home decor

DIY: IKEA Chair Makeover, Part 2

Posted by Nat on Jan 10, 2012 | 9 comments

I am so excited!  The chairs are done!  Read here if you missed Part 1.  If you are considering doing this yourself, be sure to read to the bottom- I link up to a few posts that really helped me out.  And if you like what you see, feel free to leave me some comment love!

Here they are- check them out:

And here’s a “before and after” comparison- doesn’t it look sooo much better?

Side note:  the light in the “before” picture is 3:30 p.m.-ish.  The light in the “after” picture is 9:30 a.m.-ish.  Interesting, eh?

I’ve decided that I am a color person.  I like rooms, especially rooms with light, to have color.  It helps my eyes dance around and it makes my heart happy.

So a few things about my process/what I did:

• I bought my fabric at a local upholstery fabric store.  The guy I spoke with at the store thought I was crazy for my fabric choice.  It’s cotton, and he seemed a bit car salesman-ish to me.  It was the only thing I liked in the store, so I bought it anyway.   I Scotchguarded the crap out of it- I think there are 4 coats on it.  We’ll see how they hold up.  The nice thing is that even if the fabric doesn’t hold up, I love the color, so I can just find new fabric and redo the seats if needed- that won’t take much time at all.
• I used Rustoleum primer and paint.  I believe the green color is called “Eden.”  I did two coats of primer, two coats of green.  I think I probably should have done 3 coats of green for good luck, but I didn’t.  Oh well.  I used every drop of every can I bought, which was 3 cans of primer and 3 cans of paint.
• I sanded the chairs lightly and wiped them down before priming.  I’m not sure it was necessary, but I did it just in case.
• I’ve never been entirely sure how long I had to wait between coats, but I had one morning to bust this out while Anna & Jack were in preschool from 8-12.  So after reading the directions on the can, I came up with a plan.  It took me about 20-25 minutes to do one coat on all 4 chairs, which is about how long the can said to wait.  So I just worked my way around the chairs, checked my watch when one “round” was complete, and then moved on.  I started at 9:30 and finished at 11:45.  I will say this:  it was VERY hot the day I did this and the sun was VERY bright.  This actually made it harder to see any missed spots when I went from white primer to green.

After letting the chairs dry for 24 hours, I coated them with one coat of Polycrylic (I used Minwax).  I HATE that stuff.  It was not fun to use at.  All.  I’m hoping it really does help because I was cussing inwardly a lot.  It did give the green a nice sheen, as the finish of the paint was “Satin” and it wasn’t quite as glossy as I wanted.  But you can see below that the chairs have bubbles in a few places.  Oh well.  I still love them.

I did ponder sanding the bubbles down, but it seemed like I would go through the paint and have to repaint again.  Not gonna go there- I am DONE painting furniture for a while. So, we’ll live with the bubbles and it will be fine.  They are just in a few spots, anyway.

The seat cushions were easy.  I did two coats of Scotchguard to the fabric before cutting and stapling it to the seat pads (I did it several days before actually doing the pads).  As you can see below, I stapled all four sides down in the center, pulling tight, then I worked on each side, and then folded in the corners.  It doesn’t look as neat and tidy as the original Ikea fabric, but I bet that was done by a machine or a person who does a bazillion a day, and no one is going to look underneath my chairs, so… I don’t care. 🙂  Once the fabric was attached, I Scotchguarded it two more times with very light coats.  I’ll keep you posted with how the fabric holds up- I’m curious to see how it does.

One final view.  I just love them.  They’re so bright and cheery.  The first time we used them we talked about sitting on rainbows.  Ha!

The following links proved very helpful to me in this process:

All Things Thrifty posted here about her spraypaint knowledge- uber helpful.

She also posted here with a Spray Painting 101, which includes a video of someone spray painting the correct way.

Lovely Nest’s post here about her dining chair makeover helped in terms of learning about Polycrylic.

DIY: IKEA Chair Makeover, Part I

Posted by Nat on Jan 6, 2012 | Comments Off on DIY: IKEA Chair Makeover, Part I

Warning:  I am going to embarrass myself in a bit with photos of our actual kitchen chairs.  My hope is to help all people everywhere feel better about how gross their kitchen chairs are.  We are not alone.  

Have you ever had a project that all of a sudden you just HAD to finish?  A switch goes off, and WHAM-O- you simply must. Do. It. NOW.  That’s where I am with this one.

I’ve been hunting for months on Pinterest and the WWW for fabric to use to redo our kitchen chairs.  I hemmed and hawed and then realized that the problem is not that I can’t find fabric I like, it’s that I don’t want to buy fabric online.  It weirds me out.  I’m sure someday I’ll do it and it will be great, but I’m a very tactile person- I don’t want to buy something sight unseen that my rear end is going to sit on for who-knows-how-long.

I digress.  Here are the chairs in their current state.  I hate them.  (I also can’t believe I’m showing you how bad they are, but hey- it’s cleansing in a way…)

(upper left:  for some dumb-a** reason I thought it would be okay to put the vacuum on the chair while vacuuming bugs out of the ceiling-fan light.  Duh.) 

It’s not just the seats, though. The frames have had their fair share of…  well, here- have a look:

Dirt, milk, juice, food, nicks, fading- the works.

I should say that while I do hate how dirty they are, I also think they have held up surprisingly well for IKEA chairs.  They’ve been with us through two moves, for five years, we have never had to tighten them, and they are never uneven on the floor or anything.  They deserve a little pick-me-up, eh?

Here they are in my kitchen.

They totally don’t match.  We used to have a dark table that they matched, but that table is long gone.  Now we have a huge birch table (love it) and the dark chairs just do. Not. Match.

So, this weekend I will be finishing them up.  If you’ve been to my Facebook Page you may have noticed I posted about the fabric I chose.  You’ll have to wait and see what color I chose for paint when I post the final product next week- can’t wait!

Do you have anything in your house that needs a pick-me-up?

A Design Dilemma: Post Flat-Screen Mantel

Posted by Nat on Jan 5, 2012 | 9 comments

Hi friends,

I need your help.  Our lives have changed drastically in the last month.  Why?  We got a flat screen.  Holla!

Surprisingly, I wasn’t thinking it would be *that* amazing to have a large, wall-mounted TV.  I was actually most excited by the fact that my kids would no longer be able to stand millimeters away from the screen, and I wouldn’t have to clean fingerprints off of it anymore.  But let me tell you something….

It’s amazing.

The color.  The picture.  The clarity…  We’re holding off on speakers until we figure out a few other things, but eventually the sound will be great, too.  For now we’re doing fine with the TV speakers (gasp).

Here’s where I need your help.  Where I once had oodles of decorating space, I now have… very little.

(Pardon the cords and such- they will disappear…eventually.)

Vertically I can’t fit much because the TV is in the way.   But it looks so… bleh.  My poor little clock is so lonely.

Pre-flat screen, I had some photos, a really cool trio of vases, and a round mirror up there.  Now it all seems too much.  I’ve pondered making a new mantel cover, as the “real” mantel is super tired and depressing.  This cover is a sort of chocolate espresso brown. Can’t do much about the fireplace as of yet, either.  I just don’t know what to put on the mantel itself.

I would love your help.  Please leave me a comment if you have any suggestions- I’m at a total loss!

Christmas Week: Some Decorations {and a FAIL}

Posted by Nat on Dec 15, 2011 | 1 comment

Today I thought I’d share with you a few random things I am loving.  I will also show you a Crafting Crazy fail.  Woo hoo!

Let’s start with the cute stuff.

Have you seen these at Target?

