Side Chair Makeover

Back in March I made Micheal trudge out in the rain to pick up this free chair from of course, craigslist.

I originally emailed about it because the lines of the arms seemed to fit the mid-century look; however, when we got there it was clear that wasn't mid-century, probably more like late 70s. BUT it was cute and free and dangit we went in the rain! So I carted it home.

This is where a person has to decide between painting and refinishing (staining.) My mama taught me never to paint wood and I've tried to stick by that... However, in this case staining would have not dealt with the outdated look. With the blessing of my mom, I painted it Dove white (Behr) and recovered the cushions in a bright, fun print!

Steps:

1. Clean and rough up with sandpaper
   
2. Prime with Kilz new odorless oil-based primer due to stain bleed-through
   
3. Spray with Behr Dove white paint with my new HVLP paint sprayer
   
4. Recover cushions
   
5. Replace seat webbing

I'm very happy with the finished product!! It transformed into such a fun and bright piece of furniture. It'll be on the truck to Delaware next week!

Shared on the DIY Showoff

DIY Sofa Reupholstery - Day 1

I'm going to be honest; I pretty much figured when I bought this sofa with the intention of reupholstering it that it would stay red thatch for quite a while. Mostly because I have a lot of great big ideas, but sometimes the follow through is lacking.

HOWEVER! Not this time folks, I broke out my tools, my gloves, my Dr Pepper and started this Herculean project. I'm going to try and take you along the journey with me rather than amass a week of photos and try to remember all the steps I took along the way. :)

Choosing Fabric


Things I considered when choosing fabric:

1. Color - be able to match apartment but also transition back to our house when I'm done.
   
2. Texture of fabric - I like the look of basket weave, however the kitties really do too (scratch scratch).
   
3. Price - upholstery fabric is expensive! And you'll need a lot.

Couch Disassembly

The tools I used and found to be the most helpful so far are a set of dykes, gloves, and a small flat head screwdriver. (Also Advil and your carbonated beverage of choice!) Now - GET BRAVE!! Grab an edge and pull and cry pry! One of the internet tutorials I read suggested starting at the back so that's what I did. Start by inserting your flat head screwdriver and try to pry yourself out an edge to start working on.

The top came off pretty easily but I couldn't get the whole back panel off. The fabric appeared to be inside the arms instead of a full back panel. When I looked inside this is what I saw:

It appeared that the sofa was made and upholstered in several different pieces and then put together. Good for construction and aesthetic, bad for Kari.

Taking apart the sofa by myself was going to be tough so I decided to start removing the fabric in another area. This time, the front of the arm.

I'll get some better pics of how I used the tools to remove the fabric since I'm noticing now I don't have any photos of those. But this photo series shows the importance of documenting how the sofa is constructed as you take it apart. You have to put it back together the same way!

The construction of the arm is very important to recreate so I get the same finished look. When you finally get a full piece off make sure to save it label it - I used a sticky note and put where it came from and any specifics on how it was attached. You will use these as templates to cut new pieces out of your pretty fabric!

About this time I took a break, bought a Mani-Pedi on Groupon for when I'm done, and went to get some emergency DP. Then Micheal-gyver got home and it was GAME ON!

My final note for today is to make sure to take pictures of all the complex corners, again so you know what to do with that funky corner you cut out using the old fabric pieces as a template.

Things I learned today

• When working on a 60 year old sofa, make sure your tetanus shots are up to date
  
• If you husband asks you "what are you doing" when he gets home and you've got your arm elbow deep in the sofa...he's probably really just interested and not trying to annoy the crap out of you. So be nice.
  
• Wear gloves, nails, staples, all that stuff is sharp! (And rusty, see the first "thing")
  
• Dykes work better for pulling staples than needle nose pliers - thanks babe!
  
• Make sure you have more than one Dr Pepper when starting a project like this :)

The Craigslist Queen Strikes Again!

Hello my dears!! I was working on the weekend update post tonight and doing my normal perusing of craigslist and was stopped in my tracks when I saw a listing that said "Broyhill Brasilia Dresser -$65"

WHAT?!?! Pulled it up and started dialing as I called Micheal over to get his approval. The listing had been up for an hour so at that point it could already be gone. Micheal saw it and said "CALL - we can go get it right now!" Mind you, it's 9pm. They'd already had some interest but because we were willing to get off our butts and go get it tonight, it was OURS!

So a 9pm CL trip and this beauty is now part of our family!

Swoon - If you're not a midmod nut like me, Broyhill's "Brasilia" line is kinda like end-all be-all of super cool brand name 60's furniture. Similar dressers sell from anywhere between $500 and $1000 and are very hard to come by so we're crazy excited!

Weekend update to be finished tomorrow. Night!

Thrift and CL Finds

We had some good luck this weekend with our local thrift store and "christened" the Mazda on her first day with a craigslist run after we got home on Saturday.

Hammered Copper Pot from Unique Thrift

I'm going to clean this up and transplant my tomato into it! Only $15 which is a great deal for real copper. The interwebs suggests using a salt covered lemon to clean off the oxidization. I'll let you know how that goes.


Atomic Coffee/Tea Pot?

I zeroed in on this beauty from like two aisles away! Also at Unique Thrift this new addition to my china cabinet was only $3.93! Cleaned up beautifully with my BFF Bar Keeper's Friend.


MidMod Record Cabinet
Scored this little guy on CL for $10. It needs to be sanded and restained and will likely be my TV stand for the new apartment!

It benefits me that Micheal is loving driving the new Mazda3 (with a hatchback, woot!) so now when I say "look what I found on CL" he's all "let's go!!"

Craigslist Queen!

I've gotten some pretty good deals on CL since coming to DC including my dresser, Micheal's dresser, and my desk. However, the newest addition to our mid century decor has to be my best find yet!



Isn't she beautiful!! Look at those lines! Hubba hubba! There is a fourth chair that is currently sitting at my sewing machine.

The story goes like this - I was obsessively casually refreshing the craigslist "free" section when an ad popped up for free furniture. Included was a pic of this table and chairs (although the chairs were covered in an ugly vinyl) in the two seconds that I hesitated someone else beat me to the punch. But the nice woman took my name and said she's call if the other person backed out. Fast forward to the next day, she called!! The guy couldn't make it so it was all mine if I wanted it. My wonderful husband agreed to trek over to Arlington to pick it up and man was it worth it!





Man this table is cool and in great condition! Both sides fold down for easy storage!

Just to see what a good deal I might have gotten I Googled "mid century drop leaf table" and to my surprise I found my table right away...for $750 without chairs!! WHOA! With chairs it ranges from $1000 to $1250! Not sure I'll ever be able to top that one, but I'll keep trying!

My Mid Century Dining Room - Swoon!


Check out that original Herman Miller Bubble Lamp!

Our Newest MCM Funiture Addition!

Okay, so I am in LOVE with this chair.

Obviously it's the kitties' new favorite chair too! Funny story - the person we bought our fabulous new buffet from, who had all the cool MCM furniture in her house had this chair in their family room. Micheal and I were both oogling this chair pretty seriously. Imagine my joy when I saw it listed on CL!! I'm going to recover it with something that is more in line with our decor plan (we're not big stripes ppl) but otherwise just sitting in it makes me happy.

If you're in the DC area and looking for mid century furniture or accessories check out her blog! A Little Elbow Grease

New Craigslist Find - A Nightstand!

Nightstand, bedside table, alarm clock pedestal - whatever you call it, I REALLY needed one!

However, I needed to find a matching piece to go with my refinished dresser so that sent me back to my good friend craigslist.

I picked up this beauty for a measly $15 and it's a near perfect match! I'm planning on adding the matching drawer pull that I saved so they look like they have always been together. :)



The finish is pretty rough.



This is how far I got sanding it down this weekend:



It's a tedious job, but in the end I think it's going to go great!