun upholstery fabric online for like $8 a yard. I stripped it down, sanded and repainted the wood and away we went. Doesn't it look so much cuter! Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the new reupholstering myself this time. Mr. Upholstery Guru was just too busy to take the time to show me. :( But, I still just love her to pieces. I was also given a foot stool by my Mom, so I repainted that and with the left over fabric recovered that too. It will be shown later with the Croffice reveal. I forgot to photograph it for today. I love quietly going down to my Croffice, turning on a little lamp, grabbing this cute little vintage blanket I got at a consignment shop, putting my feet up and secretly reading. Inevitably the family usually finds me but still it's great!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my new little chair. As well as the little sneak peek of the Croffice. If it weren't for the fact that reupholstering involved sewing (HIVES) I think I would redo a different piece a month! It just gets under your skin to remake something old into something new again. Love It!

Do You Have An Opinion?

Alright, I need some advice. Nate and I recently acquired this sectional off of KSL classifieds. (Photo of the listing, not at our house.) We are currently playing a game of musical furniture at our house. Selling pieces of furniture left and right, moving pieces upstairs, downstairs, this room, that room. You name it, it's been moved. Not really, but it sure feels that way. Anyway, we have been on the hunt for a sectional that will fit the room downstairs that we are in the slow process of finishing. It has been much tougher than I thought it would be. We are also looking for a sectional to go in the Great Room upstairs, that one is even more challenging. In the interim this sectional is hanging out upstairs til the downstairs family room is complete. Is that clear as mud? Well, this sectional is perfect for downstairs, the problem is, is that it is ten years old, the fabric is shot and the cushions are a wee bit lumpy, but it has great bones. So, what's a project crazy girl to do? Reupholster it of course! Like I have nothing else to do with my time, right? Well, Mr.-I'll-Teach-You-How-To-Reupholster-Man has an opening in the next ten days to help us get this sucker done. SO, I gotta hurry and find the perfect fabric. The perfect neutral, durable, INEXPENSIVE, fabric that can reside upstairs til heck freezes over and we actually have the downstairs done and not give me hives because it doesn't match AND look right at home in the downstairs room as well. That's a pretty tall order and a lot to ask of a fabric. Can it also raise my children and mow the lawn? So, I have compiled a bunch of fabric swatches to choose from and Nate and I have narrowed it down to three different groupings.

Option A

The top is a fabric I am in love with for pillows and maybe curtains. The bottom left is also for pillows, the bottom right is the upholstery for the couch. It is a heavy duty chenille with a subtle paisley pattern to it, it soft to the touch as well. What do you think of this combo?

The next photo shows the other chair in the room that it has to coordinate with. It's another KSL find, that may or may not get reupholstered some day as well. It also shows the rug, a little bit that is in this space.

Option B

This photo shows Nate's top pick. Funny I just realized that the actual upholstery pick for the couch is the same in this sampling. I guess we really love this one, eh? Only so far we have only seen it in pictures and read great reviews about it. When the sample arrives in the mail in a few days I will know if I REALLY love it. What do you think of this grouping? The large print is for the larger throw pillows and the top right fabric which is shown in a more zoomed in way than the actual print should be in person is for the smaller throw pillows.

Option C

I am really kinda diggin this one too. I like that it incorporates the black which is definitely throughout the room but that the other pillow fabric isn't stripes which the chair and chair pillow currently have in spades. Hmmmm

I LOVE pillows and blankets. Especially soft ones you can snuggle into. It's important to note that the pillows might remain upstairs once this couch goes downstairs, I am hoping for a darker chocolatey-ish brown leather sectional for upstairs, or a saddle type color. Probably more likely saddle, we shall see. It's also important to note that I tend to get bored and cover up pillows with slip covers, so really I'm probably agonizing over a 6 month decision. Yeah, I'm ocd that way. Any how, help a girl out and cast your vote, so I can sleep already.

Barbie's New House

So, Barbie has a new house around these parts. Well, I should say more like a renovated house. It's been a long time coming. Back in August, ( or was it September?) I was given this doll house by my sister. Her two girls had outgrown it. Luckily it was given to me during garage sale season so I was able to sell our old slightly flimsy doll house. Ally and I had great hopes of getting this house fixed up quickly. However, the most that happened was that the wallpaper got steamed off and it got a thorough cleaning. Then it sat, and Ally impatiently waited.

