Franky the chair

Oh man... it's been 6 very long, very busy months since I've posted anything!  Hard to believe.  What a summer this has been so far.  We've been working on the house, tearing walls out, the bathroom, destroying everything in our path!  Me thinks I am a bad influence on my husband, but he's stuck with me :)  I told Doug awhile back that we should take the wall out between the two bedrooms and the bathroom upstairs and make it all one big master bedroom and he got right on it.  However, demolishing has been the easy part.  Putting it back together is a different story... like a story from a Edward Scissorhands story.... I've never seen/read an Edward Scissorhand's story, but it seems like maybe it would be in a book about him if the book were about demolition of a 1950's house and 2 idiots who don't know what they're doing. Scary, people. 

Luke and I have done lots of the demolishing because that's what we're good at.  Doug has been amazing at picking up different knowledge on all kinds of stuff and does lots of grunting and borderline swearing (jk), which makes him seem like he's working extra hard. :)  He says "I don't know how to do XYZ" all the time and then I say "Go Youtube it"... and then he figures it out and just does it.  Ah, positive reinforcement.  If I have to, I'll resort to reverse psychology if the positive reinforcement fails. :)

Here is what the upstairs bathroom looks like right now... imagine it with a beautiful chandelier, lovely pale pink and grass green, gold and navy accents... ah.

I will post finished pictures of the upstairs when I'm 40ish years old... I'm assuming it will take that long to finish at the rate we are going. :)  Here's hottie-po-tottie showing the electrical who's boss!

I actually bought a chair to redo.  I can't believe I paid money for it, but I did and that's that.  I finally got fabric for it this past weekend and decided that the chair had been incubating in the garage for long enough and I got going on it.  Piece o' cake.  Finished this thing in less than a day and am pretty stinking proud of my beasty reupholstery skills on this thing.  I sewed a bit of it and finally figured out how to do upholstery tack strips, which have been super intimidating to me, but are a breeze!
These are tack strips, they are used to pull the fabric in clean on the back of the chair and you hammer them to the chair.  

Here is Franky The Behemoth chair before...

The supports for the ottoman had broken underneath and the foam was pushed down and sagging and basically this thing is just blah.  I'm always confused why people by this kind of furniture in the first place.  So ugly.  This is probably the least complicated piece of furniture, but sort of tedious with the sewing bit.  I also ended with barely enough fabric for it all and had to really watch what I was doing by the time I got to the ottoman after I finished the chair.  It came out lovely though!

Ignore anything that looks tacky in the background.  My house is a disaster most of the time!  I told Doug yesterday if I had all the things that I paint or reupholster, I'd have a great house.  However, they get sold and I continue on with the things in my house that are half upholstered or half painted. Lol!  Sort of like a construction worker with a house that's forever torn up and never finished.  Someday.

It's hard parting with some pieces, and this is one of them, but it'll go too.  Turned out just amazing though and is fantastic piece!  Pictures don't do this thing justice.

 One of my friends sisters asked me to sew some curtains for her.  They turned out just gorgeous and I thought I'd share.  I'm praying that she never washes them and that they don't fall apart. :)

They are stunning in person, but oh, what a pain to sew!!  Tons of sewing, measuring, ironing... but they turned out beautifully and were what she had envisioned, which made it all worth it!

Wowza... it's been so long since I blogged I completely forgot how to get to my blog and what the password is!  :)

Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and New Year!  What a great holiday season we had.  My husband referred to it as the most emotional Christmas ever.  Lol!  Dad got 2 words out trying to pray after he read the Christmas story from the Bible and then.... silence.  Of course, when there's silence (which is RARE for the George clan) we know there must be tears and yes, Dad was crying.  Tears all around. :) We are good criers!  Being together with all of my sisters and brothers is rare and I treasure it more than I can say.  I get teary sometimes just thinking about us all being together... miss us all being together.  Alas, that's not what I'm blogging about tonight :)  What an emotional sap.

