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May 31, 2012

Reupholster a Chair with a Drop Cloth

Today we're talking chairs...because I redid another one. The chair obsession continues, and this time I decided to try out this whole dropcloth trend for myself. 


Upholster an old chair using a dropcloth from a home improvement store. A totally affordable way to update your upholstery!


I used a regular dropcloth from a home improvement store and simply cut it to size and used it as the upholstery for my seat cushion. Since dropcloths are essentially just cotton canvas material, they make for the perfect upholstery material! For less than $10 I had enough to upholster this chair, a footstool, and an upholstered headboard!


I originally found this cute little chair during one of my thrift store shopping trips for $7 and the ottoman at a garage sale for $2.

Upholster an old chair using a dropcloth from a home improvement store. A totally affordable way to update your upholstery!


 I painted them both ivory last year, but before I reupholstered them, I removed all of their old upholstery so you could see somewhat of a 'before' picture. Here they are in the nude.

Upholster an old chair using a dropcloth from a home improvement store. A totally affordable way to update your upholstery!

They were originally a stylish blue recliner fabric, so the dropcloth is quite the improvement.

I used this handy tip found in this post to attach my nailhead trim around the seat cushion.






It adds just enough glam to an otherwise simple chair.

Upholster an old chair using a dropcloth from a home improvement store. A totally affordable way to update your upholstery!



And that's all for today! Thanks so much for stopping by.
You can see my top 10 chair makeovers here.

And don't forget to pin this post so you'll have it when you need it!








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May 23, 2012

How to Decorate a Living Room: 2 Years of Design Flops


Hey ya'll. As mentioned yesterday, today's the day that I embarrass myself. 

We're going to take a walk down memory lane and witness my living room completely challenge my abilities to tastefully decorate a room. 10 different times.

It's actually 12, but we're rounding down to 10. Hold me tight, ya'll. This is gonna get awkward and embarrassing. REAL fast.

May 22, 2012

Living Room Reveal & DIY Wall Art

 I made a few little changes to the living room over the weekend, and I am absolutely loving them!
Since I've been drenching my house in blue lately (as seen here and here), I decided to bring some blue into the living room. Really, it started when I found some blue curtain panels I had never used. I decided to make pillows from them, and it kinda unraveled from there. 


I think the new pillows bring great color into the room.
After making the pillows, and loving the color, I decided I needed more blue.
If you've been following me on Facebook, you know that I absolutely fell in love with the pattern on a Horchow dresser.

Over the weekend I decided I wanted to use this pattern on a giant painting. I switched the colors around because I wanted the painting to be mostly white so it would 'pop' against the beige accent wall. And then I spent several hours drawing out my design, and then painting, painting, painting!


I just love it! This wall really needed something BOLD and a bit colorful, and I really think this does the trick!




I also think it's great to have a big, bold pattern somewhere in the room since all of the pillows and upholstery are solids.


I also added a big silver mirror opposite the painting. I struggle with decorating this wall, so I'm just not sure about the arrangement. Basically, I'm just waiting until we can mount our TV above the fireplace on the opposite wall, and then move a couple chairs against the current wall. 

I also tinkered with my favorite little mirrored tray that sits on the ottoman.


I painted it with my favorite blue paint.

And I also painted a little blue planter near the fireplace.


 I also took down my giant gallery wall and brought the skeleton key silhouette gallery wall from the guest bedroom in here. I really like it in here and will figure something else out for the bedroom.



I'm sure this room will likely be changed about 100 more times in the next year. I cannot sit still when it comes to this room. Ultimately, I think it needs other colors than blue, but I just have to think on it for a bit. 



This room is still a work in progress (much like myself), and I'm still tinkering with it and trying to get it right. I know I still have a long way to go. But, I think it's a huge improvement from when we moved in.

Here's what it looked like when we first moved in:




You see more about the very beginnings of this room here.

Last month:

Better, but too much beige.

