How 'bout some toile, y'all? Chair redo parade part 1, first go at slipcovering

I told you guys last week that I had several projects to share. I haven’t blogged them, but I have COMPLETED projects in this house! LOL. I’ve been working on my living room for the last few weeks. I had several chairs and tables that needed to be redone. I’m ALMOST there…. I only have a few accessories and pillows to change up, and I’ll be done. I’m loving the new feeling…. I was looking around the living room last night, and every single piece (except for my splurge sofa and antique library table) is something I’ve redone in some way. It makes me feel so proud to look around my home and see ME…. Not some magazine or catalog. Not someone else’s blog or ideas… I SEE ME.

Do you remember this picture:

Since I took this I’ve recovered one of these ugly brown chairs, slipcovered an old club, and reupholstered a Goodwill find. I’ve also changed up the table and lamp placement by the sofa, but all that’s coming later.

When I was reworking this space I remembered an old club chair I had in storage. It was a good piece of furniture 11 years ago when I bought it. It had good bones. :) The upholstery had seen better days though. It was a dirty ripped plaid. Nice. I don’t have a total before shot. I’ve just been doing projects as I feel like it and haven’t been taking tons of pics. Anyway. It was ugly. I decided to slipcover it. I told myself that if I could sew everything my girls wear I could surely sew a slipcover. Makes sense huh? Yeah. Easier said than done. I have a way of making brain surgery out of removing a splinter. In other words, I make things WAY harder than they have to be, so I knew that I would find SOME way to make it even more difficult than it is. Once I made up my mind I started looking for help. I’ve read my pal Kelly’s blog forever. She started me off here with this tutorial. Kelly has told me FOREVER that I could do it… That I should just take the slipcovering plunge… I finally decided it was time! I have Pink and Polka Dot’s ebook. I read it 200 times and also camped out over on Design Intervention. She has SO many great projects including this one. I searched all over and found pieces I liked. I ended up taking a bit from several places and making it my own way. It really wasn’t THAT bad after I got the hang of it…. It just took a lot more time than I thought, and it also produced quite a few cuss words. :) In the end I had a piece that I was thrilled with. It was exactly what I had envisioned and is SO ME.

Here she is. Isn’t she a doll?!?! I used drop cloths (what else?) for the body and added the red toile ruffle and piping.

The back cushion was originally attached to the back of the chair. I cut it apart and like it so much better this way.

The ruffly toile skirt is my absolute favorite part of this chair.

I love the slouchy comfy fit. Andrew said it looks like such a comfy place to sit, and it is. We all fight over it. :) I had this Pottery Barn vintage floral pillow, and they work great together.

This chair is perfect for this room. I love the way it goes with all my other pieces. Do you see that table sitting beside it in this picture? If you look at the room’s before shot you will be able to see that it’s had a makeover too. That’s coming later on.

I learned a lot from this chair, and I know my next piece won’t be nearly as hard or time consuming. It really wasn’t a bad process at all. It just took time and patience. I am the queenofwantingitdonerightthissecondjusthowiwantitdone, and it taught me that sometimes patience is a GOOOOD thing. This is something I KNEW I could do, but it intimidated me for a LONG time. I wish I would’ve listened to Kelly and just done it! It’s opened up so many doors…. Now every piece of furniture in my home can look the way I want it to. That’s an amazing feeling. :)

Over the next week or so I will be sharing several other projects. I’ve had a great time redoing my living room, and I can’t wait to share it with YOU.

Thanks for stopping by my little cottage. Love and hugs,

Linking to:

Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday

Restore Interiors Restore It Wednesday Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

My repurposed Life's Catch as Catch Can

Hooking Up with House of Hepworths

Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell Wednesday

Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party

Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday

Sassy Sites Trash to Treasure Tuesday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Stories of a House Project Diaries

The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday

To blog or not to blog? THAT is the question.

Morning all…. I’m sitting here in my living room looking out at the dreary gray of the day. I can’t even begin to complain about the weather. We have been BLESSED in Fairhope, AL. It seems that spring decided to move in last month, and it’s been fabulous.

I’ve been thinking about blogging lately. I even had a long email convo with my buddy Donna from Funky Junk about it. It’s always a struggle for me. Sometimes I get TOO into it and other times I totally back away and go MIA for months. I’m not very consistent to say the least. :) Part of it is my health….This nasty dysautonomia that is always clinging to my tailcoat. It never ever never goes away, and it limits my life in SO many ways. I had a very bad episode from mid January when we got back from NYC until just a couple of weeks ago.  That episode FLOORED me. I have changed some meds up, and so far that seems to be helping a lot. It’s amazing. As SOON as I’m well projects start calling my name. I have had the opportunity to work on several things over the past couple of months. When I have a good day I usually will sew or paint SOMETHING… and plan…. I love to plan plan plan plan plan all my upcoming projects.