Finally around the week before Christmas it got my attention. Suddenly I had a ticking clock over my head. I had to do 4 coats of primer. It had been painted multiple times, with both oil based paint and water based paint. It had been scraped off, drawn on with permanent marker and nail polish. I had just painted the roof pink and was starting on the actual white paint for the base of it when Ally saw it. She immediately wanted "pink carpet". So off I went, taping, painting, taping, painting, you get the idea. I was working down in the unfinished basement and it was cold, so the drying time in between coats was forever long. But I had it ready Christmas day when the girls opened up all of their new Barbie furniture. The house was ready to move into.

As you can see it was a hit. The only thing this house needs is a little artwork on the walls. Ally and I are keeping our eyes out for something cool, and Barbie worthy.

There's Been a Few Changes

I was looking through my photos the other day and realized that there had been some changes to this room since I last posted it. To be fair there have been changes throughout most of the house but this area is feeling more and more "finished" than the rest. Plus, it is one of my favorites, so I thought I would do an updated post on it. So let's check out more evolution of this space shall we?

The chair was here last time we visited this area. I still love it to pieces. I bought the little table for staging the Ogden house last year. I had intended on putting it on my downstairs landing but it just felt more right here, so that is where it has stayed. I absolutely love this room. It always feels warm and calm to me. It is one of my favorite places to sit when I feel hectic inside.I added the curtains last spring. At first they just hung on the ends, it wasn't long before I realized that they needed a little bit more. So I ran back to the store and luckily they still had them, and not only just on sale but on clearance! I grabbed the last one and did the dance of decorating joy all the way home. I had my super sewer friend Shawnee cut it in half and add them to each panel for a little more fullness. Then just this weekend Nate put up my tie-backs. Love it! Now they are perfect. Back in August I added the covering on the windows on Nate's office doors. He is a piler, so I start to get hives and a tick when it gets bad in there. Since we have that huge window into his office and I couldn't nag, er, persuade him to organize it, I did what any woman on the verge of a meltdown would do. I hid it.
Here is a close up of it, to give you a better idea. This area really hasn't changed much. I found those awesome blue urns a while ago and fell in love. I never really thought of myself as a blue person but I am definitely thinking about incorporating that hue into my house a bit more. It's an actual warm blue, in my naivete I honestly never thought that there could be a warm blue. I guess there is because that color melts me like butter!

Sorry for the crazy black circle around some of the photos. My wide angle lens adds those in, but now you can see the space better. For those of you who have never actually been here.

Another shot of the newly covered office doors. Luckily he wasn't offended, in fact he actually likes it a lot. Now whether that's because it is a pretty bamboo which hits his asian button or because it has gotten me off his back significantly I will never know. But, I can guess which one it is.

This shows the hallway that leads to the Cincesses room, a bathroom and my master bedroom suite.

Since the day we found this place and knew it would be ours I have dreamed about what to do with this space. I went back and forth on what to put here. Things that crossed my mind: a grandfather clock, some chairs and a small table, etc. Well, I finally landed on this table. It took me almost four years to find just the right piece. Not too big, not too small, plus the right color. I finally ended up with it around September I believe. I had a lot of people try to talk me out of putting anything here and keeping the walkway open. I am so glad I didn't listen. This area now feels so much more warm and cozy to me. More like a home. And we still have plenty of space to walk. In fact we have moved at least 3 pieces of fairly large furniture through here and we didn't even need to move it. We are currently playing another game of musical furniture around here. We have played this game before and I am sure it won't be the last.

I think it's funny I always seem to photograph this area when all of my fall decor is out. It's one of my absolute favorite times and since my home is mostly decorated in fall colors I guess it stands to reason.

I love this lampshade. Well, if I am being honest I love the whole lamp. I found it last spring at Target on clearance for like $15.oo. It hung out in a closet til about September when I finally got the table. This photo doesn't really do it justice. It has so many fun colors in it. Blue-ish grays, rusty maroon/reds, golds, etc. I love it! It looks so pretty all lit up too!

Well, thanks for going on another tour of this area. I promise there is more to my house than just this space, but I just love it! One of these days, hopefully soon, I will show you around a bit more. Since it's not the summer months and I am not all consumed with playing in the dirt. I am in over my head in room transformations and tweaking, although a bit behind schedule thanks to my Hysterectomy in October. I am working feverishly to get some things done inside before being lured back outside after the big thaw. Wish me luck!

