Category Archives: home decor

Revamped Chairs

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Last weekend, Rick and I went up north to visit my family, celebrate Rick’s birthday and relax. Relaxing at my family home typically involves a project. My Mom, Rick and I went to an estate sale and we scored a lot for 25 dollars, including vintage linens, a small embroidered picture, this great book, and two chairs. We are slowly making updates to our office and we were in dire need of new office chairs. Rick found a mid-century industrial chair for $5, made in Texas and I found a beautiful antique oak chair for $40 that I wheeled and dealed down to $15.

While Rick was out with the guys wine tasting my Mom  and I went to downtown Paso Robles to this great fabric store and found fabric for the two different chairs.

For the oak chair I picked out a folksy – Americana style pattern. I decided to not paint the chair because I loved the grain in the wood and slight imperfections from the craftsmanship. I decided to hand embroidered some of the fabric to add depth and character. I spent most of Saturday night around the fireplace hanging out with my family needplepointing (Rick even took turns and helped). The next day my Dad helped rebuild the original wooden seat insert to make it stronger and Rick, My Mom and I all gathered around tucked and stapled on the new fabric.

The office chair turned out a lot easier than it looked. It just took some time. Honestly, I was just going to take it to my upholstery guy but when I walked out to the garage Rick had already started removing parts. It just took tugging and ripping apart and my great helpers. For the fabric I wanted a quirky design. I fell in love with this collection from Sarah Watson called Indian Summer, something about it called out my name. I used animal faces for the chair back and teepee design for the seat. I am so in love with my new office chair. It’s comfortable and now very personal.

I do need to add trim to the chair back parts. To cover the gap. I think I might go for an off white color or pop like turquoise.

Now, just to find Rick a new office chair, the search continues…

Big Thanks to my parents and Rick.

P.S. I am sorry for the lack of photos (including, the “before” photos), I was a bit too excited and forgot to take photos of the progress.

A few tips from me to you for upholstery:

  • Splurge on good quality fabric that will hold up overtime.
  • Outdoor fabric may be used inside and is great if you have kids.
  • Use existing batting or padding but if the piece has lost structure you can add to the seating by spending under ten dollars, worth it.
  • When unscrewing, removing nails and staples be sure to not lose the original hardware, especially from a vintage chair because this could be hard to replace. Keep all your parts gathered in one place such as a Ziploc bag.
  • Get a friend to help you pull and tuck the fabric or be the one that staples the fabric back on. This will save you a headache.
  • Iron your fabric. Thanks for teaching this to me Mom.
  • After stapling on your fabric secure by hammering in staples.

Antique Oak Chair for 15 dollars + 7 dollars in fabric = 22 dollars for a lovely accent piece made with a lot of love.

Mid-Century Industrial chair for 5 dollars + 22 dollars in fabric = 27 dollars for an awesome chair

Painted Rocks

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Back to the beach. My motto lately is back to the basics and this nature loving girl use to spend hours at the beach: surfing, beach combing, running, and bon firing. Then I found myself with a blog, two photo businesses and a design business. Oy! Now, I am on the pursuit of connecting with little simple things that make me happy at my core. Friday evening in a cozy puffy vest and Rick’s trucker hat on, Rick and I walked in the rain on the beach looking for interesting pieces of driftwood and stones.

The stones I rinsed off and used a silver paint pen to doodle designs on. I then arranged the collection on an antique brass tray with some candles. The simple craft and walk made my heart skip a fluttery beat back to the me that I had missed: a slower paced, sandy footed and salty gal.

My beloved cane chairs

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I spent my Saturday night sucked in a HGTV trance. It created a huge urge to spend an afternoon rummaging and bargaining at a flea market. Inspired to breathe new life into a set of chairs, an old frame, or a rug. I wanted to share with you a set of cane chairs that I made new again. Last year, I went on a search for a set of cane chairs. I love the cane look and was determined to find a pair that was priced under a 100 bucks. The victory was mine when I found a set in solid, great condition, and a steal at $20 dollars for both. This gave me the okay to spend a bit more on the fabric.

I gave a light sand to the chairs and then used an indoor/outdoor spray paint and then sealed the paint. I chose white for a couple of reasons: I never owned white furniture and was inspired by a beach cottage look of white and airy furniture. Third reason was I wanted the flower detail on the chair to stand out. The fabric was a bit pricey but I loved the white and grey mixed with the bright green. Again, it felt fresh and new to me. Upholstery is a group project. My advice to you is to share this project with a friend as you will need someone to help pull and tuck to get the corners to lay flat on rounded chair corners. If you are not confident it is good to just send it to a professional.

The chairs will be long members of our family, but knowing myself they might see a change of color and fabric over time.

$20 dollar chair turned into family treasures.

New Cabinet

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A few weeks ago, my new lovely friend came to visit and we went to the thrift shops in downtown Ventura. We thought we would share a fashion story to our blog readers (in the future this will happen) instead we walked away with items for our homes. Paige walked away with an adorable wood rocking horse for her sweet angel, and a rad rug. Both great scores! I walked away with a high chair and a rustic old cabinet. Yes, I said high chair. It was seven dollars, old and hand painted. Someday, I will use the baby chair as an awesome prop or for a child’s room.

The blue cabinet decorated with a great sticker price was a deal I could not walk away from. The piece is solid, well-made and has a striking patina. I stared at it for sometime in the thrift shop. I had a few people walk by me telling me that I must buy it. A few picture text messages to Rick and measuring the item via Stacey feet; by the way, this is how I measure most things in life, by my feet, I call it “measuring in Stacey feet”.

I had long desired a hutch or cabinet for my kitchen to display some of my favorite kitchen items like cake stands, my cookie jar, wine, and other necessities. It absolutely fits perfectly in our space and framed by our archway. Rick was just as excited as me, he even talked to it and petted it. (Shhh… don’t tell him I said that)

When we got the cabinet it did not have anything in it’s window-frames. Glass and fabric were an option, but we are country loving folks over here. Maybe, it is because I grew up with a ton of chickens but I like how chicken wire looks for certain household pieces. Also, I like how the honeycomb shapes frames the contents inside and when this cabinet gets moved around from home to home (which it will end up doing) I am certain that I do not have to worry about breaking the glass. What a relief.

Great Place for wine storage too.

 

 

On Our Mantle: Pumpkins

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Yesterday, I shared this pumpkin party post and now I show you all those colorful pumpkins in my home on my fireplace mantle. My fall mantle has a collection of metallic objects like my mercury glass candle holders and my collection of vintage silver and brass trays and an owl. The pumpkins are a kind compliment to the mantle and although full and dramatic it is quite lovely, especially in the evening.

A few suggestions:

  • Add height with objects around your house such as candlesticks, books, cake stands, and elements from outside branches, driftwood…
  • Objects look better in groups of odds
  • Mix metals
  • Off center your objects and use their best face forward
  • Use nature when possible for a balance
  • Vintage pieces add character and are conversation starters