Blue & White "Slipholstered" Chairs





This weekend I was killing my to-do list and  I decided to "slipholster" some chairs...
part slipcover/part upholstery/semipermanent commitment.
Since I have chronic indecision, I know that versatile options work best for me.  
For that simple reason I am so thankful for not being born a dude, 
since I probably would have rocked the mullet at some point for its versatility.
I'm also impatient lazy, and since a basic upholstery class nearly killed me 
I'm all for sewing a pretty bandaid.

In the case of these chairs I have really loved their worn orange leather for the past few years, 
but they were crying out for a fun new look.

I also knew I might want them to be worn orange leather again too.
I slipcover as much as I can, but sometimes a chair might require a bit more tailoring.
And in this case the leather is slippery and would never accept loose fabric easily.

So lets get down with Slipholstery 101.
This technique involves attaching a slipcover in a semi-permanent fashion. 
It works best for chairs and ottomans,
but can also work for simple sofas if you have sewing ninja skills. 
You are basically going to make a tight slipcover and tack it to the underside so it looks upholstered.
Similar to the mullet this is party on the top, business on the bottom.

I had just ordered 2 yards of the Pagoda Cloud in its new blue/green color way.  
It would be just enough to do these babies up...


First thing you will want to do is measure the width/depth of your seats and backs and add 2 inches to every side that will be tacked/stapled to the underside.  
Measure backs, sides and every non tacked edge with an additional 1" to each side. 
Just to be clear that is per side, so for my seat width I had to add 4" total...

My seats were pretty straight forward.
I was going to need to sew a tight back that would connect to the seat cover.  

The first thing I did was sew my back and seat cover together.
Lay the fabric wrong side up and pin it to the seat and back to hold it in place.
I took a pencil and traced it against the crease along the back and seat and then trimmed excess fabric so it was a 1/2" from my pencil line...

Sew this line together first.
Next put the fabric back in place and begin pinning the back on...
Here are some tips.
-Tack the fabric to the chair to hold it in place as you pin.  
You can just stab pins through the fabric into the original upholstery to hold in place.
Start by pinning it to the center and smooth it outward.
-When pinning your slipcover together, start from the top first.
Next pin each side at equal heights.  
-Work your way to the corners and fold/pleat any slack for a neat edge:


Once you have pieced it mostly together, sew along the pin line.
Pull your pins, turn right side out and try the slipcover on the chair.
If you need to adjust or alter, do so.
If not simply trim the edges 1/2" from your seam and you're done with the sewing part.
Pull it over your chair and begin attaching the underside.
I used upholstery tacks instead of staples because they are easier to remove and adjust.
I tucked the front corners of the seat over and tacked in place- basic upholstery on the bottom half.
Once I was happy I hammered them in, trimmed the excess fabric from underside 
and reassembled my chair.
Boom, a slipholstered chair.
And I can take it off by simply pulling a few tacks if when I change my mind and want vintage leather.
And you know I will...







The Living Room Miracle

It has been a while since I posted anything from Renovation Land, and that has been because there wasn't much to talk about.  Things are still going slowly, but my living room is starting to take shape.
It still needs crown and baseboards as well as molding for around the round window, 
but it is almost done!

 I spent the last two weekends painting and Ikea Hacking a bookshelf, and I finally have something to show for it.  Interestingly enough, the whole scheme didn't exist two weeks ago.  It was all based off of an area rug I received from Medallion Rug Gallery this past week.  

I had been wanting to replace my large dark brown rug with something brighter and softer for a while now.  It showed every kid crumb, and made the room feel heavy.  

When I saw Medallion's Persian Tabriz are rug I instantly fell in love with the soft tones and started designing around it-
  from the image on my computer screen
 I DO NOT recommend doing this since computer resolutions and images vary, but as many of you know I am impulsive and my time to do home projects has been tight lately. 
 I said a little prayer to the paint universe and went for it.
 I chose Benjamin Moore's Turquoise Mist for my wall color 
and mixed up a citron yellow for the dots inside my bookcase.   
When the area rug arrived I let out a big sigh of relief- actually it was more like crazed giddy cackling.  It all worked by some miracle of internet decorating!  


I found some images of 'shrooms at Homegoods to hang on the wall. 
I FINALLY whipped up some pillows from the Jonathan Adler's "Limitless" chevron fabric
 I purchased about a year ago and made panels from my mystery chair fabric. 

So much brighter!
Oh, the bookcase used to look like this:
A three piece dark brown IKEA Besta. 
 I primed and painted for what felt like DAYS, and built plinths to raise it up 4" and staggered the center piece out,  
 added a 6" topper and crown 
(actually Ryan my husband's cousin did that part- 
I wrecked 2 boards of crown molding trying to figure the math on that. durh.)
I bought four new white IKEA Besta doors for hidden storage, 
and painted a splattered design on the inside...
and now it feels all fancy and pretty.
 By the time you see these pictures my kids will have demolished the fancy out of it.
I made sure to enjoy a glass of wine with my feet up last night while it was still pristine.