SO. Today I am committing to myself that I will share my projects starting Monday. I want to share the things I’ve done and my feelings about them. I want to share the things I want to do and WHY I want to do them. I want to share me. This blog will be evolving again. I want to show all sides of Loulou….the woman who loves to paint a piece of furniture, the one who loves to sew for girls, the one who loves to create, AND the one who is sometimes trapped in the bed just WANTING to do all these things. This blog is NOT going to become a diary of the whining woman. I do want to share some about my condition. Many people don’t even know what dysautonomia is, and I want to educate those who want to know. You probably have someone in your family who has it and doesn’t know it, or you have. Your great Aunt Alice who always sat around and had a “weak constitution” probably had it too. :)

I have so many fun things to share! I’ve reupholstered and slipcovered chairs. I’ve redone 2 tables and completed several projects. I’ve had such fun getting this house the way I envision it. Of course that vision changes constantly. Case in point: the mommy den I JUST completed. I hate it. Yep. I do. The color doesn’t make me happy, and I don’t like the way it’s accessorized. I’ve already bought the paint and supplies for a surprise element…. All this will be coming soon. I can’t promise that I’ll be here all the time. I just can’t. I am shooting for 3 posts a week. Blogging is good for me. It gives me a place to “get it all out”.  I really appreciate those of you who have stuck with me through all these ups and downs. It means the world. Thanks for all the love, patience, and inspiration you guys constantly give.

love and hugs.

How do I fix this?

We’ve been redoing this room for a while. The paint color changed from a deep gold to cool rainwashed blue. My big leather couch was replaced my my smooshy lovey from Ballard’s. I took the big leather chair out as well and replaced it with the 2 small vintage chairs you’ll see below. I’m going to show you some pictures of my space from several angles, so you guys can help me get off the fence and get to redoing the pieces that need it.

Entering the living room from the kitchen. I realize that plant is disgusting, and I have a friend with a huge green thumb coming Wednesday to help me add some live plants. There are going to be 4 ladderbacks around this table as soon as I find the energy to move them to this room. :) It’s great for snacks, coloring, and games. I LOVE it in this spot.

Looking down towards the other end. I know that the door is right against that side table. I live in a cottage, and there is a sunporch that runs the entire length of the house. We don’t use that door.

Another view… I’m happy with the furniture placement, although I am going to be adding one more chair back when I’m finished reupholstering it. (antique white finish/red toile fabric)

 

This is the other wall with the fake fireplace Andrew built for me and an entertainment console we finished right before Thanksgiving. The top row of drawers is going to be removed for the cable box and DVD player.

Pay attention to the arm chairs and the side tables. This is where the questions will come in. I lived with these chairs and tables for 2 months, and I know for sure that I want to use them permanently in this room. Take the chairs: I love the shape. The wood stain? Not so much. Those arm pads were not original to the chair and were added by the previous owner and will be removed exposing the entire arm. The back cushion is attached (and I will be taking it off for a separate cushion. This chair is probably going to be slip covered in drop cloths. My kids are all over these chairs all the time, and I need ease. I would love for the wood to be stained dark like the other pieces you see in the room. This color is so 1950 and blends right in with the honey floors. HOW CAN I CHANGE THE COLOR OF THE STAIN WITHOUT TOTALLY STRIPPING AND RESTAINING? Is there anyway I can darken them to dark walnut without stripping? Is there a technique I can use that doesn’t involve stripping? HELP please.

I love this vintage side table. The bottom drawer holds my laptop, camera, and all my cords. The top has such cute detailing. I am planning on staining the top dark walnut and painting, distressing, and glazing the body in antique white.

So that leaves this lost little man. I love this vintage table. LOVE IT. Just don’t love the finish. I know that it may look strange to you in this location, and it may end up on the other end of the couch. Regardless, it will be by this sofa. Is it saying anything to you?? Do you think the top should be stained? Should it be done in antique white and glazed? OR should I paint it in the red of the entertainment console? I know I don’t want it solid antique white… I need a punch over here.

So wise ones:

How do I change the wood color on the chair without totally stripping them, which would be a TOTAL pain?

What does that little table need? What would YOU do with it?

HELP your sista out.

