Yummy Home- From office drab to vintage fab!

Remember that old office chair I posted a while back?  Thanks to a little paint and some fabric, it now has a new lease on life!

Last week I went on a road trip to Houston with my friends Lan and J.  We visited our friend Bamma who used to own an upholstery shop, and was gracious (& patient!) enough to give us a lesson.  Here is the before shot of the sofa we worked on:

Turns out, one of the hardest parts of reupholstering furniture is stripping off all the fabric, staples and tacks (who knew?!).  Thankfully, Lan saved my manicure by doing all the hard work before we even headed out on our road trip.  (Note- the evil green joker face on the garage wall was not our doing.  Apparently some people cannot contain their inner graffiti artist when near a can of spray paint):

The reupholstery process required lots of stapling (and I truly do mean lots of stapling!), tacking, cutting, sewing, measuring, and Martha Stewart style love.

See below pic where I actually utilized those 9th grade Home Ec skills for something other than making a truly awful pair of “genuine faux” Jam shorts:

After 3 days of hard work & laughter, we ended up with a sofa upon which any glamorous girlie girl would love to lounge:

I really enjoyed seeing something ugly, that most people would toss out, turned into something beautiful.  So, needless to say, I now want to reupholster EVERYTHING in my house!!!  My first solo project will be this desk chair- stay tuned for the transformation…

Yummy Find- …..The Library?!

Been a while since you visited the library?  Remember the smell of pages full of stories, rich information & beautiful pictures?  The quiet, hushed voices?  The excitement when you found just the right book (you know, the one you read under the covers with a flashlight because your parents told you to go to sleep…but it was just too good to put down)?

The library is a great, free resource full of inspiration.  And, let me tell you-they have come a long way baby!  With things like cds, dvds, audiobooks, internet, and online access, this is not the same place you visited as a child. 

Take a gander at these babies I just checked out:

Most of these are books that I would love to own, but with bills and home projects, a girl has to have some priorities.  So, for the time being, I am so thankful I can enjoy them free of charge.  

Now, shhhhh!  You guys go on to the library, I have some books to read…

(Source: youtube.com)

As we experience lovely, sunny weather, it is very difficult to believe that my backyard looked like this just a few short weeks ago:

(…And, yes, before you even ask, let me tell you that my tree, Mr. Bark, does have a face…it was a housewarming gift and I love it.  Don’t Judge.)

When that picture was taken, all I was thinking about was hibernating in my warm house with a cup of hot chocolate.  But, now that we are basking in this gorgeous weather, I have a raging case of spring fever!  So, when I passed by a garage sale last week & saw this little patio side table for $2, I snatched it up! 

As you can see, the glass is pretty scuffed up & the paint is really thick and chipped:

First step to recovery- scrape off all the loose paint, and sand, sand, sand!  Because of the amount of peeling paint, this required a bit of elbow grease.

Next step- Rustoleum to the rescue!!!  First a coat of Rustoleum primer spray paint, then the glossy black.  To make spraying much easier, I used the Rustoleum comfort grip (about $5.99 at the hardware store)- it fits on any spray can & is so simple to use.  As a chick who has suffered many a cramped hand and blistered trigger finger in the past, my advice is to acquaint yourself with this genius product & make it your friend.

Next, I tossed that thin, scratched up glass & popped in a couple of tiles I had leftover from a project.  Because I already had the tiles and the primer, I only spent $2 for the table, & $4.49 for the black spray paint, for a total of $6.49. 

The result?  A convenient place to set my mug of tea while I curl up with a fun girlie book, and get some relief from my spring fever!

I have a lot of fond memories of the 80’s- Duran Duran, 16 Candles, neon sweatshirts- I could go on and on until I lull you into a bored stupor.  But, one of the things I do not recall with affection is that cheap brass that blinds you with it’s shiny golden glare.  So, when my aunt and I found this bar cart at the flea market, it took a few minutes to decide if it was worth the purchase.  Ultimately the answer was yes- because of the nice Art Deco-ish shape, and the glass, which is in great condition, I brought that puppy home with me!

Thanks to a tip from my friend Jason, I picked up a product called Rub & Buff at the craft store ($3.99, but I had a 40% off coupon.  This is important folks- always go to the craft store armed with a coupon!!!  Sign up for the store’s email list, & peruse their website for coupons.  Don’t go puttin’ more money in the man’s pocket than absolutely necessary!)

I used “Silver Leaf” Rub & Buff, but both gold and silver were available at store.  And, a plethora of colors are available online.

It is very easy to use and works on any surface.  Just put a small amount on your finger, a soft cloth, or a firm bristle brush and rub onto the object.  Make sure the layer is thin and even.  Super easy!  Really simple to do. Oh, and by the way, did I mention this was easy?  The only slightly difficult part is getting the wax into all of the crevices.

Here is a brassy/Silver Leaf side by side view:

I chose the hands on method, which I don’t suggest doing if you have an Adrian Monk like need to constantly touch the objects around you (if you doubt me, see below pic).  The instructions say to clean your hands with mineral spirits, but I found that good ole soap and water do the trick. 

A few hours of working out my silver finger, and I have a super glam bar cart.  Only $20 for the cart & $2.40 for the Rub & Buff, for a grand total of $22.40.  Now I say that’s worthy of a toast!  Cocktails anyone?

Here are a few pics for inspiration:

1st Dibs-

Jan Showers-

High Gloss-

Nate Berkus-

I love getting magazines in the mail- it’s like a little present magically deposited right on my doorstep. When a great design magazine arrives, I greedily pull it out of the magic box, hold it to my nose and breathe in the smell of delicious design.

But, despite all that, I am totally loving this new trend of online magazines! Why you ask? Three reasons:

1) Free, Free, Free!

2) This paperless beauty does not add to my magazine hoarding tendencies (…please don’t report me to that addictive Hoarders show!).

3) If the environment had a mouth, it would be smiling a big cheesy smile right now.

As a result, I was so happy to find High Gloss magazine. High Gloss focuses on home decor with some fashion thrown in for good measure- very professionally done, modern and yummy.

http://www.highglossmagazine.com/read