I've need some inspiration for a project (mostly just a good kick in the rear) to get started.  This cold weather makes me not want to do anything except eat bonbons!  I had a cedar chest that I got from the junk store that is in awesome shape and has great lines. I had painted it black and hated it so I thought I'd give it a fresh sassy look.  I love it!  (Probably cuz it's my favorite color that I paint EVERYTHING! :)

And like a moron I forgot to take a before picture.. just imagine a dated blonde/light wood outside in tacky shape, than think about it sanded and painted black, and then be amazed by this lovely baby...

Oooo!!  Look those lines!  Those curves!  I LOVE THIS!!!

 Look at that craftsmanship!  That design!

Now look at this shaved llama!

With those parting words, I'm out.

Wowza!  It's been a whole month since I posted anything!  It's been a cah-razy month!!  Feels like its gone super fast and super slow at the same time...  Doug and I got to get away for our anniversary this month, which was fantastic!  Doug loves Chicago so we headed off for the big city for a weekend.  He LOVES Ikea (I'm not even kidding!) so we went there immediately even though we only had 15 minutes before it closed when we got there.  But you better know we used that 15 precious minutes wisely!  We ran through the office department (to make sure the desk he HAD to have was still there) and went right to As Is.  Think of your happiest place... waiting... waiting... now, think of that happiest place where everything is marked down to 1/2 off!  That's Ikea As Is section :) 

In the 15 minutes we were there we snatched a dresser, not sure I have honestly ever bought a new dresser to be honest, but it was a good deal and I can sell it for more than I bought for when I'm sick of it. :)  That's how I roll.  We checked out 3, yes 3 times from Ikea in that weekend.  Omword.  Out of control.  Doug very nearly peed his pants when he found out the desk that he hasn't stopped jabbering about for 6 months was cheaper than he realized.  I thought he might jump for joy and scream like I do when I'm excited, but alas, his melancholy self just smiled and acted like the doctor had just told him that his blood pressure is normal.  Bless his calm little heart :)

Anywho... last time I went to Ikea I got some great fabric which I've been hoarding.  I HATE using my fabric until I know absolutely sure what I want to use it for, which is why I have totes of fabric.  It's ridiculous.  I love this fabric and wanted to do something special with it.  This chair was on the side of the road and I thought I was going to have to fight a guy for it, but he not wanting the chair he was just getting out of his car to go into his house :)  I'm sure he thought I was nuts. 

Poor chair!  It's a great little piece- missing a foot cap and a screwbut otherwise really wasn't in terrible shape!  Sass that puppy up and this is the after...

It's so cute!!  I covered it with plastic over the fabric so Luke can use it when he helps me in the kitchen and the stuff will just wipe off.  I didn't want my precious fabric to be ruined! :)  I also used the fabric to make a much needed curtain for the kitchen.  I'm sure my neighbors have seen some interesting things with there being no cover on the window!  ;)

When I love something, I love it.  I'd be fine with the whole house having this fabric on everything and robins egg blue walls.  Blue and greens are my favs.. they are my happy place. :)

I've been trying to work on our basement to get it cleaned out and organized.  When we moved in we had 2 HUGE 275 gallon fuel tanks in the basement that they used to use to heat the house.  They were enormous and I always wanted them out, but just wasn't sure how to get them out.

A friend told mentioned that there is a company that would come and pump them out for free and even pay you for what they pumped!  You better know I was on that like white on rice.  Like red on a barn.  Like... well, I was on it.  They came for free and pumped 275 gallons of fuel out of one of them that was full!  I gladly accepted the $200 they wanted to give me for the sludge they pumped out of the fuel tanks and with both tanks empty we started getting them unhooked and trying to get them up the stairs.  Too heavy for us, so another friend came who wants them to help get them out and they are now gone!  I'm so happy!

Now to get a treadmill down the stairs!  I'm sure Doug will just be thrilled about that plan. :)

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

Happy lamps to you...

I know I say in every blog that I LOVE this or that, but seriously, this project just makes me straight up happy!!! :)  I've had this lamp literally for 10 years... I got it when Doug and I were first married from a whole in the wall junk store and I "stain glass" painted it red and recovered a shade for it... it was cute, but my style has definetly changed since then.  In fact I don't own a single piece of furniture from those days except a desk and it's been repaint (imagine that right! :).