Thanks :)

Chairs, chairs, and more chairs

When I started getting the pictures together for this post I realized that I never shared my dining room table makeover. I’m gonna do it sometime this week, because it was a doozie. Pretend you’ve seen the table makeover, then read the rest of the post :)

When I got the table I knew that eventually I would want different chairs. I love my ladder backs, but they’re not really what I want for this table. I have my old round table that is now in the living room that I’ll use these with…. I felt that there was TOO much gray for me and decided to do the table in antique white… I have a 5 gallon oops bucket of CREAMY by SW (the paint fairy was shining down on me that day, as I got it for $25) that I’ve been using for a while.  The table is glazed but not distressed….. Andrew also built that bench (that I also will share…can’t believe I haven’t) for extra seating. This table is MUCH bigger than our previous one and accomodates SO many more people, and I love the touches of red.

This is how the dining area looks today:

 

 

This is this table at Thanksgiving filled with all the adults of the family. It was a first for us to not have two tables, and it was wonderful!

Monday I was in my favorite thrift store when I spotted these gorgeous harp backed chairs. Be still my heart. There were 5 of these with one arm chair!

Is this not divine??

So, the guy has these chairs around a Duncan Phyffe table EXACTLY like the one I just redid… He had $250 for all of it. I told him in my sweetest voice that I didn’t really need the table, but I would love those chairs…  Mr. Nice Thrift Store Man, how much for just the chairs?”. He says, “hmmmmmm, how about $75 for all of them?” SOLD! I almost felt guilty as they loaded them up and I hauled butt home! So! Now I have 6 new chairs to go around the table. They’re smaller, so I’m thinking I can fit 4 down the side that now has 3. We have a HUGE family that comes here for all holidays and occasions, so this is great for us. They do have some chipped veneers in places, so I’m going to have Andrew spray them in the same creamy paint color, and then I’ll glaze them. I’m going to recover the seats in either drop cloths or some red and white toile… I haven’t decided which for sure. Excited is an understatement… How fun!

I also want to share this Goodwill find from before Christmas. I’ve always wanted a rolling library chair, but they’re so expensive around here. The last one I saw at a thrift store was $100! At a THRIFT store!! So you can imagine my excitement when I rounded the corner at my Goodwill and spotted this chair for $9.99.

It had a couple of places that needed to be repaired and tightened, but Andrew fixed all that.

You can see here how the original casters had been replaced with these cheap plastic ones. I found some replacement vintage casters on Ebay that will be perfect. You can also see how cracked and gross the “faux leather” seat cover is.

I had Andrew take the covers off hoping that I would find original wood. This is what we found instead. A nasty green towel! Gross. The original wood seat is broken, but Andrew is going to repair it, because it does have contours and curves.

I wanted to refinish the chair until I thought about all the repair work and what a pain it would be. I decided that painting it and recovering the seat would be the best option. This baby is going to be my new sewing chair. The mechanisms all work perfectly, so it’s the perfect height and OH SO COMFY.  I can’t wait to see how this one turns out. I’m thinking it’s going to be fabulous!

I’m sure I’ll share this post at some bloggy parties eventually! I’ll edit this post when I do. :)

Restore Interiors Restore It Wednesday

Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Feature Friday

My repurposed Life's Catch as Catch Can

Hooking Up with House of Hepworths

Blue Cricket Design's Show & Tell Wednesday

Domestically Speaking's Power of Paint Party

Primitive & Proper's Piece of Work Wednesday

Sassy Sites Trash to Treasure Tuesday

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Stories of a House Project Diaries

The Shabby Chic Cottage's Transformation Thursday

Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis Monday

God lives in NYC.

We’re home again, home again, jiggety jig! It was a fantastic trip…. I had 4 full days of my hubby all.to.myself. Peeps, that = Heaven for me. I have tons and tons of pictures to share, but this is the story I’ve been dying to tell:

This was Andrew’s first trip to NYC, so we were hitting all the spots that everyone has to see. I had been to Ground Zero this summer, but I headed back down there again to go with Andrew. It was so difficult to be there the first time…. I was with my bff, and we were both very emotional after our visit… This time was a very different experience. As Andrew and I neared the site I was completely overwhelmed with emotions. I stood there with MY rock. MY love. MY life on earth. I began thinking of all those daddies and husbands who were running those streets that morning trying to get away from the collapsing buildings, and I couldn’t IMAGINE how they felt….how their wives felt not KNOWING the fate of their spouses, and they were the lucky ones…whose husbands came home. 

