Incase you have forgotten, I love estate sales. And for some reason I am always drawn to the chairs.
When I first started going to estate sales I would buy all wood chairs, no fabric on them. I would clean them up and usually paint them. But I wanted to branch out. I wanted to try re-upholstering a chair. This is the chair I branched out with. Go Big or Go Home Wendy!
How hard could it be to take off each piece lay it out on some new fabric and tack it back on? Seriously, how hard? So I started and I removed all of the fabric and then painted the wood.
So far so good and only a couple of hours of work. Then I put the old fabric on top of the new fabric and started cutting. BUT, I didn’t mark anything down as to where the new pieces were suppose to go! I had so many different size pieces and no idea how to put it back together. Ugh.
Instead of trashing the whole thing and losing the $40 I had into it, I cut off the arms of the chair so I didn’t have to re-upholster them! Bra-ill-ient!
Now it was just a matter of sewing a couple of square corners and, done.
(I will share more about this chair on another day. It is now part of my daughters first apartment. )
Since biting off more than I could chew in the re-upholstering department, I have reverted to buying chairs that aren’t so difficult to re-upholster.
Exhibit A: This chair that I painted and re-upholstered the seat.
Exhibit B: This rocking chair. It needed a little TLC and an update of fabric. And here is how I did it. The right way.
After removing the fabric, I washed the wood with water, dried it and polished it up with Hemp Oil from the Miss Mustard Seed line of products. Instant beauty.
I knew I wanted to go with the French Farmhouse fabrics to replace the not-so-desirable fabric that was on the chair. Here is the line of pillows made from French Farmhouse style fabrics in my shop that I chose from.
The winner for me was the beige/khaki line fabric.
So, I removed the old fabric pieces and laid them out on top of the new fabric to cut them out. With only two pieces I figured I would know where to replace them.
Self explanatory right? The same process was used when the head rest part of the chair needed a little padding. To hold the padding and fabric in place I used some basting adhesive.
Incase you were wondering, this was the brand of basting adhesive I used to hold everything in place. Incase you were wondering. 🙂
And now for the big reveal…..always my favorite part.
And one more beautiful collage.
I haven’t attempted another large re-upholstering project. Going Big or Going Home! wasn’t the best choice. 🙂 Have any of you miscalculated your skill set when trying a project?
And as a side note, Spencer my product photographer didn’t take some of these pictures. I think it’s pretty evident, but in full disclosure, wanted to point it out. 🙂
Pinterest projects and DIY TV show projects take twenty minutes to start and complete. Right? Whenever I want to do a project around my house, I allot 20 minutes for it. Never, ever, ever has it taken me twenty minutes. By the time I get all of the supplies, actually attempt the project, complete it and clean up, we are looking at one hour to one week. I am not talking about putting an addition onto the house. I am talking about making an old oak door into a family communication center. How long could it take? Slap some paint on a door, throw on some cork-board and hang it. Twenty minutes. Done.
Heres the reality behind those twenty minutes.
I bought this door off of Craigslist.
It was rescued from a 100 year old Victorian house that was being torn down to build townhouses in its place.
I met the seller at a gas station two days later to pick up the door. She was on her way up north and this was the most convenient spot for both of us meet. I had my two kids come with me. She had her 4 with her. My children are 21 and 17 years old. Hers? 13months, 2,3 and 5 years old. All of them packed into a mini van along with the door. The cutest 4 children with just as cute names. Baby Henry, then Gracie, Luke and Jasmine. Bless this woman for re-using these old doors and bless her for unloading 3 of the 4 kids, all of their car seats along with one of the van seats to pull out my door. She then lifted everything again and placed it back in the van. Sam, my daughter played with the 2,3 and 5 year olds while Jack, my son, helped unload everything. Henry slept through the whole thing. All of this for a 100 year solid oak door for $30.
After getting home and unloading the door into my workshop area, the next step was to order the corkboard to place within the panels of the door. I had five panels, so I ordered 3 sets of two of these through Amazon.
Side note, I love Amazon. We have Prime Shipping. It is worth every penny to get items within one to two shipping days.
While waiting for the cork board, I started prepping the door. I removed the original door knob and plate and the brand new shiny gold dead bolt. Both left large holes. I lightly sanded the door with 220 grit sand paper.
I had recently attended a Miss Mustard Seed workshop and inside the gift bag was a sample of Trophy, from her milk paint line. It was probably two large tablespoons of the powder paint. Miss Mustard Seed paint is so easy to mix and use. Those two tablespoons were exactly the right amount for this door. At first I was going to distress some areas to get the look I wanted. After it was painted, the door naturally distressed itself. As Marian aka Miss Mustard Seed says,” I just let the piece talk to me.” And this one gently said that it was perfect. No need to do anything more.
