IKEA hacker

Now that the girls are getting away from some of the college-type decorating and moving on to more sophisticated purchases, I'm left with (and getting back) a fair number of IKEA items.  So I grabbed an old chair--thrifted, not IKEA-- did the paint thing, and covered it with some fabric that I had in my collection.  Because of course you know, she who dies with the most fabric wins.  And I'm a real contender.

New padding, a fresh pillow, and this chair's future looks bright.

The go-to MCM chair

You see these iconic mid-century modern chairs fairly often and in varying states of disrepair.

What's great about them is that they're almost always repairable and lend themselves to re-upholstery very well.  This one did not look anything like this when I brought it home.

Husband:  Oh, man, are you kidding???

Me: Really, it's going to be great!

Husband:  How 'bout we just throw this one out?

Me: No, really, it's going to be great!

I love it when I'm right...

Comfy Chair Consignment Store

Occasionally, I get some re-do work from Rick at Comfy Chair Consignment on Odana Rd. in Madison.  He sometimes comes across something with good bones or interesting details, but that needs new upholstery.

In this case it was two Regency-styled chairs in need of some love.  The chairs are piped in the same fabric as the coordinating pillows, and make a great pair.

Old can be new again.  Or at least, way better.

Before Meets Fabulous

Before... I should have taken a pic of this craigslist find before I removed the worn, saggy, gold velvet seat. It looks way better in this photo, even all torn apart. 

 Fabulous...Here is the finished product.  I cleaned, sanded, and primed it before finishing with black semi-gloss enamel. The seat got a first class treatment of foam, cotton, and a great linen fabric.
But that's not all, as you'll see below.

I added piping in a rust/red giraffe print.  You can't really tell that it's a giraffe print, but I always like knowing that a fun detail is there, hidden in plain site.

The Girls of Summer

A couple of years ago, I found these heavy iron chairs at a barn sale.  For those of you who don't have barns in your area, it's like a garage, only bigger, dustier, more likely to make you sneeze if you have allergies,  and its day job is to house tractors and cows,

 not BMWs and golf clubs.

As a nod to their humble beginnings, I spray painted them with a color that is actually named

 "John Deere Green".

Then, after some creative engineering and woodworking from my hubby, I upholstered them in a fun, summery fabric. 

They'll be great on a covered patio or porch.

The future's so bright I gotta wear shades

Sophie is my constant companion.  Had I known she would become so attached to me, instead of naming her Sophie, I would have just called her what she is...Underfoot.  She's my shop dog and even the roar of air compressors, staple guns, and my occasional swearing doesn't faze her a bit.  She's cool with it.

I love the look of mattress ticking.  I "need" to do a chair like this.

Dangerous with a GPS

I recieved a Garmin GPS for Christmas (thanks, Mickey) and I'm at risk of having my husband hide it from me. 

I peruse craigslist every morning to see if there's a piece of furniture waiting for me to back into someone's driveway, load the shabby-and-not-at-all-chic chair into my vehicle, and give it a glamorous makeover.

Hence, the risk of Mike hiding the GPS.  It has made it so much easier to find my way to all those craigslist  sellers. Too easy, says he.

I scored a vintage Kroehler foot stool the other day and had trouble finding a place for it in my studio, which currently looks like a used furniture store. See below...

 The "Waiting"  Room.  As in "Waiting for some attention".

 Inspiration Station

This isn't the worst of it. I should be down there now, sanding something instead of writing this a 1:30 a.m.