Second chance chairs: a few before and afters

Who doesn't love a cute chair? They add interest to a room, can be inexpensive if bought 2nd hand and if you have a vision, can be transformed with a little bit of paint, fabric and elbow grease.

I have shared many chair transformations here on the blog like this, this and this. 

I even have a board on Pinterest where I collect beautiful chair makeovers, 

so I suppose it's safe to say I have a bit of a chair fetish!

Today I have a whole new crop of chair makeovers. The first couple I am sharing are my own chairs and were done in collaboration with my friend Ann, of Siena & Spoke, who recently added creative painting projects to her interior painting business. 

I gave Ann some Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old Olive and free reign on this guy....

 

She did a wonderful dry brush technique and gave it a new look.
I can't believe I waited all these years to have this chair painted,
I am delighted with the transformation.

 

I got these chairs for $7 each at a local thrift store. Ann painted everything with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, including the faux vinyl upholstery and gave them a coat of wax.
I designed the pattern on the chair back and despite my DIY-ADD, we painted those together.
Until I come up with a plan for where to use these guys and what to re-upholster them in,
I love them on my sunporch!

Ann also did this piece for me

If you are local to the Madison, WI area and have a sad, tired piece of furniture looking for a facelift, give Ann a call. 

You can find her business, Siena & Spoke, as well as her portfolio on Houzz and Facebook. 

Her tag line "repurposing with paint {furniture, walls and beyond} says it all!

This next chair is the product of my client's DIY and Ebay skills and a collaboration with my wonderful upholsterer.

Her neighbor was ready to put these guys to the curb, my client saw potential....

She painted the frame a lovely gold, found this amazing python fabric on Ebay for a song
and sent them off to be re done....

I. Die. 

Plus, I am so proud of my client for going it on her own to update these chairs. We talked about many options and in the end, finding this amazing fabric set the project in motion.

Remember this chair from my Bold & Blue family room project?

 I showed you an update here

Now check this baby out in her new home with her kitchy pillow, slipcovered ottoman and beautifully refinished table....

 So fun!

Do you have a chair fetish like me? If so what have you done to transform yours?

--------------Cathy--------------

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Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design?  I would love to work with you to help your room "feel better."  

Contact me for more information about my design services.

Thrifty make-overs for "The Big City Apartment"

Today I am sharing a few of the fabulous transformations of the thrifted and hand me down pieces that Therese rounded up for her son's "Big City Apartment."

She did such a great job, some of these pieces we collaborated on and others, she just did on her own and shared the results with me. 

I have said it before, but we really do make a good team....

High fives for "The Committee!"

A garage sale bulletin board gets some pizazz with a black frame and painted stripes.

Since the fabric was in decent condition and the color worked perfectly, this cute little chair got a fresh look by removing the skirt, cleaning up the legs and adding a hip Therese Marie Designs pillow.

 

 Only the tiniest bit of paint and a little creative genius and this chest gets a simple update.

Inspired by this, a thrift store painting, a thought, stick on letters and a wash of paint yields
a conversation piece in the powder room.

A little spray paint and some dark wax gave this side table a hip new look.

A funky vintage lamp, so cool it doesn't need more than a good cleaning....

 

 And how about a little sneak peak to see the lamp in use 

and how the "Sting" poster makes an appearance..... 

Yep, that's the Ikea Karlstad, a Lack side table and a couple of TMD pillows.

Lookin' pretty darned good dontcha think???!!!!

Have a great week-end!

BTW I am linking up to the Best of the Nest party and you should too.... no doubt you have some cool project to share, so be brave and do it!

--------------Cathy--------------

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Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design?  I would love to work with you to help your room "feel better."  

Contact me for more information about my design services.

One Room Challenge: the dresser do over

This project was a test of patience for me, the sanding alone took what seemed like hours. Then there was the primer and a couple of coats of paint...  I have mentioned my DIY-ADD before (hundreds of times I think,) but I like to see the finished product and am much happier when someone else finishes it for me. However, on a budget, a girl has to do these things for herself, so I toiled away for the sake of my daughter's room and my accountant husband's request. 

I must say the crisp cream is a vast improvement over the previous stripes and checks and someday when I am more inclined, I may try to pretty up the base of this dresser, for now though, I am pleased with the result.

The fun knobs were a World Market find and inspired the mirror color. I added the sliver of gold with a  paint marker I had on hand just to give the piece a little oomph.

I like it!!! 

So here is what has been accomplished so far in the "Teen Room Tweak"

 1) Closet and dresser are purged

2) Carpet stains - gone

3) Replaced the rug

4) Painted the dresser

5) Shade has been repaired

Yet to be completed:

6) Update the wall decor

7) Do something with the bed linens and pillows

8) Rearrange the furniture

9) The ceiling  fan....