Next I reattached the door and plate. Now what to do with the other hole left from the dead bolt lock. I considered putting something over it like a large hook or a block of wood or a tree slice. Nothing seemed right. I still had the original knob and plate from the side of the door so why not use it.
I positioned the plate over the hole, used GL6000 glue to stick the knob onto the plate and then reattached it all.
When the cork board arrived, I quickly measured each panel space and cut it using my rotary knife. I then put a strip of mounting tape in each spot and placed the cork board.
It turned out so cool. I just love it.
Now I had to hang this 30×77 inch solid oak door. This is the part of the story where it gets ugly.
I went to Walmart to the hardware section. I found picture hangers. There was a picture hanger that would stand up to 100lbs of weight. No way did this door weigh more than 100lbs. Problem solved. Bought it for $3.67.
I carefully measured where I wanted to center the door on the wall, found a stud and pounded in the mounting bracket. One-third of the way down each side of the door I attached the d-rings, just like the directions said. I then used the wire that came in the package and attached it to each d-ring. I was even smart enough to lift the door a little so the wire wouldn’t show after it was hung. I had thought of everything.
Now to move the finished ready to hang door into the laundry room. Since no one was home to help at this point, I moved the door myself. I would need one hand to open the door from the garage to the house, so I lifted the door by the wire that would be used to hang the door from.
Lifted the door and SNAP! The wire broke. Thank goodness it only dropped 3 inches back to the ground and not from 4 feet in the air. Crisis averted. Toes still attached.
So, its back to the drawing board.
I explained to a very nice and patient, young man from the hardware store what I needed. He guided me to a hanger that would easily hold 300 lbs, I little more expensive, but so much easier to install.
Per the directions and even a video link, for those of us that are visual learners, I attached the hanger to the wall and then the back of the door. My daughter and I then lifted and attached the door.
And I am happy to report it is still hanging in my laundry room today.
So who’s with me? Twenty minutes? Not even close. 🙂
Pinterest projects and DIY TV show projects take twenty minutes to start and complete. Right? Whenever I want to do a project around my house, I allot 20 minutes for it. Never, ever, ever has it taken me twenty minutes. By the time I get all of the supplies, actually attempt the project, complete it and clean up, we are looking at one hour to one week. I am not talking about putting an addition onto the house. I am talking about making an old oak door into a family communication center. How long could it take? Slap some paint on a door, throw on some cork-board and hang it. Twenty minutes. Done.
Heres the reality behind those twenty minutes.
I bought this door off of Craigslist.
It was rescued from a 100 year old Victorian house that was being torn down to build townhouses in its place.
I met the seller at a gas station two days later to pick up the door. She was on her way up north and this was the most convenient spot for both of us meet. I had my two kids come with me. She had her 4 with her. My children are 21 and 17 years old. Hers? 13months, 2,3 and 5 years old. All of them packed into a mini van along with the door. The cutest 4 children with just as cute names. Baby Henry, then Gracie, Luke and Jasmine. Bless this woman for re-using these old doors and bless her for unloading 3 of the 4 kids, all of their car seats along with one of the van seats to pull out my door. She then lifted everything again and placed it back in the van. Sam, my daughter played with the 2,3 and 5 year olds while Jack, my son, helped unload everything. Henry slept through the whole thing. All of this for a 100 year solid oak door for $30.
After getting home and unloading the door into my workshop area, the next step was to order the corkboard to place within the panels of the door. I had five panels, so I ordered 3 sets of two of these through Amazon.
Side note, I love Amazon. We have Prime Shipping. It is worth every penny to get items within one to two shipping days.
While waiting for the cork board, I started prepping the door. I removed the original door knob and plate and the brand new shiny gold dead bolt. Both left large holes. I lightly sanded the door with 220 grit sand paper.
I had recently attended a Miss Mustard Seed workshop and inside the gift bag was a sample of Trophy, from her milk paint line. It was probably two large tablespoons of the powder paint. Miss Mustard Seed paint is so easy to mix and use. Those two tablespoons were exactly the right amount for this door. At first I was going to distress some areas to get the look I wanted. After it was painted, the door naturally distressed itself. As Marian aka Miss Mustard Seed says,” I just let the piece talk to me.” And this one gently said that it was perfect. No need to do anything more.
