Furniture Seeking Behavior

Snow, snow go away. The weekly snow storms are putting a damper on my furniture finds. Everyone seems to be snowed in and the pickings at Savers, Goodwill and the Salvation Army have been slim. This week I was gifted a caned chair by one of my co workers. Truth be told she mentioned that she had a ton of stuff to get sell that belonged to her husband parents, who had died in the last year, and a few items from her own basement clean out. I offered to take anything she want to throw out. She brought me this chair that had been sitting in her basement for 30 years. It was pretty solid but the fabric ripped at the touch.

After days of research and pinning inspiration. I decided that I wanted to cover it in a linen like fabric. I purchased a drop cloth to use on my next project but decided against it because the weaver was a little bit wider than I wanted.  I purchase 4 yards of fabric and 6 yards of flat trim at Osgoods.
I love that place. They now have an online store. Fabric nirvana.  About half way home I realized I forgot to buy batting. I have a tendency to buy more supplies then I need.just encase there is some un- seen problems looming underneath. With another snow storm on the horizon I thought getting out would be a struggle but I wanted to beat the snow and get home.  I hoped that I could find something in my craft closet to use.

I spent the better part of the morning deconstructing it. The foam was in get shape so I just plugged the holes and put a layer of batting over the top.

 I decided that staining it was the way to go because the basement is too cold these days so spend any amount of time down there. I gave it one coat of Miniwax with poly stain.  This is my first upholstery project so I took a bunch of pictures so I could figure out how it all went back together in the end.

All in all I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. My hands are pretty cut up from removing all the old staples and a have a few blister from the staple gun. I will definitely purchase a power gun before I attempt another upholstery project. I cost me about $30.00 since I only had to purchase the fabric and trim. I really don't have any place to put it yet.

One Person's 80's Eyesore Is Another's Treasure

One of my neighbor's posted this bedroom set on Facebook. I of course, can not pass up a free dresser.  Our middle son had recently moved out, taking with him every stick of furniture in the room. After debating what do to with the empty room, a guest room seemed to make the most sense.  I've want to try a black finish for awhile.  I sanded the top and re-stained it a darker finish. I sealed it with several coats of satin finish polyurethane. I applied 3 coats of homemade chalk paint before waxing with paste wax. Here are the before and after shots.

Do We Really Need a 50 Inch Television.

After years of telling my husband he could not have bigger television because our armoire  was too expensive to scrap. I also felt the the 37 inches was more than large enough for our 14 X 17 living room. Last week I finally gave in because he has been such a trooper. He chaperoned my students' winter formal, help we volunteer at our annual food drive and the topper, bought me tickets to see Garth Brooks. During our weekly mall trip/ date night we walked through Best Buy. Again he expressed his desire. He said wouldn't it be great to see the Patriots win this year on a 50 inch. I told him to go for it but he could not use it until we found the paper stand for it.

I made the rounds to Homegoods and Pottery Barn and suffered massive sticker shock. The price ranged from $400- $3000. Even if I could afford one of those pierce they are too fussy for me.

Fast forward to last Friday when I found this lovely at the Salvation Army. It was market $79.95 which was more than  I wanted to spend since must of my furniture has come from the side of the road. After taking some measurements, and deciding it would fit in my car I convinced a nice gentleman to help me get in my car.I was delighted when I went to pay for the piece and it was on sale for $20.00. Major happy dance occurred. I crammed the dresser in my car and made the 30 mile trek home with bungee cords holding down the hatch.

I decided that chalk paint would be the best finish for this piece. I knew that I would have to paint this one in the kitchen so spray paint was not an option. I use a mixture of  1 cup of Valpar flat paint, 1/3 cup of water and 1/3 cup of Plaster of Paris. I used chalk paint earlier this summer and discovered that it worked best if I used warm water and mix it with the Plaster of Paris first and then added it to the paint.

 

I took off all the hardware and replaced the interior drawers with new shelves for the components. I  gave the piece a light sanding and patched the deep scratch and the old handle holes with wood filler. 

I gave it two coats of painting, sanding lightly between each of the coats. 

After the piece had dried and use sandpaper to distress the corner of the top, and drawer fronts.  I applied paste wax with a large paint brush and buffed it to a high shine. I work in small sections applying and buffing.  The piece came out better than I could have hoped. My husband has his new television and I have a piece of furniture that I am proud to say I transformed.