Hello friends....you came back, I'm so glad.
So as my post title indicates, I have been packing a gun lately.
A staple gun, that is.
A little while back I picked up this nice French styled side chair.
She was all kinda brown and gold with some worn through upholstery.
However, she was very sturdy and worthy of a makeover.
The wood stain was not showing off her lovely legs or pretty hands to their fullest.
I decided that needed to change.
Yup...you guessed it, Annie is going to help me.
I gave her wood fame two coats Old White.
I used a Joann's coupon to shield the fabric from the paint.
Can't wait to see the checkout gal's face when I hand her my coupon covered in chalk paint.
Did you guys know you can get a really cool crackle effect with chalk paint?
Just brush it on thickly and apply some heat from a blowdryer.
Not so hard that you move the paint, just enough to speed dry it.
It will crack all on it's own...very cool.
After I distressed with a 220 grit sandpaper, I applied a coat of clear wax.
I want to keep this piece light a very girly looking so I decided not to use any dark wax.
Here is where I got to play with my gun...staple gun that is.
I added some additional batting for some extra softness.
Right about here is where it all started to go so very wrong.
If you notice, I have the new fabric stapled to the front edge of the frame.
WRONG!!
I totally forgot about this thin wood strip that gets nailed to the underside edge of the front of the frame.
Drat!!!
"Honey, where did you put the pliers?"
Upholstery mistakes are NOT fun!
What I should have done is wrapped the fabric all the way under the front and stapled to the underside.
Live and learn.
So after hours of fiddling around with the seat, I think I finally got it right.
Are you ready to see her?
Once again, this is what she looked like when I brought her home from the thrift shop.
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And here she is now.
Much more 'Girly' wouldn't you agree?
Her curvy little hands are so lovely.
I slipcovered the back of my chair and in keeping with the 'girly' theme,
I was compelled to include bows...lovely grosgrain bows.
Piping always makes my slips look so professional.
I even added two bows to the bottom of the back slipcover.
They make for a nice snug fit.
This is the culprit that gave me so much trouble.
See what I mean about needing to wrap the fabric under the front and not having staples on the front edge?
I hot glued my gimping to the leg corners.
(and my fingers)
I really love her.
As you can see, I had to find a different fabric for the seat.
The stapling mistake meant that I cut the seat fabric too short.
This was a designer remnant and I didn't have enough for a second cut.
After raiding my remnant stash, I found this pretty vintage looking yellow stripe.
The two patterns were a great match, all the same colors and I think it works.
See gals...if Plan A falls through, go with Plan B!
I just love the bows...so feminine and so easy.
Not too bad for a first try.
She is headed to my Fox Den shop this wningeek.
I hope someone falls in love with her like I have.
I wanted to share a couple of photos that I took this weekend.
We had a doozy of a storm come through Sunday evening.
I grabbed my camera and snapped a few awesome weather shots.
I believe these are Mammatus clouds.
See how they look like sacs hanging from the sky.
So beautiful!
taken through an upstairs window |
After the storm comes the rainbow.
A lovely..lovely rainbow.
I love Mother Nature
Until next time...be kind and stay creative.
Sharing with these fun blogs this week
Come meet some new friends
Frugal Friday
37 comments:
The chair looks amazing Janet! I think the two fabrics complement each other beautifully and it may have been a pain but that wood piece gave a great finished edge to the front. Great job!
I have never seen or heard of clouds like the ones in your photo, gorgeous shot:>)
She is beautiful. I love looking at all your treasures you redo. We are addicted to your blog Janet you know!
Beautiful makeover! The fabric is beautiful and paint and distressing really shows off her curves. And thanks for sharing your fail at plan a, which then turned into plan b. It's encouraging to know I'm not the only one that sometimes needs a plan b!
She's a looker.... if I were a boy chair I'd be winking at her. LOL
I knew you could do it Janet, she looks beautiful.