A Little Pop

For the last two summers we have had a black wrought iron rocking chair on our porch. When we bought it we fell in love. It is big enough for two, with some interesting lines, etc. and for the last two years it has worked fine there. Well, the last few weeks that baby has been desperately trying to get me to pay attention to it. Always coaxing me in the back of my mind to give it a face lift, a POP if you will. Well, about a week ago, I sat up and took notice of the sad, dark corner of the porch I have forced it to stay. With my mind made up that it was right, it needed a change, I found myself in the paint aisle at Home Depot deliberating back and forth over color options. It took about 7 minutes but I finally landed on "Summer Squash". If you know me at all this will come as no surprise, I seem to be drawn to this color lately and am busily surrounding myself with it. It is so warm, and inviting, and cheerful. You'll see.

See in this photo that was taken at the end of May? How my cute rocker gets lost in the corner? That's terrible. I suddenly feel like Patrick Swayze saying, "Nobody sticks Baby in the corner."

With my trusty paint cans I set out to make things right, when disaster struck. Down, sick in bed all last week. Ugh. Baby gets left in the dark corner once again. Well, Tuesday, in between potty training, birthday celebrations and mowing a way too long lawn, baby got her chance. Little-Miss-Pee-Pee-Pants was down for a snooze, the other three were at the neighbors having a water fight and Nate wasn't due home for about two hours. (He was unawares to me and Baby's discussions on the subject.) So, I thought, forget the dirty house and the fact that you smell like gasoline, grass, sweat and the lingering aroma of Little-Miss-Pee-Pee-Pants latest oops, why not add spray paint to the mix. So, like a crazed woman I cleared the driveway of all kid paraphanelia, pulled out my huge piece of plastic and set up camp. I hurriedly dragged her out, scrubbed her down and got right to work. Even with the slight breeze the sun was hot and lucky for me she dried super fast. Four cans of spray paint later........

Doesn't she POP now? What a difference. It's like suddenly she is there! YAY! Here is another reminder of the Before.

So much better! I love it! Then all I had to do was clean up after myself and hope Nate liked it. It was so serendipitous. All the kids stayed asleep and or gone the entire time. I was completely done and had it cleaned up and put away before anyone was aware. It was sweet to say the least.

I then hurried to hop in the shower and lose all evidence of my secret project. This photo is a good example as to why I will never have nice looking nails. I would love to have nice looking nails but with my lifestyle, it's just not in the cards. They actually don't look too bad here, just slightly discolored. :) Usually I have several broken and snagged nails, layers of dirt from the garden caked under them and I almost always have paint on them. Ah well, whatcha gonna do?

It was worth it for ya Baby!

Vacancy

"Poor indeed is the garden in which birds find no homes."
- Abram L. Urban


Looks like a typical front door, right? Take a closer look.
This little nest has recently been vacated, and is now ready for occupancy. Never mind that the landlord didn't even know it was there. Don't tell the kids. They will be bummed that they missed out on all of the fun.



I spent some time in the flower beds Friday. I was delighted to have enough blossoms in bloom that I could start taking some cuttings into the house without it being noticable out in the garden. Aren't they beautiful?
I especially love them in my new ceramic pitcher. It was a D.I. find from April. Isn't it cute? Perfect condition too. Love it. Love that it brightens the kitchen on a gloomy day.

Smelly Serendipity

Last Saturday on my way home from reupholstering my beloved chair I stopped at one of my new-found favorite consignment shops. Upon entering the store I was greeted with a plethora of eye candy. I was so busy taking it all in that I didn't even see these candlesticks. I actually felt them. Then I heard them. I guess I should clarify, I felt my purse feel them. Then I heard the concrete floor feel them. Ugh, are you kidding me!?! I turned around and saw the smaller of the two lying on the floor, in pieces. You know the old adage....you break it, you buy it. Ummm, yeah, that was me. To make matters worse they weren't even candlesticks I would EVER buy for my house. NICE! Now what do I do with it?

I picked up all of the pieces and CAREFULLY walked up to the register to confess and set them down to purchase. There were still a couple of pieces that were missing, but the head (?) of the candlestick was mostly intact. Well, looks like I could glue it together, might as well get the set. Oh well, I would rather have an ugly set than one lonely ugly candlestick. Grudgingly I bought them both and took them home. Where in the world am I gonna put these? They were a little too gaudy for my taste. It took a couple of days for me to pull them out of the bag and set about fixing the broken one. After some super glue it was almost good as new. A strange thing started to happen then, they were growing on me. It must have been the fluorescent lights at the store that initially turned me off of them. Plus the gaudiness, but even that was growing on me. I first thought about putting them by my master bath tub, then the actual thought of trying to keep them clean in a bathroom, ummmmm no thanks. Then I figured the most formal room in the house was where they would go the best, or atleast not stick out like a gaudy thumb the least. So, in they went. My sister Heidi showed up about now, she called me a stinking brat for breaking something I would normally hate and having it go perfectly in my decor, and ultimately loving it to boot. Ha, yeah, go figure.

