DIY Basics - Recovering a Thrift Store Chair

I am a big fan of thrift store shopping...for furniture and things for the house.  I'm not the biggest fan of shopping for clothes at thrift stores only because I get overwhelmed (am I the one one?).  There is something really fun about scoring a great piece at thrift store for next to nothing and seeing the potential it has to be something great.  One of my favorite places to shop for things for the home is Habitat Restore...if you have never been to one you need to check it out.  I have found some really great things there for amazing prices.  There are a few keys to shopping at thrift stores...know when they restock, know when they mark down and go frequently.  

So I came across this chair at the Restore for $10 and loved it..I am a big chair fan.  This one though is in really great shape (it also folds up for storing), sturdy and I decided I didn't even want to paint it (super shocking I know).  All it needed in my opinion was a seat recovering.  

This is actually not the fabric above that was on the chair when I bought it...I had this laying around and covered it really quickly until I got something I liked.  This fabric was not really my favorite and didn't quite work in our space.

After thinking about it I decided I wanted something simple and basic that would go with anything.  This! This check fabric is like my most favorite thing ever.  After I covered the chair I made cafe curtains and a pillow too...with hot glue, haha.  They are still holding up great too...I need to make a post on that.

Ok, so covering a chair seat is really simple.  You need a staple gun (they are inexpensive) and that's pretty much it.  The hardest part is folding the corners in so it sits right.

Honestly I probably do it a little differently each time. I just make sure its really tight and folded in on the corners and then staple like crazy.  This seat just screwed right back in to the chair base, its was simple.

I love the simple and classic look of this chair.  Don't be intimidated by thrift store finds, there is a treasure of good stuff out there waiting for you to make it beautiful again.

How about you guys...are you thrift shopping people?  What are some of your best finds?

PS - Here are some other thrift store makeovers from the blog -

Luggage Rack Redo

Desk Redo

5 Ways to Save on Projects

Super Easy Painted Glass Jars (Dollar Store Craft)

I have spring fever.  I am so ready for warmer days, sunshine and color.  Until then, I am making due with bringing some life inside and adding some spring touches here and there around the house.  I have a super easy diy for you today for adding some color to your homes - using chalk paint on glass!  Have you guys used chalk paint yet?  I absolutely love it..and now there are so many options available.  I know there is sometimes confusion about this...so to clarify this isn't chalkboard paint but chalk paint - two different things.  Chalk paint adheres really well to surfaces without the need of primer and leaves a very matte/flat almost chalky finish.  Recently I came across some craft chalk paint and wanted to give it a try.

At first I was going to use mason jars for this project but then I found these glass milk bottles at the dollar store...yes! --at the dollar store and had to grab them.  If you can't find them at your local dollar store (specifically these were at the Dollar Tree) then I have seen them also at crafts stores like AC Moore or Michaels for a few dollars each.  How cute are these? Honestly I like them even unpainted as well to use for little parties.  Just think of how cute a little paper striped straw would be with these.

Here is the chalk paint I used...I found this at AC Moore for $8...plus a coupon for 50%.  I love those coupons, don't ever enter a craft store without scoping those out first. They have other colors as well..not a huge selection but I think a pretty selection.  If you haven't used chalk paint yet this paint is a great way to try it out without investing $$ on some of the fancier brands and supplies.

When you use chalk paint the best approach is several thin layers.  Your first layer will feel like its not going to cover and will look awful.  I did 3 thin layers on these bottles to get the coverage I liked. I just used a craft sponge brush to apply it...it worked well for this project. And leftover birthday plates :)

After the paint has dried completely you can add some distressing if you want...I waited a good 24 hours before doing this step.  I just lightly sanded with a sanding block to give it a little character. That's really it!  I didn't need to prime or use any kind of sealer on this project. Super easy.

These are so cute for greenery or florals, I love using unexpected things.  And this minty color is one of my favorites..I love the vintage feel of it.

I also used these for candle holders as well!  One thing though I would never use these for drinking out of now that they are painted..just decoration haha. 

Are you guys feeling the spring fever too?  What are some ways you like to add pops of spring to your home?  And...what do you think of chalk paint?  I'd love to hear!

Make something new this week!

Fall Vignettes

Just little moments here and there.  I haven't gone full blown fall yet but I have been creeping things out a little at a time.  Here are a few ideas for adding a little fall to your home...

I think just adding a few things like a couple of little pumpkins and some hydrangea from your yard can change things up a bit.  Just by swapping a few things out is an easy way to liven a little spot up. I love changing things around in little spaces in our house often, I can't stand for it to stay the same all the time.  If you are looking for a square boxwood wreath, make one like this!  It was easy and inexpensive.