Hope you are enjoying the weekend!



Can't even play this cool...

I was unwinding with my bucket o' wine tonight flipping through the new October HGTV Magazine and I see this:
After an intensely stressful week, this just made things a lot better.

Thanks HGTV!

 Check out the mother load of fabric/pillows in their new issue out now.


Happy weekend!
I'm off to act all dumb.

happy friday dance

 I'm a little late to the party here, but I am still gonna talk about it.
Thibaut Tanzania in color...
From their new Resort Collection.

Still love this in black and cream...


but more choices to confuse my little squirrel brain makes me crazy happy.
More is more as in 'overwhelming kid in a candy store' more...
I can't decide and that is OK.

 And in the same collection we have this South Seas pattern happening...
Very Quadrillesque, right? 
There are lots o' colors, some faves...





 I also love this big Sun Garden pattern a lot...

 And Shore Thing might happen in my laundry room...
but I'm thinking maybe in this color way on the ceiling...

The whole collection is just damn good.
And of course this all comes in fabric too.

Happy Friday!


Just Sprayin'...

This is just a quickie to remind you all that paint and lightbulbs
 make "meh"light fixtures into "A-mehn" fixtures.

My electricians are here and fixtures are going up quick.
This is my new laundry room fixture.

I'm sure you've seen this Home Depot fixture before.
I picked it up back in the beginning of summer because I liked the lines and thought it had potential.
 It used to look like this...
fine, good bones, but "meh". 
One coat of Rustoleum Copper Metallic Paint and one coat of Rustoleum Tomato Red.
(the Tomato covered poorly over the brown without a primer,
so I put a coat of Copper on first, let it dry and then liberally applied some Tomato red 
and BAM, tomato soup glossy perfection! A little of the Copper sparkles shines through.)

Just take out the glass and tape over the sockets...

add some round chandelier bulbs to give it a more mod look.
done. 
My laundry room currently looks like this...

A storehouse for boatloads of wallpaper for a project I am currently working on.
But hey, plumbers come next...
and a light is progress in my book!
babysteps.

My Desk

Today I want to share a family story with you.
It's the story of my desk.

There is a lot more behind this desk than just function.
  There are memories of my grandfather, the man whom it used to belong to.
There are memories of hanging out in my grandparent's basement with my cousins
during holiday get-togethers.

After my grandfather retired he moved his office to his basement- an early man cave.
He was a practical man, so he took an existing table and used that as his desk.  He kept it meticulous, with neatly arranged pads of paper and a mug full of pens and pencils.  A television was set into the wall above the desk, and he would watch ballgames while simultaneously listening to another on his transistor radio.  We kids would sneak down there after family dinners and watch very vintage MTV (think young Kurt Loder), doodle on the endless pads of paper
or play the piano that was right next to the desk.

When my grandparents passed away,  I asked for their basement furniture.  
It was an entire matching set that had a retro flair I adored, and it was full of childhood memories.  
In our last house I used it on our sunporch...

 Upon moving to our current house I set it up in our basement,
but I brought the table upstairs to use as my desk.
My office has undergone many incarnations, but I keep going back to this table.
It has a ton of surface area to spread out on and is the perfect height.

I know several people would choose to keep an object exactly as it was,
but as a serial 'repurposer'  I decided to make it my own.
I began by spraying the legs gold and painting the wood top white.
I embellished the top with a simple zigzag stripe using painter's tape.

 I had a "happy accident" when I applied a coat of polyurethane before my stripes were fully dried, causing the stripe to crack and pull.  
I really like the result.  
It feels weathered, and the fact is this desk is about 60 years old.

  I don't think my grandfather would mind that I painted his desk,
 instead I think he would be glad to know it is getting well used.

And that it constantly reminds me of where I came from...
and of the man that taught me not to be afraid of hard work...
and that anything is possible because he was proof of that.  

My grandfather left his family's farm in Rhode Island at the young age of 15 
because he saw his future was sealed with a job at the local mill.   
He had a natural inclination for fixing things and he moved to Passaic, NJ where he got a job working as a mechanic.  He saved his money and in a few years bought his own shop.  A true workaholic, he would sleep in the bathtub of his shop after putting in a long day. 

He loved airplanes.  
He was very determined and he got his pilot's license 
and then eventually his own plane.  
He met my grandmother and they started a family.  
They instilled strong values in us and you knew you were loved.  
I have so many good stories and traditions that I will to pass on to my own children, 
this desk being part of it.

As part of  True Value's DIY Squad I am so pleased to share a video
that really resonates the importance of heirlooms.
  It had me tearing up a bit, thinking of how special the family pieces I own are, and how glad I am that I can incorporate them into my family's life.
  
Please watch this video and let me know about your own favorite heirloom.
What is it?
How have you kept it in the family?  
I would love to know if you made any DIY changes to it or left it just as it was.  

Please leave me a comment below telling me your story.  I'm looking forward to hearing them! 





 I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.


For more DIY inspiration, take a look at True Value’s Pinterest boards and Facebook page.






LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails