Love. this. Grain sack used as a stair runner. It’s really tough material and can handle it. I love this idea. {Hey, Handsome…how hard would it be to tear up the carpet on the stairs……?}
If I could have this pantry I would do a happy dance. I would even record it and post it here just for you guys. I love the organization, ease-of-use, accessibility of everything. This is pantry fabulousness. {When you open our pantry…things fall on your head. It was definitely not built by someone that enjoyed cooking at home.}
This tablecloth is the bomb! Tailored around the table…how cool is that. I think I need to make one. This would add so much character to any table…any size. Love this idea.
Shutters. Fun colors. Perfect. This is literally just shutters nailed to the wall. I am considering doing something similar in our bedroom…in lieu of a headboard.
Such a simple paint job on this chest….but what a great impact! {This piece if the creation of one of our lovely readers! Be sure to click the source and visit her blog!}
This weekend we finally finished painting the wonderful chairs that we found at this place….and we finished them up by covering the chair cushions with grain sack. {Here’s my favorite places to find grain sack…if I can’t find them in person at a flea market or antique store.}
I shared about these wonderful chairs here…..and we were so excited to finally get them painted and finished. We found them in a barn..and couldn’t believe that there were eight matching chairs! {Two with arms!} Woohoo!
Last week I painted them..if you follow me on Instagram, you found out the I do not like painting chairs! They are a bear to paint. BUT, they’re done! And, it is so worth it.
Here’s what they looked like when we found them in the barn….
And here’s how they look now……..
If you have never covered chair cushions….it is so easy. It’s a great way to completely change the look or update a chair in just a few minutes. {I shared in this post how we covered our outside dining room table with coffee sacks.}
I painted each chair with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White…and waxed them with dark wax. I then used really rough sand paper to distress each chair.
These chairs didn’t have any seats….so they had to be made.
Next, you will need to get Handsome…..no, wait. {You’ll have to get your own Handsome-type of helper….I don’t share Handsome.} I’m kinda selfish that way.
Back to the story….Handsome made a template of the chairs and cut the seat bottom out of 1/2″ plywood.
If you have to cut seats…be sure to ‘test’ them before you start cutting material and padding…to make sure you are pleased with how they fit.
I suggest using 2″ foam for the padding. You can use a thinner padding/foam, but your derrière will thank you much more if you go with the 2″.
Lay the seat cushion on top of your padding and trace with a marker.
Then cut along your traced line with really sharp scissors.
This is not the most fun part…but when you are finished, with your gnarled, cramped hand…stand back and admire your lovely stacks of cushions.
Now you’re ready to cover. {Even if you are not ready…it’s time.}
Gather together a few tools and supplies:
staple gun
3/8″ staples
your material that you will be using to cover your cushions
foam padding
wooden seat bottom
{Handsome likes to arrange the staples in fun shapes when he sets up my little work space.}
Place your foam padding on top of the material that has been cut for each cushion.
Your material should be cut 4″ larger than your foam…to allow plenty to pull around and cover your cushion.
No, those are not bugs on my padding. I like to sprinkle fresh lavender on the padding before I cover the cushions. It makes them smell wonderful…just faintly.
Lay your wooden seat bottom on top of the padding.
Begin in the middle and staple close together all along the top of your cushion.
Next begin in the middle of the opposite side and staple the other edge…pulling to make sure the material is taut, but not so tight that you will create dents or uneven spots.
Don’t worry if the staples do not go all the way down…we’ll take care of that in a moment.
To make the corners you will push the end in just like you do when you wrap a gift. Be sure to pull tightly …. you don’t want saggy corners. Saggy corners just don’t look good on anyone…even cushions.
{Be sure to tense your hand and hold so tightly that your hand becomes wrinkled and red … and looks like it’s 99 years old. Like mine.}
Once all sides are done….use a hammer to make sure all the staples are all the way in and secure.