I seriously love adding flowers from the yard.  I will use anything, even twigs and stems.  Free is always good and having an element of the outdoors inside is just nice.  My little fabric pumpkins are peeking around here as well.

I made this chalkboard a while back and I love that I can change it up often too.

More chalkboards!  Can't get enough.  This little wreath is one I made exactly like this spring fabric wreath.  Super simple - embroidery hoop and little scrap pieces of fabric tied around.

Do owls/birds feel like fall to you?  For some reason they do to me and they are taking over our house.  Which is strange if you know me, because birds are my least favorite animal of all time - I would rather run into a snake or spider.  I have a weird fear of birds - but my son loves them so he is helping me cope.  But I like bird figurines in my house - I make no sense.

Have you gone full blown fall yet?  Share with me your favorites parts of the season!  Tomorrow I'm sharing some of my favorite fall wardrobe pieces and ideas for getting the most out of them so stop by!

Simple Pallet Board Shelf

Silas' room is becoming one of my favorites in the house.  We have been slowly adding so many elements that I love and its really starting to feel like a completed space.  His room has been transforming into a big boy room, which is fun and also a little sad at the same time.  But we are enjoying each season.

Pallets: you probably love them or can't stand them.  I'm on the love portion of that statement (of course).  I have been wanting to incorporate a pallet board in some form or another in our house for some time now and this little project ended up being the perfect fit.  I acquired this little pallet board somewhere, somehow and it made its way into Silas' room to act as a little quasi-shelf.  You can see below how its been leaning against his wall for a while and neatly organized with some of his things.  It was time to finally make this spot more permanent (and safe) for our little pallet board.

So we found a little time on a weekend and put together a quick plan to mount this thing to the wall and make it a functional part of his room.  To attach this to the wall I went and found some of the strongest wall anchors I could (pallets are super heavy).  Justin measured, drilled and anchored this monster to the wall.  Its not going anywhere now.  

To give it a little more function we also attached a little yellow hook set I found at Target.  Now Silas has a sweet little place to hang things, display his special little items and store some books.  

I love pallets because one- they are free and two - they add a little rustic touch to a room.  I didn't even bother with cutting or adding anything to the pallet.  It was functional just they way it was for me.

With it now securely mounted to the wall it feels like it actually belongs here now and its great to check one of those little projects off the list!  I have a few more things to accomplish in his room before I can say his room is completed.  For example- hang curtains, recover his little "couch" and Paint his bookcase..so we are getting close (sort of).

So do any of you have a thing for pallets?  Have any fun projects you have done?  Share with me, I'd love to know!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Lighting Upgrade - Bathroom

Bonus tip, always remember to stop your drain so you don't
lose your screws and such down the drain.

Yesterday we showed you all of the glorious light fixtures we had illuminating our home when we purchased it.  Today, we have our first light replacement project and it begins in the bathroom.  Over the weekend, we had heard of a huge sale taking place at the Lights Unlimited store so we shimmied on over early Saturday morning for their "yard sale" and incredible prices.  We arrived before the sale was supposed to begin but there were already people there gobbling up all of the awesome light deals.  We did happen to snag a light fixture for our bathroom - a mere $10, originally $135 or something crazy like that (I wonder if they just put random high prices on those things so you think you are getting an out of this world deal) either way, we got a great deal.  We also found outdoor lighting that we will be pulling out when the right time comes (get the house painted first).  So when King Silas went down for his nap we Justin got to work on replacing that light.  I was there for moral support, I guess.

The first thing we did was to determine which fuse belonged to the bathroom so we could get the electricity turned off while Justin worked.  This was actually more time consuming than originally thought, it took us going through the fuses 3 times before we figured out which one it was - partly because we had unscrewed all of the bulbs in the bathroom first and had no light to go by.   Hey, we are rookie remodelers remember?  We did eventually find it and got the electricity off.

This is a nice picture of the collection of dust on our old fixture.

Next, Justin got to work removing the old light fixture.  This was simple enough - just unscrewing the fixture base and straps and disconnecting the electrical wires.

This is our old light fixture but you can see the different colored wires here.

Then he began installing the new light fixture by matching up the colored electrical wires and connecting them together.  You first begin with the white wires (they are the neutral wires), then the black wires (the hot wires) and finally the copper (the grounding wires).  The wirenuts are then put on to hold them in place.

This is Justin working on the ground wire - you can see from comparing to the picture above the difference in fixture straps - the new one has an extra swivel strap for adjustment.

