BREAKFAST ROOM CHAIRS UPHOLSTERED.

My first post for the year 2017 !!

 

This post has been sitting in draft for couple months now. Can you believe it???

Anyways, the last post here was about the pedestal table in the breakfast nook.

The spray painted orange bentwood chairs were fine for few months after they were painted. And then the wicker started tearing. When the first one tore, I was heartbroken. Very heartbroken.

In next few weeks, one after other rest of the chairs tore. There was no way I could repair the wicker. The only option was to get them weaved. And it would be pretty expensive. More than the cost of all 4 chairs I had paid.

Mr. Tweaks had enough of it and he moved the chairs to the garage. That same weekend we had planned an IKEA visit. And Mr. picked 4 of these chairs.

Both Mr. and son worked very hard but couldn't assemble the chairs. The chairs were returned.

Mr. assumed that I will dispose of the orange chairs and look for something new. I was not going to give up so soon. At first, I had plans to upholster the chairs myself. But I was not sure I could do it. Then decided it was best left to the professionals. I bought 3 yards the fabric from Joann's and dropped the chairs to the upholsterer. I let them know what I wanted and when I went to pick the chairs a week later....you should have been there to see my happiness.

They did a great job.

I had the chairs upholstered more than a year ago and they are still holding good. Hope they stay so for couple more years. Next time Mr. will not assume.....

Wait for the next post which a very easy one.
Reshma

GUEST BEDROOM UPDATE: STAGES OF LAMPSHADE MAKEOVER

It took me a while to decide on the lamp for the Guest bedroom nightstand. I looked around for a yellow lamp, a sleek modern one. Then I changed my mind for a swing arm wall lamp.
I recollected that I did have a swing arm wall lamp in my "will use it sometime" collection. And in that collection, I had this lamp base from IKEA for $10 from the As-is section.

In the collection (No doubt, Mr. calls me a hoarder), I also had the rectangle shaped lamp shade.

And both the base and the shade looked good together.

I had taped the bottom part of the shade and painted a thin line along the base of the shade with yellow acrylic paint.

It stayed like this for few months.

And then I had these scrap pieces of fabric from the drape makeover. Before making a permanent change, I just wrapped the yellow fabric stripe temporarily on the top and bottom of the lamp shade.

I left it so for few days before I could make a decision. I didn't like it.

One Friday evening, I painted the shade with yellow acrylic paint with a brush. 

Three coats of paint later....

It was not the yellow I wanted....it was more of mustard color.

I repainted the shade with Bright yellow acrylic paint. You can see the difference between the 2 shades of yellow here.

2 coats of paint later. It was the yellow I wanted but it looked too matchy matchy with the headboard.

I had the white grosgrain ribbon which I measured, cut and glued to the shade with fabric glue.

 I glued only the edges on all the 4 sides.

Finally, it's here.

What if I say, this lamp has been replaced with a different one. Yes. From my collection.

Have a wonderful week ahead.
Reshma

DIY TILE TRAY FOR LESS THAN $3.

It is so hard to get back to writing after a long break and I could not decide where to pick. So I am sharing one of the easiest and simple DIY which will not need lot of writing and formatting.

I had this kitchen tray on my counter-top to corral my oil containers. But over a period of time, it got messy due to oil drips despite me changing the liner regularly. I had to replace tray.

Three years ago we upgraded our bathroom floors from Linoleum to tiles. And Mr. had saved and store few tiles safely for those just-in-case-the-tile-in-the-bathroom-floor-cracked-and-we-will-not-find-a-replacement.

I had seen couple of bloggers who made tray from marble slabs and I had liked them. Since I already had these marble lookalike tiles, I picked one and went to work on it.

I used these:

1. 11x14" marble lookalike tile (you can choose the size/color of your choice)
2. Wooden spheres (or beads) from Hobby Lobby, these come in a pack of 16 for $3.99. Use your coupon.
3. Glue. I use E6000 for my projects but on this day I could not find it so ended using glue from dollar store which also works fine.

I turned the tile upside down. The wooden spheres comes with one hole, so applied glue on the opposite side which has a flat surface.

I glued four of the wooden spheres to four corners of the tile.