{My Mom gave me this hammer many years ago and put red dots on it. She said it would keep people from trying to take my hammer. I haven’t quite figured that out….but I just go with it.}
Now…at this point you can finish off the back of your cushion by cutting a piece of felt or material to cover the back. You can hot glue it into place. Personally, I usually don’t do this because this side will never be seen unless someone lays under your chair. I feel that if someone is going to lay under my chair, I don’t want them to be disappointed ….they deserve to find something fun. So, I leave mine just like this. If I was going to sell these chairs I may want to finish off the back with a felt covering. Completely up to you.
The back of your finished cushion.
Here is what your finished corners will look like.
And your finished cushion! 1 down, 7 to go! {It took me about 45 minutes to cover 8 cushions.}
If you are using your cushions in the dining room…or anywhere else that will get heavy use…you may want to Scotch-Guard them. I always Scotch-Guard our cushions. It makes cleaning them a snap! {Be sure to read the directions and test your fabric first.} You can check out my tip on how to spot-clean cushions here.
I like to do this outside….with my cushions on a clean blanket or tarp.
Handsome then screwed each cushion onto the chairs.
And, voila! We have 8 of these beauties!
We are loving them!
Here’s a quick list of what you need to cover a chair cushion:
seat bottom {1/2″ plywood works great}
2″ padding
material that you wish to cover the cushions with
staple gun
3/8″ staples
hammer {red dots optional}
drill
screws to attach cushion to chair
fresh lavender {optional}
+++++
Woohoo…we can sit in chairs for dinner tonight! We’ve been sitting on the floor for a week!
I did not use any wax on this piece, but I did slightly rough it up a bit.
We are loving it! It looks perfect in the dining room, and has opened up so much cabinet space in the kitchen when we took all the white dishes out of the cabinets.
Now…you know what I’m thinking.
Yep.
You’ve got it.
I want to paint the walls.
I have some fun ideas……
This may or may not be a form of insanity.
I’ve always thought sanity was really overrated, anyway.
A few weeks ago I shared how we were so very honored to be special Memory Keepers…you can read about it here.
If you follow me on Instagram you have been a part of seeing some of the wonderful treasures that we have been gifted with. {If you’d like to follow on instagram here’s my handle: cottageintheoaks}
We now have a huge storage room full of wonderful vintage and antique furniture and items that we have lots of fun ideas of what we’d like to do with……here’s a look at the first one that we’ve tackled.
Here she is…when we found her.
Forlorn. Standing on her head. Needing a bath and some TLC.
How do I know she was a she? It was the curvy legs.
She was missing her door…but that didn’t bother us a bit.
Here she is in her new home….the dining room. Handsome has repaired her badly damaged, curvy leg…and built her two new shelves, and a new bottom, since her original ones were missing.
We’ve scrubbed and cleaned her up….and was so happy to find out she has vintage, wavy glass! We’ve been letting her settle into her new surroundings for a few days now….and this week she will be getting a coat of Paris Grey. She’s excited.
And then she will be the keeper of all of our white dishes and serve ware.
Can’t wait to show you the finished product! {Actually, I can’t wait to see it myself.}
We’ve had this little side table by our front door for a while now….but it was looking sad. It needed some TLC……so a few weeks ago, it got some!
Here it is before I began….
Here it is finished in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, French Linen with Old White accents and a dark wax finish. I’m loving it.
It sits by the front door still….and holds some fun little special things……little shoes that made it through Ellis Island in the 1800′s, the original, working movie script of Lord of the Rings, etc.
I don’t think it looks quite as forlorn now. It even brightens up that spot a bit more.
Have you redone any furniture in your home lately? It is the quickest, easiest, and least expensive way to completely change a room.
Be sure to come back tomorrow…….we are having a fabulous Moen giveaway! Shall I say…Oil Rubbed Bronze, anyone!!!??????
While cleaning out a wayward closet a few weeks ago I found this little dark wood/stained “cubbie box”. It was very forlorn-looking.
I’ve always loved numbered cubbies and numbered shelves….we are actually working on doing a wall of large numbered cubbies in our dining room. I thought this little piece would be fun as a miniature one to host a rotating collection of whatever finds its way to it.
I painted it white with chalk paint. Distressed it a bit with dark wax…and used a sharpie to number it. We’ve had fun rotating what’s inside.
It reminds me of a miniature version of vintage hotel mail slots.
A fun little project that cost $0….can’t beat that!
What have you been up to lately? Any fun projects going on?
My youngest daughter is 12 and she is constantly designing. When our children turn 13 they get to totally re-do their rooms. She has a 3 ring binder full of product cutouts, colors, samples, ideas, price comparisons, etc. that she continually updates…getting ready for the big room re-do! She can’t wait.
She found these poor little chipboard shelves in our attic….and hauled them down. She had an idea that she wanted to give them an overhaul.
They were ugly. She’s really good at seeing past that. She found my Louis Blue ASCP and went to work. She painted them with one coat and then distressed them.
I think they turned out great…..and she likes these shelves much better than the ones she had. She calls them her ‘interim shelves’ while she’s waiting to give her whole room an overhaul. ha!
Have you found anything in the attic or by the side of the road and given it an overhaul with paint before? {You don’t even need to answer that, Bliss, I’d pick you to be my dumpster-diving buddy! }
OK…so we visited and spent the day yesterday at another college. The oldest public university in the U.S.
So. much. history. Oh, how I love history!
By the time they got to showing and telling us about the two residence halls that were built in the 1700′s, and still have their original hardwoods, crown molding, high ceilings, and wainscoting…..I was deciding what I would like to major in. I had it narrowed down to 2-3 choices when my son elbowed me and reminded me that we were there for him…not me!
Killjoy.
So, I snapped out of it…..but had a little trouble the rest of the day.
Can you imagine? A DORM ROOM with hardwoods from 1793, crown molding, wainscoting, and high ceilings!!!???? And the original doors!???? Completely restored and refinished. Be still my heart…..I was ready to go back to school. Then I heard the word thesis, deadlines, research…….it was the only thing that caused me to change my mind.
Now that I’ve semi got my wits about me I thought I’d show you a few little projects.
{I’m sorry it’s not 1793 hardwoods, wainscoting, high ceilings, and crown molding. In. a. dorm. room.}
Here are two little pieces of furniture that I wanted to redo for our new master bath……a small vanity chair and 1/2 table….here they are before:
Here they are painted with ASCP in Country Grey….without any finish applied. Just the paint:
Here they are in the bathroom after finishing them with ASCP dark wax:
One of the lovely ladies from my small group Bible study sent me these pics of her project last week….and she had used Country Grey, too. I think she did a fabulous job and her desk turned out great! {Tara also finished her vintage desk with dark wax.}
Well, I’m still all discombobulated ……. I might need a cold rag for my forehead. Do you think they would let me move in and just be, maybe, like the resident artist/creative or something…without all the thesis and grades and exams, etc.?
Maybe if I got enough letters of recommendation…..
Still finishing up the details of our master bath redo….can’t wait to be able to have the completed finished project! Woohoo!
I thought I would share this great antique mirror that actually came with our cottage when we bought it….it was in the master bath. It was wood….a dark, mahogany colored finish. It was not in good shape, so we painted it gold to go with the direction we were taking in the master bath at that time. We loved the mirror, though….it is over 100 years old and has so much chippy character.
For our new master bath I painted it with chalk paint in Paris Grey, and then used the dark wax as finish. I love it!
Here is the best way to prepare mirrors for painting in my opinion….
I use whatever computer paper I have on hand and tear it into strips…and then slide it underneath the frame all the way around. {Be sure to tape it….or it will slide and make a mess! Not that that it has ever happened to me, ya know, I was just kinda suggesting it just in case…….}
I love Annie Sloan Chalk Paint! This entire project took me 20 minutes. I painted the mirror with Paris Grey, it dried in 10 minutes, I put the dark wax finish on it, and was done!
Here’s a few more pics….not great ones, the bath is not quite finished and the lighting was low…..but it will give you the idea.
What fun projects are you guys up to this week? My friend just did a vintage desk re-do with ASCP and I’m going to share it with a couple of the small pieces of furniture that I did in the same color soon….she did a great job!
ha!