I found a couple of old pictures with the lamp in them... the one with Luke cracks me up!  He's so his dad's child... :)

 

 

...and I have no clue how to get the pictures that I scan to be just the picture instead of all that white space.. whatever, you get the picture. Also, I'm clearly super good at using the paint program and circling things too :)

Anywho.. enough about my mad computer skills... :)  The lamp has great features, but I just never got around to being inspired about it... until the other day.  I had this divine inspiration to tear it apart and  rethink it.  I love color, but wanted something modern-y like my house and funky.. couldn't be happier.. check this out peeps!

SERIOUSLY!!  Ah-mazing!  I heart this lamp!  Does it just make you happy?!

Dear spraypaint inventor, I love you with all my heart.  Sincerely, Melody.

Remember this chair...

It went out the door at $200!  I couldn't be happier about spending $15 total for the chair and fabric.  Let me tell you, I was pretty excited about a $185 profit! :)

Ciao.

...and... more robins egg blue! :)

I feel like maybe my life's calling is to reupholster chairs... seems to be what I spend most my time on!  This beast had to sit for awhile while I tried to find fabric for it- it needed 5 yards!!  I wasn't about to dump a fortune into upholstering it and even at $5/yard that would be $30 into it already!  AND I'm stingy (read thrifty).  Imagine my excitement to find fabric for $1.97/yard at the fabric store!  Needless to say I bought the entire bolt and they threw in the cardboard bolt too, which always makes me happy! :) The chair was $5 (haggled her down :) at a garage sale, so total fabric and chair cost $15 total!

Before...

This chair has good bones and turned out great!  So annoying... I had to tear the sides off after I finished them because I forgot to staple the fabric on the sides down into the chair... ugh.  Nothing more annoying that digging out staples that you've hammered down!  But I persevered and didn't loose my Christianity on this chair :)  I've gotten close on other chairs, but thank God for praying people... that and my husband telling me to just walk away for a minute and cool down :)

After...

I just realized as  I am posting this I missed some tacks on the chair... the work never ends!  It turned out super cute though.  Now the decision is keep or sell.. this is what I agonize over!  I can make some great dough selling, but then I can't decide...  I ONLY have 7 more yards of this fabric- the decision shouldn't be this hard! :)


I <3 craigslist...especially the free section.  People put some amazing things on there!  This wicker set was free from a lady here in town- actually my old library teacher from elementary school.  It needed some TLC...

TLC as in major amounts of spray paint :)  Clipped the loose wicker and painted it up and sold it off!  Turned out lovely- greens and blues make my day!

I absolutely love free!

I also love selling junk... makes me happy to make some money doing something I created.  Makes me feel like I'm contributing something to the human race, like I'm improving the environment, like I'm saving starving children- all from my living room with tacks, staples, fabric and a hammer.  

I'm off to save the world... hope you all have a great weekend- live it up before the winter comes!!!

Chairs x100

Today was clean out the garage day... a good thing too, I could barely open the door to get in it!  Hubs and I took a whack at it and whipped it!  I think it may have whipped us too- we both are hurting...  but it looks WAY better and I can actually open the door now :)  You would not believe the absolute pile of chairs I have!  I was surprised when we got going.. they were coming out of the woodwork.

Today may be a first.. I took a piece of furniture to the curb.  I told Doug I felt like I'd failed and he told me it was more like cutting my loses :)  This chair is a beast and would have taken a ton of fabric/time/staples/tacks/brain power to manage.  Also, I'm sick of moving it around the garage to make room for other projects.   That being said it's on the curb if anyone wants it.. :)

Last year (or maybe year before) I found this fantastic desk at Salvation Army and it was half off WITH A CHAIR!!   You better know I crammed this pink baby in my car and drove off.

The chair may or may not have been peed on.. I'm still not quite sure.  Apparently I have low standards though and it was all mine.  Jazz this thing up and and the end result was fantastic!

The top (like everything else I paint :) is robins egg blue and houndstooth print chair.  Turned out super cute.  It's headed out the door this week for sale at $100!  Can't beat a profit of $93- I paid $7 for it!