Today:


A bit more colorful! What color do you think I should add? Suggestions?


and now a side-by-side:


You know what else?
While looking for the 'before' picture I came across about 20 different pictures of this room from the past year that I've been hoarding on my computer, and they're all totally different. It's so hilarious and made me realize I've really come a long, long way from when we first moved in 2 years ago. 
I'm definitely a 'novice' designer and the only way I know to learn is through trial and error. And I've made some huge errors along the way! 

I'm going to share with you ALL of those horribly embarrassing 'design flops' tomorrow (you can read that post here). It's going to be a truly amazing, totally giggle-inducing post, so come visit me tomorrow! 
'Til then!

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May 18, 2012

Feature Friday with Domestic Imperfection

Today I wanted to introduce you to one of my fave bloggers, Ashley from Domestic Imperfection?! She is a DIY mastermind and her projects are so creative! 

For example, Ashley built her own farmhouse table



And then she turned her old table into the coolest stenciled table EVER and then gave it AWAY to a friend!



Pretty amazing, right? And she's a girl after my own heart with this next one. I love creating cool things with paint and tape, and this might be one of the best ideas I've come across. Check out her DIY Union Jack Coffee Table


Yes, I know...Ashley has some crazy trash-to-treasure talent!! I love a girl who can make old things pretty once again!

I also love a gal who can power through a super tedious project in order to create a masterpiece. 
Check out The Penny Counter Top she created!


Are you speechless yet? Yeah, me too.

And now for one last 'project'. This project is actually how I met Ashley. I have been a huge follower of Dave Ramsey for years now, and my husband and I firmly believe in living below your means, even when that results in having to drive a junky car around or forgo that awesome vacation. It's not always fun, but it eventually gets you to the place that Ashley recently arrived: SHE PAID OFF HER HOUSE IN 3.5 YEARS



She tells the story way better than I ever could, so I'll let you read it for yourself over on her blog. All I know is, it's truly inspiring! And you can imagine how I felt when I wandered around her blog for a little bit and found some of the coolest projects ever!! 
Congratulations to you, Ashley, for a job WELL DONE!
And thank you so much for letting me share your work!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!


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May 13, 2012

DIY Striped Wall Guest Bedroom Makeover

This is the second version of the guest bedroom! 
You can see the first version here.

Remember our guest bedroom that I just complete a few months back?  Well, I redid it again.
After painting striped in our guest bathroom, I kinda fell in love and decided I must. have. more. stripes.
I'm so excited to finally show you what I've been working on!

DIY Striped Wall Guest Bedroom Makeover! Check this out!


Here is our guest bedroom today!


I added a striped accent wall behind the bed, and I changed the wall color from a warm beige to a cool gray.
(For paint color information, please go here.)


I painted the headboard white from its original brown. The chandelier stayed as it was. I switched up the lamps, and moved the old ones into the living room. Those lamps are little $10 thrift store finds that I spray painted silver.


They got modern little drum shades and look great!
I also updated the pillows, which is one of my favorite parts of the room. I'm kinda obsessed with making pillows. I made two blue pillows from silky upholstery fabric.
Then, I got kinda creative and made my favorite black and white pillow ever.


I added an accent pillow using only a basic white pillow I made and a sharpie. Seriously, a sharpie. I was inspired by the Kravet Windsor Smith Riad Pillows, but was not inspired by the price tag. So, per usual, I made my own for free. 
You can see the full tutorial of that here.


I also added a gallery wall. 




I spray painted two round mirrors I found while thrift store shopping for $3 each. They were originally dark brown and got an easy facelift!


And then I decided to make a little DIY art.


I painted some skeleton keys in simple black paint and then matted and framed them!


And it really just all came together!
It may change one million more times, as my house is where I like to experiment with my decorating ideas, but for now...I'm really enjoying it!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Make sure to pin this post so you'll have this info next time you need it!

DIY Striped Wall Guest Bedroom Makeover! Check this out!

To see the third version of this room, go here, and to see my easy wall stripe tutorial go here!


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