one blessing of living with boys

I have been crafting it up lately making a super hero kit and indoor hopscotch pad for a fundraiser for Andy's preschool. My house is littered with fabric scraps, but no one seems to mind.

Super easy. Would be great for homemade Christmas gifts too.

IAMINLOVEWITHCRAIGSLIST!

Milwaukee's craigslist is the.best.

No lie.

After a few minutes of browsing, I already found a handful of pieces I love.

Fantastic bodies. Just need a little make over.

Skirted wing backs. Super awesomely deep wings. 2 for $30!

Love this shape. Super easy to reupholster. $5!!

I have a thing for green velvety sofas. $45

I really wanted this aqua flamestick one, but it's sold. $30.

LOVE these chairs. Such a fantastic shape $20 each!

Campaign dresser, anyone? Me! Me!

I promise you there is more to these pieces than old, slightly ugly furniture that nobody wants.

It's like the nerdy girl in a teen drama who once you take off her glasses and put her in fantastic outfit, everyone realizes how gorgeous she is.

Where do you find your bargains? Do you have a great Craigslist where you live?

Re-upholstering a Chair Demo

I had taken a few photos to blog a tutorial about re-upholstering, but Jenny over at Little Green Notebook just did this last week with lots of great pictures, so go there!

Part 1: Stripping

Part 2: Painting

Part 3: Stapling

Part 4: Sewing Cording

Part 5: Sewing Cushion

(when I went to take the picture above Nate jumped on the chair and said, "take a picture of me and the chair"). How could I resist?

(this chair is for their room for Dad to read at night. It's vintage, so I added a lot more stuffing for a more comfortable seat.)

(No, the back is not attached, I need to sew more cording tonight to finish the back and attach it)

Next up: craigslist night stand.

Plans:

1.add casters to bottom for extra height.

2.Paint inside of drawers something fun as a special surprise

3.paint outside.... can't decide how or what color....

Design

I bought this chair (under/behind Trudy) at a consignment store right before we moved from Iowa because I loved the shape.

I painted it white and upholstered it green floral

to coordinate with this chair

which I bought the fabric for to coordinate with our denim sofa.

Front room circa 2009

Well,

I am not sure what the cause was, but pretty soon, I was determined I needed to get rid of my casual traditional furniture and move in a more sophisticated look. I bought a tufted velvet sofa and crystal lamps. I got rid of our denim sofa and banished country-traditional chairs.

It never felt quite right.

I spent hours looking at design blogs and planning all the things I wanted to buy and changes I wanted to make to our apartment.

Friends joked that every time they came over to my house (even if it was 2 days in the same week), the house furniture would be rearranged differently.

I had this self imposed pressure to create a perfect house.

No one else noticed (or cared).

I think a lot of it was that I had no control over life (specifically law firm life), so I had to control what I could. I obsessed over perfecting the space I was surrounded in because I felt so much stress about what I could not control/perfect.

Guess what.

I never perfected it.

Instead, I calmed down.

and stopped moving my furniture.

There are so many thing I would like to change and furniture pieces/bedding/rugs/ art / lamps I would like to buy right now. But I am not. I am happy with the way things are right now, which is reflective of the fact that I have also come to accept the chaos of our life right now. I acknowledged that my obsession with design was a distraction from missing Chris (good) but that I took it too far (bad).

The crystal lamps are gone.

The tufted velvet sofa is gone.

(I realized they aren't me (never were) as much as the denim sofa isn't me (was at one time, but not anymore). I sold the velvet sofa and crystal lamps on craigslist.

I have not rearranged any furniture in my house for 6 months.

(that's not true, I did move a rug from the family room to the boys room)

And I am happy with the "now".

But don't let that fool you in to thinking that I don't have any projects.

One thing I have always loved, and still do, is repurposing a piece I already own.

I have always been drawn to tone-on-tone chairs.

Love the conflict of a traditional frame presented in a modern way.

It boldens.

It beautifies.

This chair is currently in the process of getting a tone-on-tone treatment.

And by in the process, I mean I have been working on and off on this chair for...oh... 3 months.

Remember this beaut?

She's gettin' a little paint job.

Stay tuned!