So, then the hunt was on for the perfect candle. I kept my eye out when I was out and about running errands but none of the candles caught my eye. Finally I checked Tarjay and wouldn't you know it the old bullseye came through for me yet again. There they were. Chocolate brown on the bottom, rusty terracotta in the center and a pretty cream color on top. They even came with a pretty rusty ribbon and a metallic maple leaf. Perfection. My colors and the maple leaf matches the pattern of my entryway table runner. I try really hard to not get too matchy-matchy with my stuff. Or to have a theme, really. However sometimes, things just match. What are you gonna do?

I snatched them up and took em home. Once I unwrapped them I loved them even more. However, Nate arrived not long after and asked why the house smelled of baby wipes. I told him it was the new candles and that the smell would go down. I thought I was just smelling it because my hands smelled so strongly of the candle scent. WRONG! Those are some smelly candles. Atleast it is a good smell, it could smell like dog food or something. Plus, it will go down, right? Right? Considering they are in the front room and I can smell them when I come in from the garage, you can bet your britches, they are smelly!
I really had a difficult time taking photos of them, they aren't turning out in pictures the way they look in the room. They look a little washed out. Oh well.

Piano Room Project

I wanted to show you my new chair I got for the Piano Room. Isn't she gorgeous? I really love her. I have been looking for just the right chair for this space for quite some time. I think she really gives the room that POP that I was looking for. I especially love the stripes. Just the coordinating fabric this room needed. Don't you think? What? You don't agree? I would certainly hope not. I got this little beauty off of KSL back in February for $29.00. This was my secret little hush hush project I have been working on. I kept her a bit of a secret because this project was a first for me. I have never redone a piece of furniture before. I didn't want everyone to know I was doing this in case it was a complete and utter failure.

You can't tell in these photos but the wood has a splattered type of paint finish on it. Plus instead of it being creamy, it was more of a yellowed creamy. Not good. Also, the two tone orange stripe fabric had definitely seen better days. Like a long time ago, better days. We're talking the 60's here. Anyhow, I stripped the fabric off, sanded her down, primed her, painted her Heirloom White, distressed her and put on a mocha glaze, add a little polyurethane and she was ready to dress. I got the fabric on sale 50% off. SCORE! I ordered me up some DIY upholstery books, read about it online and got cold feet. Did you know that you actually have to SEW when you do upholstery? SEW! Sewing gives me hives. I don't sew. What in the world was I thinking when I ventured into this project? I really must be messing up my brain cells with all of the paint fumes I am around to even consider doing this. So, on Valentines day, we were out to dinner with Nate's parents (remember Love and Taggarts Grill?) and I actually pulled out my camera and (gasp) showed LaVere, my Father-in-Law, my secret hush hush project. I was explaining to him how nervous I was, that I didn't want to ruin the chair, but I really had no idea what I was going to do. THANK GOODNESS I DID! He told me how his home teacher is a retired upholsterer and maybe he could help me out! YES PLEASE! I called him the next day and he agreed to help me. WHEW! Only catch, he couldn't for a few weeks. Ugh, I hate being patient with projects I want done. right. now. So, I waited, then waited again, and yet again. About ten days ago he called me and we arranged for Saturday the 10th. YIPEE!
So Saturday morning I loaded up and headed to his garage to learn some upholstery lessons. HOW FUN WAS MY DAY!?! I loved every minute of it. Especially because he didn't make me get behind the sewing machine once! I am proud to admit that I was involved in every other aspect of the reuphostery job. He also offered to have me come back again and continue to learn! Um, HECK YEAH! I know eventually that I will be behind that sewing machine, but I am grateful it will be a gradual process. Until then I will work on smaller less intimidating sewing pojects to get me used to the hives, uh, I mean sewing. All in all it took us about 4 hours to get her done but it was worth it. I was actually amazed how much easier it was than I thought it would be. So, do you want to see her?

Isn't she lovely? I heart her. A LOT.

Doesn't she look great with my suede wall in the background?

By the time I bought the chair, the paint, the fabric and the miscellaneous materials needed for the reupholstery she ended up costing me less than $150.00! SCORE! Have you priced these kinds of chairs at RC Willey? Well over $400.00. The best part is that I got EXACTLY what I wanted! I am totally gonna get hooked on this reupholstery thing!