Andrew went in St. Paul’s Chapel to spend some quiet moments. I didn’t go in last time and wasn’t aware of all the things inside. We walked around and read about how much this Chapel meant to everyone who came through it’s doors…the tired. the weak. the hungry. the spiritually exhausted and how they were renewed in THIS place. In God’s house. It didn’t matter their religion or beliefs. They all walked into HIS house and found peace.  I was just overwhelmed with emotion and had to sit down and pray immediately. I can’t even tell you what I prayed in that place. It was the most jumbled rambling prayer I’ve ever said, but I knew God understood what I was saying. I was just so thankful. So thankful. In all that evil and madness….destroyed buildings for blocks… carnage everywhere… And here right across from those towers this St. Paul’s Chapel stood strong and brave. God knew the minute this Chapel was built the role it would play hundreds of years later. He KNEW that His House was needed here more than anyone could imagine. He knew the need we would all have to find His presence in the middle of Hell, even those who didn’t know what they were looking for.

God lives in NYC.  Even though this world is filled with hate, madness, and evil HIS presence CAN not be banished. HE is always here…. Even when we wander off to go our own ways He is always here waiting for us to come back. There is no bigger comfort in the world to me than this fact. I felt God the minute I walked through those chapel doors and felt closer to Him than I had in a long time. He gave me Peace. The peace only He can give, and it changed me…. It changed the way I felt about a lot of things and reminded me of ALL the people and things in my life I have to be thankful for.  He used that chapel to bring me back closer to Him….. It’s funny. Right before we left for NYC I told Andrew that “I miss Jesus”. That may sound like a funny statement…. I KNOW Jesus is always here… He wasn’t the one who had wandered. It was me, and I experienced such a longing for my Savior… the NEED for Him to be the center of my universe….the driving force behind every decision and move I make. It’s time to rededicate my life. We are going to start visiting other churches and find the one that’s HOME for us… I haven’t had that since we moved almost 2 years ago…. it’s a LONG story, but the girls’ adoptions changed our lives in SO many ways…. I’m just now feeling more normal and able to handle the things I want and need to…. It’s all a God thing….. He shows us the way when we need it, and He found me again in NYC. God is awesome like that. God lives everywhere.

Love you peeps,

I am a traveling fool. A fool I say!

Yep. I am ON THE GO. It’s been crazy here since before Thanksgiving, and it hasn’t slowed down yet.  We went to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando New Year’s Day. ROLL TIDE ROLL. Friday we take off for NYC for the weekend, and we can’t wait!! I KNOW it’ll be cold, but this southern girl looks forward to some snow and scenery. We’re seeing Wicked and La Cage with Kelsey Grammer. I was hoping I could take Andrew to see Promises Promises again, but it stopped running Jan. 3 :(  After this trip I have a couple of weeks at home before I head to Utah to see my bff Natalie’s new baby boy, Coban. I have SO much to look forward to…. We’re taking the girls to Disney for the weekend in Feb. or March… Our Mardi Gras is the end of Feb/early March, and we LOVE that!  A couple of friends are coming for Mardi Gras, so our house will be hopping! Things are gonna be really boring around here after the first of March, which means I may ACTUALLY get to paint a piece of furniture or two…..  I know I have TONS of catching up to do, and I will as soon as I get a second. or 2.

Here are some pictures from our Bowl game. Andrew is an Auburn fan, so him wearing this shirt for me is true love, baby. True love! I’ll be back with pictures and stories when we get back from NYC.

This is what I call true unconditional best hubby in the world kinda love… I’m afraid his chest broke out in blisters after he wore it! LOL

This is Julio Jones who just so happens to me my favorite Alabama football player of ALL time… He took Mike Shula’s spot! He’s from our area, and I love him to pieces. I didn’t know at the time, but I saw him play in HIS LAST ALABAMA COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAME. He announced shortly after that he’s going pro. I love him and am proud of him but am still having a little sniff. sniff.

Love me some Big Al.

Roll Tide baby! Did we have great seats or WHAT??

This is the 2010 Heisman award winner Mark Ingram who then led us to our National Championship victory last year. He prayed on this field for at least one full minute before the game. This is my favorite pic from the game… It was also Mark’s last game! Another sniff sniff.

Ok. I know you guys are tired of hearing about football, but this was one of the BEST days of my life… I loved it and loved my hubby for going with me!

This is what happy looks like:

Also got to go see my sweet great niece, who just so happens to be our little Lulu… Get it? Big Loulou and little Lulu?

This kid has good taste already… See that houndstooth bracelet she’s rocking?? Yep. Start ‘em young…

Hope you guys are all well.. Love you and will be back soon.

Made some laundry decisions. I know. Life changing stuff huh?

