Upcycle a Thrifted Chair for Under $10!

After buying our daughter a desk for her room, we realized she was going to need a chair. I guess the thought didn't occur to me until the desk was in her room that there needed to be a chair! So being me, I said I would find her a cute chair or fix one up. The search began, it took a while but I finally stumbled on this beauty at the thrift store for 5 bucks!

It wasn't wobbly, stained or smelly! I felt that it needed a paint job and new fabric for the seat and it would be great!
I had the paint at home and the brushes. All I needed to buy was some cute fabric that coordinates with my daughter's room. I found some great fabric at the local craft store and was able to use a coupon so the fabric only cost me $4.30. My total expense was $9.30! Sweet! This is a great project to try if you have never painted or tried to upcycle furniture.
This is simple explanation of what I did to upcycle this Thrifted chair:

 

Supplies:

Chair

Paint

Fabric

Paint brush and/or roller

Sanding block

Screwdriver

Wet rag possibly with soap.

Hammer and Tacks or Staple Gun

• Lightly sand the chair with a sanding block. You don't need to go crazy with this step. Just "rough up the finish a bit.

• Wipe down the chair with a wet rag. (You may need some soapy water) Then, dry it with a towel or let it air dry.

• Remove the "seat". Use a screwdriver to remove the screws that secure the seat. Take out the seat and set it aside.

• Paint the chair. It took me 3 coats to cover the chair the way I liked. I used a brush and a small roller but you can do it however you like. I also gave each coat about an hour to dry before applying the next coat.

• Cover the seat cushion. Lay the fabric facing down. Place the cushion facing down in the center of the fabric. Starting with one side fold the fabric over the cushion and tack it down. You can use a hammer and some tacks, as I did, or a staple gun if you have one.  Do the same on the opposite side making sure to pull the fabric snug.

 

• Fold over the other sides. The other sides will be folded over kind of like you would wrap a present. Make sure that the fabric does not bunch up and then secure them in place.

• Reattach the seat cushion. Once the paint is completely dry, put the seat cushion back onto the chair using the original screws.

And that is it! Now enjoy that new upcycled chair!

 

Spruce up that Naked Wall!

Last year we got with the program and bought a flat screen TV. It was a very big deal for me because I had one of those wall units that surrounded the big boxy flat screen that we had, and with that being gone I hated staring at the big NAKED wall behind the new TV. I love my new red TV table which you can check out HERE But I needed something to dress up the wall. So my husband suggested doing some kind of rock on the wall and that got the wheels turning!!!

We headed over to the home improvement store for some inspiration and we found that there was a lot of options. There is stones that can be put up with mortar and then need to be grouted, similar to tile flooring. There is stone that can be put up using mortar that doesn't need grouting. And then there is stone that can be put up using no mortar or grout but uses these "clips" instead. It all depends on the look that you are going for and the price range your budget allows. We went with the "clip" stone because we liked the look of it and we felt the application of it would be more our speed than having to mortar and grout all of the stone.

The first thing we had to do was to put up some plywood on the wall as a base for the stone. This was something that the guy at the store did not tell us. It was a good thing we called the manufacturer for some installation tips!

We had to make cuts in the stone to accommodate all of the electrical wiring. This was the most tedious part of the process because the stone is very thick! I apologize for not taking step by step pictures! I was still in a cast from my ankle surgery at this point and also very excited about this project! You can see one of the clips there that is used to secure the stone to the wall, it is the black "bracket" in the picture below.

This particular "stone" that we chose is a stone veneer that can be used indoors or out. It comes in cases that have bricks in 3 different lengths. The bricks need to be staggered in such a way that no joints will line up vertically in consecutive rows. 

 

 

The finished product!!!

 

Amazing! We love the new look in our family room! It really breaks up the huge naked wall.

Let me know what you think of the latest project! Follow this blog by email or on Bloglovin!

Garage Door Update!

The Garage door. For us, it is the entryway to our home. We enter and exit primarily from this door because that's how we get to the car and the car is how we get places! My question is: Why are garage doors so BLAH? They are the entryway to people's homes. I thought about this a lot. I think that is why I made over the laundry room; Because it was our "Entryway". You can check out the Laundry Room Makeover HERE  Now that the laundry room got some TLC, my attention was drawn to the "BLAH" garage door. Everything about it screamed for a makeover! The white paint was scratched and had all kids of stains, the steps- well the steps were a hot mess!  So here is what this hot mess Blah door looked like before!

 

Fortunately, you can't see all the ugly marks and scratches on that door! I know- That's bad! So with a little creativity and a little wandering around Home Depot, my husband and I came up with this!