Stay tuned for more evolution of this space. Here I thought I would be done in here after the chair was completed, but three more projects have hit the list thanks to imspiration from this chair. Hopefully they will be done in the next ten days or less.

Totally Worth It

Ever since we moved into our new home I have wanted to do something. Well, if I am being totally honest, A LOT of somethings. I have wanted to frame around my builder grade, boring as heck mirrors above all of our bathroom vanities. I have been biding my time. Waiting for the rooms to be painted, or the basement bathrooms to be done so that I can frame them all out at the same time. Whatever. Well, last week I got the chance to get a gorgeous framed AND beveled mirror to put in our upstairs half bath. YES PLEASE! I literally grabbed it and ran! I took it home and had dear strong hubby hold it in front of the original mirror to see if it would work. BEAUTIFUL! One problem....it was a little bit too wide for the vanity, therefore it threw everything out of proportion. Not to be detered I soon took it to a mirror cutting place and had them dismantle it and cut and rebevel the mirror. Now all I needed to do was trim down the frame and VOILA! Instant custom fit beautiful mirror! Right? Ummm, yeah kinda sorta. That is what eventually happened, other than the instant part. Let me teach you what I have learned from this experience. Work with the frame FIRST! See, when I went to get the frame done I ran into a couple of problems. Since the frame was made out of some sort of plastic instead of wood I had a difficult time finding a place that could cut through it without totally mangling it. Ugh. (I ended up taking it to Four Sisters in Riverdale.) Second problem was, they would have to totally dismantle the frame in order to get it sized down and cut correctly and I ran the risk of the entire frame just busting all up due to the glue and metal brackets that were inserted into the frame. Just taking it apart could be disasterous for the frame. So then I thought, well okay, if it breaks while they are taking it apart I will just buy a new ready made frame for the mirror. WRONG! Since I had the mirror cut first to the specifications I needed for the space they cut my mirror to within a quarter inch of a standard size. A quarter inch! So, if my frame busted I would have to have a CUSTOM frame built for the mirror. The minimal amount I was willing to spend to make my FREE mirror work for me could potentially skyrocket. Wasn't sure I was willing to do that. So, if you ever want to redo a plastic framed mirror remember these tips: 1) Do the frame first, wood is best, unless you are a risk taker, like me. 2) Then do the mirror. Oh, and make sure it is all done in a standard size, just in case your frame busts into a gazillion jagged pieces. Luckily for me, the nice lady at Four Sisters was gentle enough to get it all apart with very minimal damage to the frame. Also extremely lucky for me, where the damage was was right where she would be making her cuts. WHEW!

This is the before photo of my upstairs bathroom, see the boring builder grade mirror.

This is the wall AFTER I spent almost an hour trying to pry the glued on mirror off of the wall. I am telling you, THAT is an adrenaline filled workout. I really broke a sweat. I think it was from the sheer effort expended, the heat of the vanity light bearing down on me (no window) and the anxiety that at any moment I was gonna break the mirror and it would come crashing down on me. This project is definitely not for the faint of heart, but when there is a will, there is a way. FYI: The mirror came off intact (SUCCESS!) and is ready to be rehung at a different location, in fact, it was taken immediately out to the van for delivery. I was actually pleased that this was the amount of destruction done to the wall. I was expecting much worse. So, with a little prep and paint, it would be ready for the mirror to be hung.

This was my arsenal of tools. I am not sure my little pampered chef spreader thingie will ever be the same. It now has a little bit of a curve to it and is a bit scratched up. Sacrifices, sacrifices. Definitely one of the most useful things was the BBQ gadget. That sucker made light work of cutting through the glue.

Drumroll please! The AFTER! See what I mean? Totally worth it!


I figured since I ws posting about the room I would show some of the other decorating features. This room is pretty much done for now. I only have one other project in mind for this space. I will save that for another day. The room is so small I can't get a very good angle that shows the whole room. I also have a slightly shaggy red rug on the floor. LOVE IT! This room was painted in one of my all time favorite colors. Banana Nut.

So, while the end result was totally worth it to me, I think I would really think twice about 1) redoing a plastic framed mirror, 2) and prying off a glued on mirror.
The other mirrors in my house have definitely moved up my list of To Do's. However, they are mongo huge and I KNOW I would end up breaking them. So, I will have to just have someone custom frame those bad boys. I gotta hit the nursery again today. I just know that one of these days I will find a money tree. Until then, I will enjoy my "FREE" custom, beautiful, beveled, framed mirror.