People have asked to hire upholstery done, but that makes me so nervous- if it's MY fabric and MY piece of furniture that is one thing, but having to do it on someone elses time schedule and to their liking is something else.  I did do a chair for a friend- not sure what possessed me to do so, but it turned out good and hopefully didn't fall apart as soon as she got it home!   Found the chair for $5 and fabric was a shower curtain that was the design I was looking for.  Maybe she hates the chair... at least she hasn't told me so :)

Before....

And after...

So cute!  I used almost every square inch of the fabric to get this chair covered!  I had only a couple of small strips left over.  I love the white and brown together!

Doug teases me all time about the things I decide to try as my "firsts".  I decided to try to make a pillow a few years back and it was in the shape of a bird and really hard to make!  He just thought it was hilarious that I decided to make a bird pillow instead of just trying to make a square pillow.   This couch was my first "real" upholstery I did.  Honestly, for it being my first time and me never having seen any tutorials on upholstery it's not too shabby if I say so myself!  NOW I look at it and think "what was I doing?!" but it's passable.

The amazing thing about this couch is that a king size bed fits perfectly between the arms!  How exciting!  I sawed the front part off and made the arms and back a "headboard" and the front legs part a "footboard".  It's still not finished, but when it is, oh what a glorious day that will be :)

Here it is with the legs sawed off.  I really need to get this thing done.  I think I might reupholster it also.  It's gotten sort of dingy due to time and having kids (and myself) around... Probably will paint the arms/legs white... I'm into white right now so that will probably be the color I go with...

I'm too tired to think any more... had a great long weekend.  Our friends came from Ames to visit and Doug got to drive their convertible when we went for ice cream.  We had an absolute blast with them.  Got to see Doug's parent too and spend time with them and our family, which we always enjoy!  Doug had Thursday-today off and it was fantastic!  I don't want him to go back to work tomorrow, but someone has to make money so I can buy spray paint and fabric and eat bacon! :)

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

Nothing makes me happier than these 3 boxes of pure amazing joy... mirrors!!! AH!  150 of them. 12"x12" each.. FREE!  (don't mind the mirror picture- underneath are the square ones :)

A lady I bought a chandelier from 2 YEARS AGO had a wall of mirrors that I told her I loved.  She hated the wall with the mirrors and said she and the husband were going to take them down and would I like them when they took them down.  Uh, yeah!  So 2 years later she emailed me (even remembered my first name!) to tell me that the mirrors were down and I could come get them.  Needless to say I nearly peed my pants with excitement to get the email!  These puppies are shiny, shimmery, gold to me.  I'm a magpie, what can I say....if it is shiny/sparkly/reflective I'm in heaven!  I have big plans for these mirrors... lets hope my idea works!

Years ago I found this amazing junk store in CR and sadly they went out of business.  I think they were probably a front for a meth lab/drug ring, but hey, they had great junk AND they would let me haggle with them.  I love to haggle :)  Luke is learning to do this well too... way too much time spent with me.  He haggled a poor lady at a garage sale this summer and got what he wanted for the price he wanted and then turned around and changed his mind got his money back and bought something else...what a kid. 

Back to the junk store though... before they closed I found this lovely treasure there.  It, as you can see, was in not so lovely condition, but with lots of time and diligent sanding she really became a beauty!

It had layers of thick bright red, blue, and yellow paint.. it was like sanding bubble gum. Then there were layers of gesso... It was crazy!!  It literally took me over a span of a year to finish working on it off and on, but it was well worth it!   I'm amazed at how awesome the original hardware looks on the finished piece.  And to think I paid $15 for it!

And of course it needed some beautiful insides too!  Robins egg blue with shimmery fuschia paisley print paper- beautiful.

God really loves me... I know because the junk store/drug front has moved closer to me and is just one city away!  They know me by name and we are at the "Love ya!" stage when I pack up my car and drive off with all my newly bought treasures! :)  It's the only place I know that will sell you a solid wood vintage buffet for $5!

Hope everyone is getting out and enjoying this fabulous week!  We're canoeing this weekend- it might be more of a canoe walk with how low the river is, but it will be fun with all our friends!

Happy treasure hunting everyone! :)