Thanks for the suggestions gals. I had to get the go ahead to remove a bunch of those shelves before I could decide for sure what I’m going to do. I was afraid hubby would think it’s too much work, but he’s all for it.  We’re thinking about taking ALL that shelving down and getting some cabinets from Restore or somewhere to hang above the washer and dryer. I think I’m going to paint them a color and glaze them. We are going to install a closet rod system where that small cabinet is (Thanks Suesan!) I don’t want TOO much space to store clothes, or my kids will never take stuff to their rooms! Lol. I’m also thinking about a nice shelving unit to fill with baskets for  dirty laundry. Andrew is going to build a small cabinet to go in between the washer and dryer with a counter top that will go all the way to the wall for folding. We’re going to install an ironing board that folds down from the wall behind the door. I also want to put something over on that wall to hold all the extra paper towels and toilet paper we have….  Ohhhhh, I’m getting excited!

What do I do with this room? A cry for help!

Yesterday I decided it was time to tackle the dreaded laundry room. It was the one space in my home that was a total embarrassment. The room was a wreck and wasn’t functional at all. Having a hubby and four kiddos you know that I spend A LOT of time in this room. I want it to be a space that FEELS comfortable and functional while also being pleasing to look at.  I’m tired of it being a space I dread going in, and I’m serious about changing it.

I started with taking out all the crap and junk that was filling the room…. all kinds of “no man’s” laundry…random fabric and sewing things…decorative items that I wasn’t using anywhere in the house. When I was done this is what the hallway looked like:

This horrible photo was taken with my iPhone… sorry for the quality (or lack thereof)…

Here is is this morning after clearing SOME of it out:

This is the hallway that leads to the back deck and the laundry room. You can see the door on the right. My hanging rack gets taken over by every random thing that passes this way. I know this isn’t the laundry room, but I want and need this space to flow well together. I just noticed after I took these pictures that I still had that Christmas plaque up… It’s down now :) How in the world would I notice that in the midst of all this mess??

Once everything was out of the room I spent hours giving the room a total cleaning.  It was a mess…. I pulled out the machines and cleaned the floors. My vacuum sucked up so much lint and yuckiness it’s a wonder that anything EVER got clean from this space. It was BAD. Now it’s all clean, and this is where the questions come in.

This is the view from the door. This laundry room is really large and has lots of potential. One area that HAS to change is this mini clothes rod that hangs to the left of the dryer. The height is horrible, and it’s not large enough to really hang laundry for 6 people. It’s a bad place to store hangers. They’re always getting knocked of as clothes are taken out of the dryer. I need another option for this.

These shelves are nice, but it’s hard to know WHAT to put on them. I want this room to be cleaning central and really don’t want other things stored in here. There’s NO way I’m putting ANYTHING in here to clutter these shelves back up after I spent all that time taking it all down. I want simple and functional. WHAT should be on all these shelves?

Here’s another view of the shelves on this wall and that tiny rod. What do I do with that rod? BTW, the shelves coming down is NOT an option.

Then we have this little pain in the butt cabinet. It takes up this entire wall, but the shelves aren’t deep enough to store anything. WHAT could I do with this thing? There’s no way an ironing board could hang here, because of the never ending shelves….

See?? Little short narrow shelves still filled with crap. I really need suggestions for this space.

The hot water heater is concealed behind these shutter doors to the right of the washer.

There is a large space to the right when you come in the room. Some of the space is behind the door but is still usable.

Close ups of the shelves…

I use all liquid detergents and fabric softeners, so these items will all need to be out. I’m thinking some kind of baskets, although those plastic caddies would be easier to use.

The shelves run all the way to the corners. I would like to store all my accessories for both my sharks on the shelves as well as the other household cleaners. Besides those things I don’t know what else to store up here….

I’m choosing a new paint color and am going to add some new accessories like an indoor outdoor rug, a new ironing board cover, as well as all the storage containers after I choose them.

Andrew is going to build some type of shelving to go in between the washer and dryer in this space. I would like to have  a couple of laundry baskets for lights and darks…. I am also having him make a “counter” that will go across the new piece and the dryer all the way to the wall for folding and such.

Help me peeps!

What do I do with that tiny clothes rod? I NEED more space to hang clothes as they come out of the dryer and a better place to store hangers. What do I do about that?

What should I do with that teeny tiny hold nothing cabinet?? Any ideas of a way to use it?

What about that wall where the ironing board is now? I’d like to be able to keep the ironing board set up, because we use it a lot. Should I add a pull down ironing board? How could I use this space to hang clothing??

What do I do with all that space on the shelves??  I don’t want to junk it up in ANY way, but I don’t want them empty either…  I’m in a laundry room crisis and am looking forward to any suggestions you girls may have. I’m at a stand still now and need major help. I know you peeps will come through for me…

Love and hugs,