The fixture strap is the next piece that is screwed into the wall.  Since our lighting is fairly old we did have a different type of fixture strap that we removed than what we installed.  Basically our old one had one single strap and the new one had two, with one being able to swivel to adjust to the appropriate level.  Justin adjusted the strap accordingly and screwed it into the wall.  This will give you a level light fixture.

The last piece to install was the actual light fixture base, which was simply screwed into place.

After everything was installed we popped in some light bulbs, turned the electrical fuse back on and enjoyed our $10 light upgrade.

This project was actually pretty easy to do and I am liking the added elegance this new light has added to our bathroom.  It has really stepped up the class in there.  I guess I should add that before we moved into our house we had a licensed electrician go through our entire house and address any issues we had - so we knew going into this project that everything was properly wired and functional before starting.  Now that we have this new light we are feeling pretty fancy and we will be on the hunt for more lighting updates in the future.

So here is the before and after on our little diy light fixture upgrade project:

Thanks for joining us today, remember to vote for us at picket fence by clicking on the button on the sidebar, you guys are the best!

Shining Light

Today you get the great privilege of taking a viewing tour of all of the beautiful light fixtures that illuminate our home (plus some great up close ceiling shots).  It is a smorgasbord of mismatched 60's and 70's styles that we are sure will be the envy of every homeowner out there, some of these you just can't find in stores anymore.   So without further adieu, our lights.

First up, our living/family room ceiling fan equipped with mis-matched handle pulls.  This one is actually not completely horrible (just wait until you see our kitchen one).

This light is in our kitchen, it's trying to be modern, just not quite making it.

A quick detour to show you our lovely light switch in our kitchen that dangles by the sink window.  This is a lovely decoration that we can't wait to get rid of, nothing like electrical switches dangling over water.

Here's a little shot of our eat-in kitchen area with this monstrosity of a fan.  I can't wait to replace it with a nice pendant light or some sort of chandelier.  

Here's a nice up close and personal look, it has such lovely ornate detail.  I especially like the faux wicker fan blade decor.  Before anyone asks, this fan is already spoken for once we replace it - I know you are all bummed now.

These lovely antique relics provide a nice ambiance in our three bedrooms.  

A little light to brighten up our laundry space, or as Justin calls it the all seeing eye.

This one might be my favorite.  This is what sits over our half bath mirror.  Justin's name: Frosty's head on a platter - I'm not sure I even have words to add to that.

I actually kind of like this next light.  It's in our hallway (if you can call it that).  It looks very pretty when it's all lit up.  It does have an antique look but it's one that I like.  This one just might stay.

And finally, our bathroom light.  This light has already met it's fate and is no longer hanging in our bathroom as of this weekend.  We'll show you what's up there now tomorrow!  

We can't talk about light without talking about the The Light of the World - Jesus.  There are so many crazy things going on in this world today but one thing we can trust in is the never fading glorious radiance of our Savior.  Following Him means we never have to fear, there is nothing we need to worry over, and we will never walk in darkness but we have life eternal in Christ.  Those are such wonderful and amazing promises to rest in. 

The Lord is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid? Psalm 27:1

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12

Living Room Update

We realized we haven't put many living room updates up since we have moved in, a big reason is that we are still working on a lot of things and it isn't quite what we want it to be yet.  So today we wanted to share with you what we have going on in our living/family room now.  It's bare minimum but at least we have the toy situation under control.

So here are a couple of before photos - everything in our house was painted the same ugly beige color, trim and all (unless it was wood paneling).  The first thing we have worked on is painting the trim white and the walls a nice neutral color - Tattered Sail by Olympic (now one of my favorite colors).  One of the things we really like about this room is the chair rail molding and wide window trim.  It really adds so much character to a pretty boring room.

We also have added new bamboo roman shades, still waiting to add some soft billowy curtains though.  All of our furniture are things we already owned.  

Under all of the carpet lies hardwood floors, one day down the road we will be pulling up all the carpet to refinish the floors.  Right now, it's kind of nice having carpet while Silas is crawling.

We also want to purchase a rug and throw pillows for the sofas to brighten them up.  I'm always a fan of those beautiful white couches you see in all of the magazines but that just wasn't practical with a baby, a black furry dog and teenagers visiting often, so we went for sturdy leather ones that would last a while.  They might not be as shabby chic as white ones but we like them and they are holding up well.

Everyone always thinks these glass cup holders are ashtrays - I want to replace them too since I'm tired of answering that question every time someone comes over.  We also don't have any kind of console for our TV and things, we are using this antique piece right now and we actually kind of like it.  We may or may not change that in the future, I happen to really like antiques so I will push for it.

Well, that's it, our living/family room.  I love how it is wide open to the kitchen and how cozy it feels.  We will continue to post updates as we work on little things here and there.  Have a great weekend!