 If you missed them this year, and you have a pre-K kid, be sure to get them next year.  I snatched some up and somehow got them home without Anna seeing them.  Everyone once in a while over the last few weeks when I need to keep her occupied, I have pulled out one of these.  Next year I will grab every single one- at $2 each, they are a deal.  They really work fine motor skills, but are also fun.  And the pictures make it easy for the kids- they just refer to it to see what to do.  Here’s Anna’s handiwork:

We also did snowmen and penguins.  They are super cute.  Anna insists that they be together on the tree so they don’t get lonely.  Cuteness.

Do you have any favorite Christmas decorations?  I asked Michael what his favorite was, and he told me this story of a paper mache nativity scene that he loved growing up because you could take the gifts out of the three wise men’s hands and put them back.  You had to be there, but it was super funny.

My aunt sent me this little guy several years ago and I still look forward to finding him a spot every year.  This year he’s on our shelf in the kitchen.  I love that his little legs dangle, all the buttons…

…but I especially love his little painted face.  So cute!

And just in case you think my house is spotless or perfect, check out what’s keeping him company.  This shelf is almost always a mess.

And here we are at the Craft Fail. Get ready to laugh…

So, Anna loves crafts.  She loves to draw.  She loves to make stuff.  It’s hard to keep up with her sometimes.  I bought her these fuzz balls for her birthday.  Her birthday is in May.  Whoops.  I’ve been putting her off since then because I wasn’t really sure what to do with the fuzz balls.  I decided to give this a shot, and while I think the concept could work, I need to rethink my supplies and technique a huge tad.  Not a wee tad- a HUGE tad.

Here’s how it went:

Gather fuzz balls and a four-year-old.  Be sure you shove your hand in a basket full of fuzz balls- it’s so nice!  (Heh.)  No really, they are soooo soft.

As you can see above, I had Anna find all the green, red and white ones.  There were a lot.

Below you can see our progress.  We selected the largest styrofoam tree form- probably my biggest mistake.  I painted the glue on and then Anna would stick them on.  We set it on wax paper to keep the glue off the table, and I was hoping once all was dry it would just peel off.

Here’s the problem:  we ran out of Christmas colors.  So instead of a cute, fuzzy Christmas tree we have a psychedelic fuzz ball mess.  I also need to look into getting one size.  This thing is a nightmare to look at.  I kind of want to cry looking at it.  The real kicker, though, is that Anna LOVES it.  I don’t have the heart to get rid of it.  I’m tempted to take all the fuzz balls off and start over.  Who knows.  At least Anna likes it.  🙂

Tomorrow I have one more thing to share before the holidays and then I’m taking a 2-week break from blogland.  Can’t wait to come back with more fun stuff!

Christmas Week! An Easy Wreath

Posted by Nat on Dec 12, 2011 | 1 comment

I hereby declare this Christmas Week and Crafting Crazy.  Woo hoo!  I am not going to post anything revolutionary.  My crafts and thoughts will be simple.  I like to keep it simple during the holidays because it’s hard to get everything done in terms of gifts, cards, and more- why throw in a totally-involved project to add to the stress?

So project #1:  an easy wreath.  This really happened by accident.  I was shopping with my 3 kids at Michael’s.  Anna, my 4-year-old, said, “Mommy!  Sparkle balls!”  Done.  We found a fake wreath just the right size for our door for $6.  Two little packets of various styrofoam balls of silver, white and red, and we were set to go.

It was super easy and Anna loves it.  Anna would hand me a ball, and I just used my hot-glue gun to stick them in place.  I’m also very proud to say that I did NOT burn myself this time.  I almost did, but I didn’t.

I do plan on making some of those fancy yarn wreaths after the new year- you know, the ones that are flying all over Pinterest.  But for now, our sparkle balls will do just fine. 🙂

Joy! A Glitter-Filled Tutorial

Posted by Nat on Nov 15, 2011 | 1 comment

I am so excited about these things!!!!!!

I keep walking by them, sitting on my cluttered table in my guest/craft room and I stop just to look at them sparkle.  I plan on using them for at least two things.   One is obviously decor for the holidays.  The other you’ll have to wait and see.

I never got excited about glitter until I had kids, but seeing things the way they see them- now I like the glitter and such of the holidays.   Now let’s get one thing straight:  Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday.  We do not play Christmas music or decorate for Christmas until the weekend after Thanksgiving.  But given what I’m going to use these for, I had to get crackin’.

So, here’s what you need to create your own glitter letters:

• patience
• time
• glitter in desired colors (you’ll see what I used below)
• letters (I got mine at Joann’s, though I don’t really like them pre-glitter- next time I will get some cuter ones like these)
• glue (I used Elmers)
• paint for covering letters before glittering
• paintbrushes- having a few sizes helps
• small paper plates- cheap & thin ones that bend easily
• rulers and other things for tracing patterns
• newspaper for protecting your surface from glitter

Paint your letters.  I painted all but a very small area first; let dry; finish; let dry.  I did two coats, and I used acrylic mainly because I had some.

Once your paint is dry, you can pencil your design on the front.  I knew I wanted each letter to be different.  What’s lovely is that you don’t need to worry if you mess up- the glitter will cover it all- hooray!  So, for example, when I did the “J,” I just used a ruler and traced it at an angle.

The “O” I freehanded, and I just labeled it with which color I wanted the dot to be, R’s for reds, G’s for greens.  I used two different spools of thread to trace the circles.

Now comes the fun part- the glitter!  I decided, since I needed glitter anyway, to try Martha Stewart’s glitter line.  It does not disappoint- it is so fine (as in tiny) and the colors are just beautiful.  These are the three colors I used (white gold, peridot & garnet):

I wasn’t sure if I’d want to buy the entire set that they sell with a bazillion colors.  I’m glad I got the bigger jars, but will be tempted now to get the whole set and glitter my entire house.

For the “J” I painted the glue on with a paint brush and did only one color at a time.  So I did silver first since it was going to be every other stripe.  I’d paint a stripe with glue, sprinkle on the glitter, and then tilt & tap to get the excess off.  At first I used a spoon until I got used to it, but found that after a while the spoon was just an extra step.

See that pile o’ glitter on my newspaper?  If you keep reading you’ll see how I get it back in the bottle and make very little mess (I think).

For the “O” I just used the tip of my glue bottle.  First I outlined the circle, then I filled it in.  I did find that if I was super careful with how smooth the glue was, the glitter adhered better.  Circles like the one on the right did not turn out looking as nice and I had to fill them in.

For the “Y” I did the red center first, then the colors on either side (sorry- for some reason “Y” didn’t get a lot of photo time and is sniveling in the corner.)

I think the most important thing about this is patience- waiting for the glue to dry.  I used a rather thick coat of glue, and didn’t want it to run and mess up my design.  So, for example, for the “J”, I did all of the silver stripes one day, and then the next I did the red and green.  The hardest letter by far, was the “O.”  Filling in all that silver around the dots took a lot of time, and it’s still not “perfect” but it’s cute.

So here’s how to get all that excess glitter back in the bottle/jar.  You’ll see below that after I did some green glitter I had a TON on the newspaper.  And on the right, you’ll see that my green glitter jar is nearly half empty.  This is where those cheap & flimsy paper plates come in.

Take your newspaper and angle it so that the glitter all slides to the center creases in the middle of the paper.  You’ll have to do this a few times from all sides of the paper.  Then carefully lift your paper with it folded in half, and tilt it.  Carefully dump all the glitter onto a paper plate (mine are about 6 inches across).

Now that your glitter is on the plate, it’s much easier to control.

Fold your plate in half, and then carefully aim it into the glitter jar- whoosh!  It all goes in, and if you’re lucky, it doesn’t spill!  Added bonus, you’ll hardly use any glitter- you’ll have a ton left.  None of my jars are even remotely used up, even after making these pretty thangs!

And one final look.  Please do tell, by the way- do you like glitter?  Hate it?  Like to have glittered things but don’t know about DIY?  I wasn’t sure about this and am so glad I did it!