If you are new to Room Rx go here to see week 1 of the One Room Challenge and here to see week 2. Please plan to come back over the next 3 weeks to see this Do It Yourself quasi-makeover

 by a Non-DIY girl.

Also be sure to head on over to Calling It Home to see what the other participants of the linking party are up to this week.

And if you happen to have and extra hour or two to spare, go see what the official ORC Participants are accomplishing on their projects!

Good stuff people, lots of super creative and clever folks out there....

--------------Cathy--------------

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Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design?  I would love to work with you to help your room "feel better."  

Contact me for more information about my design services.

Sneak peak at a paint job I actually did... twice!

Years ago (sixteen to be exact) at the Kane County Flea Market I picked up this great storage piece. Taller than your average dresser, it not only has drawers behind one door, but a place for hanging items (small ones) behind the other.

The piece was part of a "quasi" Mid-Century juvenile pair  done up in  blonde wood with decals.
It is safe to say that it was in pretty bad shape when I got it, so I did not feel bad about painting it.

Obviously I was going for the MacKenzie-Childs look...
and apparently my DIY-ADD had not yet kicked in.

The coral color was originally blue and the dresser went in my youngest son's nursery.

The mirror (which belonged to my grandmother) got painted and added later when the dresser moved into my daughter's room and the blue became coral.

Just for fun, here is a trip down Memory Lane, my daughter's room in my Chicago home, circa 2002...

 I know, lots of trendsetting design details in this room...

I painted a lot of hand me downs in that room....
as well as the backs of both bookcases.
Yup, no sign of DIY-ADD yet.

Fast forward a few years and the the time consuming paint job just wasn't doing it for me or for my now teenaged daughter.

So as I originally painstakingly painted, I now painstakingly sanded because I had not considered the paint build up with so much pattern.

I decided that the simpler, the better, so went with a creamy white and bright hardware....

As I told you this is a sneak peek only, so sorry for the tease.

You will have to wait for the One Room Challenge that Linda is hosting beginning next week, Thursday October 3rd.

I am going to play along (officially) this time as a linking participant.

I'll take you on the journey of making over my daughter's room. Not a big, start from scratch makeover, but a smaller, let's make this look like a teenager's room make over.

So remember to tune in here each Thursday for the six weeks following the start on October 3rd.

And be sure to follow along over at Linda's blog, Calling it Home to see what she and the other participants are doing for their One Room Challenge.

This is seriously one of my favorite blog series, I love a good before and after....
how about you?

--------------Cathy--------------

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Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design?  I would love to work with you to help your room "feel better."  

Contact me for more information about my design services.

My Patio: DIY update

Considering my silence for the past couple of weeks, one would think that amazing amounts of "stuff" is getting accomplished around here. While that is true to a certain degree, a lot of that "stuff" is hard to photograph and write an interesting blog post about! 

I do have something to show for my time off from blogging.

Remember these guys?

I needed/wanted a bigger cocktail table for my patio seating area. Unfortunately the budget would not allow for the purchase of something that appealed to me so I was stuck with this wimpy lil' thing....

It served the purpose, but didn't really work visually. So with a little particle board, about 700 coats of primer and half that many coats of this paint,

which I used on these chairs,

I got to this...

A few screws to affix this new top to the old table and the result is this....

I love the metallic finish of the top, it looks a bit like zinc, and it does a pretty good job of withstanding the elements. (Except for where the screws went in and not enough paint went down, thankfully that doesn't show in these photos.)

While the table is only slightly larger, it camouflages this sad little hand-me-down

and looks a bit more impressive!

Now my patio seating area looks like this! Still a few tweaks 'til it is exactly how I want it.
You know, a designer's work is just never done!

And this "project?"

 Not quite making the progress that the table has. The idea I had is good in theory and tougher to execute. We'll see if I have the wherewithal (or time) to finish it...

Just tearing out the broken wicker is a time consuming task, and for a girl like me with DIY - ADD, well let's just say, it may sit in my garage for a while as I get through the next month or two with graduation (this Saturday!), my daughter's arrival home from Chile, a grad party and a family vacation....

Like all of you, life is busy!  

What have you been up to lately? Any good DIY projects that you are making progress on???

I will be back later in the week with a very exciting GIVEAWAY!!!! Be sure to stop by.....

--------------Cathy--------------

Facebook    Pinterest    Instagram    Twitter

Does your room need a “prescription” for a change of decor, function or design?  I would love to work with you to help your room "feel better."  

Contact me for more information about my design services.