Next I reattached the door and plate. Now what to do with the other hole left from the dead bolt lock. I considered putting something over it like a large hook or a block of wood or a tree slice. Nothing seemed right. I still had the original knob and plate from the side of the door so why not use it.
I positioned the plate over the hole, used GL6000 glue to stick the knob onto the plate and then reattached it all.
When the cork board arrived, I quickly measured each panel space and cut it using my rotary knife. I then put a strip of mounting tape in each spot and placed the cork board.
It turned out so cool. I just love it.
Now I had to hang this 30×77 inch solid oak door. This is the part of the story where it gets ugly.
I went to Walmart to the hardware section. I found picture hangers. There was a picture hanger that would stand up to 100lbs of weight. No way did this door weigh more than 100lbs. Problem solved. Bought it for $3.67.
I carefully measured where I wanted to center the door on the wall, found a stud and pounded in the mounting bracket. One-third of the way down each side of the door I attached the d-rings, just like the directions said. I then used the wire that came in the package and attached it to each d-ring. I was even smart enough to lift the door a little so the wire wouldn’t show after it was hung. I had thought of everything.
Now to move the finished ready to hang door into the laundry room. Since no one was home to help at this point, I moved the door myself. I would need one hand to open the door from the garage to the house, so I lifted the door by the wire that would be used to hang the door from.
Lifted the door and SNAP! The wire broke. Thank goodness it only dropped 3 inches back to the ground and not from 4 feet in the air. Crisis averted. Toes still attached.
So, its back to the drawing board.
I explained to a very nice and patient, young man from the hardware store what I needed. He guided me to a hanger that would easily hold 300 lbs, I little more expensive, but so much easier to install.
Per the directions and even a video link, for those of us that are visual learners, I attached the hanger to the wall and then the back of the door. My daughter and I then lifted and attached the door.
And I am happy to report it is still hanging in my laundry room today.
So who’s with me? Twenty minutes? Not even close. 🙂
I love planning a special birthday gift for my Mom.
Years ago when I lived in Des Moines, Iowa I took her to a Hibachi restaurant. The picture taken at the end of the meal was the chef standing behind us, wielding his 12 inch long, sharp, glistening machete over our heads. We had no idea he was posing until we saw the picture. A great memento from a fun and yummy evening.
After moving to the Minneapolis area, for several years the gift was a ticket to The Minneapolis Homes Tours. Decorators from the metro would showcase their vision for the different rooms of the house they were assigned. We took many ideas from those multi-million dollar homes, watered them down and applied them to our own decor.
This year I wanted to do something a little different.
I have mentioned many times that I am an avid reader of the Miss Mustard Seed blog. Marian Parsons is Miss Mustard Seed and she is based out of the Pennsylvania area. Among other things, she shares amazing furniture finds, many purchased from Craigslist ads. Marian then gives these pieces a second chance in life by painting them from her personal milk paint line.
I swore if I ever got the chance to meet her and her assistant Kristie, I would not pass it up. Well the gods heard me and a shop in Wisconsin named The Ironstone Nest was selling tickets for a Miss Mustard Seed workshop.
My parents live in Wisconsin, the date of the workshop was three days after my Mom’s birthday and my Mom reads Miss Mustard Seed also.
Win, win and win.
The workshop was from 2-6pm and very well organized.
There were about 38 people attending. 37 women, all with different painting skill levels and one very creative man.
Laura, the owner of The Ironstone Nest welcomed everyone and then introduced Marian.
Marian briefly told the story behind her paint line development and introduced Kristie, who is just as amazing and a creative force in her own right.
Included in the workshop fee was a piece of furniture, plus all of the paint, waxes, oils, brushes and supplies. The pieces to choose from were all surprisingly impressive. There were side tables, small coffee tables, chairs, nic nac shelves and stools all placed together and available for pre-workshop viewing.
Little side story…whoever had come the farthest got to go first in selecting which piece of furniture they wanted to work on. You guessed it, I got to go first!
My Mom picked an oak chair and I picked a small side table.
So as we were lightly sanding our pieces and mixing our milk paint, Marian and Kristie walked around answering questions and teaching several types of finishes that could be created using the milk paint line.
I thought it would be a little intimidating painting a piece as two professionals stood by but they were both so gracious and humble in letting you create your vision.
As I mentioned, this was a four hour workshop. The time flew by!
Here is my official before and after picture from the day.
And here is the detail shot along with the finished product sitting in my family room. 🙂
If you have a painting project you need to work on I highly recommend the Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint line.
Maybe even ask your Mom over to work on a project with you. 🙂
You must be logged in to post a comment.