 

It really looks so much better than before. I painted the door and the step a soft black, and the trim around the door a bright white. My husband cut the metal sheet we bought into strips with tin snips to fit the steps. Then we glued the pieces in place and tacked then in with little nails. We even found the matching switch plate covers! That's what I call garage chic! Ha!

 The best part is that a project like this is something that can be done in one afternoon and some of the materials we already had on hand like the paint! Now, I realize the rest of the garage is still just a garage... which just made my list of projects longer! I'm thinking Garage makeover in the future!! ;)

4th of July nails with chevron

Having some fun with the chevron trick!! Happy 4th!!

DIY: Chevron Nails!

Chevron is so popular right now! From home decor to clothing, you see it every where! Why not on Nails? 

Here is a very simple step by step on how to get this look for yourself!

Supplies:

Two different nail polish colors

Clear base coat and top coat

Invisible tape

Pinking shears

Step one:

Put on a base coat and let dry.

Step two:

Polish nails with your main color and let dry completely.

Step Three:

Use pinking shears to cut strips of the chevron. I did this before and cut a bunch of strips to have whenever I needed them.

Step four:

Place strips onto completely dry nail. Arrange as desired. Make sure you rub them on well, especially around the edges. Leave a bit hanging over the edge for easy removal.

Step five:

Paint a generous coat of your second color over the entire nail.

Step six:

After about a minute, remove the tape strips!

Step seven:

Let dry and give a layer of top coat!

Voila! Awesome Chevron nails that you did yourself!! The color possibilities are endless! I am having major fun with this idea.. :)

Leave a message and post a pic of your chevron nail creations! I'd love to see them!! Follow me on Bloglovin!

The Laundry Room to Mud Room Makeover! The Reveal!! Finally!!

My Laundry room makeover is finished! Summer is in full swing and I have been slacking on my projects; So, I mean, I have finally taken some pictures of the laundry room so I can reveal the final look!

Here is before-                                                                               And After!

Another Before-                                                                              And After!

The Wooden Shelf is a piece that we made very cheaply. The wooden part is a stair tread that  I stained and finished. The shelf brackets I bought at the local Hobby Lobby. Notice the sweet Mason Jar Pitcher that I bought from Cost Plus World Market! I fill it with laundry soap and use a cute baby mason jar as my measuring cup. I think it looks much better that having the value size plastic laundry soap container setting on the counter!!

Before-                                                                                         And After!

Before-                                                                                          After!

 

This is by far the most dramatic change of the room. This is the view that you get when you enter the house from the garage. We took down the utility style wire shelving, found a new home for the mini fridge, added a bench and a stylish shelf with storage. The door was taken off, painted and then rehung as a sliding door! Check out that step Here: Laundry Room Door

 

You can also check out the floor redo Here: Laundry Room Floor

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am so thrilled how it turned out. I feel like it looks more Foyer like rather than utility room. I am no longer embarrassed when people enter or exit the house through this room. (Well except when there are delicates hanging to dry over the sink! )

Let me know what you think of this laundry room transformation! Post a comment below! 

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A Mother's Day Gift!

My wonderful husband found this cute little statue by the dumpster in the alley at his work! He knows me too well and brought it home so I could give it some love! Thanks, Jim!!!

 

I showed this picture to my mom and she said' "No way! You are so lucky! I have been looking for a garden statue like that!". So, needless to say I just figured out what to give her for Mother's Day. 

It was a simple upcycle. First, I power washed it to remove all the crud and dirt. Then, I let it dry. Next, I spray painted it. Finally, I planted some flowers in the little buckets! And here it is!

 LOVE YOU MOM!!!!

A Pinterest-ing Idea! Upcycle Builder-Grade Doors!

Black doors.

Pinned Image

Yes, black interior doors. I have seen this on Pinterest a few times and have pinned them on my "For the Home" board. Black interior doors give much need character to my home. In a neighborhood like ours, the builders just threw the houses up as fast as can be and there is so little "character" or "charm" to them. Here is what one of the doors looked like before.

The funny thing is, "character" had nothing to do with the reason I decided to paint the doors in the first place. Because the builder painted all the trim work in the house with FLAT white paint, I decided to repaint all of the trim work with a semi-gloss white paint. Much, MUCH easier to keep clean. Little by little, I have been painting the trim. When I got to the first door jamb, I realized that the new white and the old white weren't the same because the door didn't match the trim anymore! If you really look close in the "before" picture, you can see the difference in paint colors. UGH! Light bulb moment... Black Doors! I knew I pinned that idea for a reason!! Love, Love, LOVE Pinterest!

I am so pleased with the way they turned out. It looks great!