Turn the tile right side up and place something heavy (books) on it so the glue sticks to the tile. Let the glue cure for 24hours.

Next day, I painted the now new wooden feet of the tray in white. Since it was unfinished wood, I applied 2-3 coats.

I made this tray sometime last year and I find it easier to clean. I wipe off the mess on the tile with regular dish washing liquid and sponge and rinse it under the tap.

The only concern I have is I might hit the tray against the faucet while washing. But I have been careful.

I spent less than $3 for this. I had the tile which cost us $1 each when we bought it years ago. I paid $2 for the wooden spheres and I have enough leftover for other projects and I had the glue.

How did Mr. Tweaks react when he came to know that the tile was one of what he had safely stored away? I will just say, I had almost removed wooden spheres to hand over his precious tile to him. No. It did not happen.

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Reshma

HOW TO ADD LENGTH TO A CURTAIN?

The guest bedroom makeover is almost complete except few changes/tweaks. I will try to get the reveal of the makeover soon.

Remember the curtains in the guest bedroom? These were plain white curtains from Target. I prefer hanging curtains high, close to the ceiling. These curtains are 87" long and the wall is 97" in height so I curtains had to be hung lower.

I have been wanting to have the curtains in guest bedroom hung higher too. It was on my to-do list during the makeover.
I had these options:

• Buy 2 new pair of curtains
• Open the seams at the bottom of the curtains to add length
• Add extra fabric to add length to these curtains

Of the 3, I decided to go with adding extra fabric to the bottom of the curtains. If it did not work, I can always buy new curtains.

Since the guest bedroom was yellow and grey, I picked this yellow & white striped fabric from Hobby Lobby. The fabric was 54" in width. I wanted 11" (extra 1" for stitches) of fabric to add to each curtain to make them 97" long.

The curtains are 48" wide. So I got the fabric cut 50" in length. I had 54x50" of fabric.
At home, I cut the fabric in 4 pieces of 11 x 50".

Instead of adding the fabric to the bottom of the curtain, I changed my mind to add the fabric to the top portion of the curtain. I cut the curtain leaving an inch from the rod inserts.

Then I stitched the top potion to the yellow & white fabric.

This is how it looks right side up.

Then I stitches the bottom cut portion of the curtain to yellow & white fabric.

This picture below will help you get what I did to add length to the curtains.

I washed and ironed the curtains before hanging them.

I had plans to get crown molding done in this room which got postponed for now. I need to rehang the rods a little higher closer to the ceiling.

If I had added the fabric to the bottom of the curtain, the bed would have covered it. The yellow stripes gives the appearance of ribbons to the curtains.

I spent about $10 for the striped fabric. And I was able to reuse the curtains that I had.
One of the easiest tweak.

Have a wonderful week ahead.
Reshma

Sharing at: http://www.thriftydecorchick.com/

ONE OF MY FAVORITE TWEAK: CHAIR MAKEOVER.

I started this writing on the first day of this year. And took me 19 days to post it....

Sharing this vintage bentwood chair makeover as my first post for this year. Until few years ago, I had not heard about a "bentwood" furniture. Back home in India, these bentwood furniture are known as "cane furniture". For that matter, I didn't know what "chevron" design was. Always knew it as "zig-zag" pattern. "Ombre" was "fading design".

Early 2014, I found this vintage bentwood chair at a vintage store for $20. It was in good shape except the upholstery part. I have never upholstered a chair and I did not want to try it on this chair.

Few weeks later, I found an upholsterer who agreed to do the work for $50. I asked him to give me the frame of the chair so I could stain it and bring it back before he started his work.

That weekend, I did two rounds of sanding and two rounds of wood staining.

 

I returned the stained frame of the chair and a yard and half of this black and white fabric to the upholsterer. I spent less than $10 for the fabric from Joann.

I don't think I would have done this excellent job of upholstering. If I had started, I am pretty sure I would have given up half way through.

I spent less than $100 including the chair, fabric, stain and for the upholsterer. Mr. Tweaks said I would have found a chair at a store for less than what I spent. Maybe.

I have had this chair for more than a year now and I still love it. Despite having professional help for this project, I still consider this my favorite tweak.

Have a great rest of the week.
Reshma