Love the fabrics and the piping always gives it that professional touch............
Love the cloud/storm pics, just wonderful..........
Grey and gloomy here today.......no I'm wrong, the sun has jsut appeared, oops there it goes........oh well.
Claire X
i likes the chair very much. you have inspired me to sew slipcovers for my dining room chairs. or hire someone. idk yet.
Aw, she is lovely - a real looker! Be careful with that gun now Janet, hehe!! :D
Oh I just love this...Like the crackle look with the chalk paint-I didn't know that! DId you rough up the legs first at all? I always thought you had to!
It turned out great and I think I might like the two different fabrics even more!
Pretty! Sometimes mistakes make the best finished project!!
Katy :)
So so SO much better! Great job Janet!
OMG - it's absolutely gorgeous!!! Gorgeous! Great work.
The mister must be loving all the new lovely, girlie furniture around the house. Seriously though, this chair is so pretty.
Very Cute!
Wow!!!! I love the mismatched fabric!! I have a very similar chair, I have been searching for the perfect fabric, but I think I will take your lead and use different patterns for the seat and back!!
S x
That chair came out just beautifully. Even with all the frustration that comes with reupholstering a piece yourself, the feeling of pride at making something beautiful again more than makes up for it, don't you think?
I knew you would figure it out and she is just lovely! I just love rainbows after a storm!
She looks like Cinderella ready for the ball! Don't get attached to her, because she is going to fly out of your shop.
Those storms Sunday night were something! I think the thunder clouds hovered over our house forever. Beautiful photos.
This is a beautiful post and a great tutorial! I find reupholstry really difficult. I'm glad you showed that it's not always so easy! Your final product is really cute- i love the paint job on her! Andrea @ townandprairie
The chair was very girly and pretty, even matched your teacup! Beautiful view out that window...you probably see more rainbows, Janet than anyone I know!
I can tell you are very detailed oriented like me. Your quality of craftsmanship on this chair shows and she now has a dance in her step and is just lovely with great fun and happy personality. Great job.
I absolutely love these styles of chairs and would like a couple in my new drawing room once it's done. A woman with a gun. I won't mess with you!
CJ xx
Amazing transformation! Love the girly colors and ribbons too!
Wow...that is one amazing transformation! I love the two fabrics together. the whole effect is just beautiful! I'm your newest follower...from the Haven page on FB!
That is amazing, Janet. You are so talented. I know I say that on every comment I make, but it amazing you can do all of that. I would have trouble just blending the fabrics.
She is beautiful and oh-so-feminine! Love this project!
PS - I'm your newest follower! Just found your blog via the Haven FB page. I'm going too, yay! :)
How fun and you do such a nice job!
Hi Janet,
Just popped over from Haven too....
What a grand makeover! It looks totally hip and professional. You did a great job.
The chair turned out beautiful! You always do such great work! And clever how you recovered your mistake.
Gorgeous chair!!! My favorite part is the bows... too cute :-)
Wow this looks great. I look forward to seeing you at My Dream Canvas. Take care Anu
Wonderful chair redo! And I love the fact that you figured out a way to master that seat when you found you didn't have enough of the original print!
I'm proud of you, and I'm not just saying that cuz hubby is a Fed Agent or and can track me down or that you carry a (staple) gun either!
ROTFL!~!!
Smiles, visiting from MMS Linky Party today,
~Suzanne in IL
Looks great! I'm your newest follower!
Nice redo!
http://jeanneselep.blogspot.com/2011/08/marble-madness.html
Your chair is gorgeous and very girlie :) You did a great job and the two fabrics works great together. Love the 2 pics at the end of the post, very nice!
Coming by a second time to check out your fabulous work! I tried to leave a comment before but my phone/internet was acting up.
This chair is definitely a keeper!
However, she was very sturdy and worthy of a makeover.
The wood stain was not showing off her lovely legs or pretty hands to their fullest.
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