Chair Undone

Before Christmas, I decided that it would be nice to have more than one non-dining room chair in my apartment, so I picked up this wooden chair at a thrift store.

I loved the shape and the intricacy of the back, but it definitely needed some work.  It doesn’t look too bad in the picture, but the seat was very sunken and probably wouldn’t have held for much longer.  Here’s what it looked like when I took the bottom covering off.

You can see that the webbing is in pretty poor shape.  But before I got to that, I had to get the top fabric and all the foam/padding off.  After I pried up some of the fabric in the front, I could see the rest of the layers.

The foam and padding were practically disintegrating as I touched them, but unfortunately the glue, staples, and nails that were holding them held quite strong!  There were two different types of staples and I think three types of nails. Removing all the staples and nails probably took me around 4 hours total.

After all of that, here’s how it looks now.

Now I just have to figure out how to redo it all!  I’ve seen tons of tutorials on reupholstering chairs with wooden seats, but none with chair webbing like this one.  Any tips?  I also need to figure out if there’s anything I can do to make the wood finish look nicer – its pretty scratched in some places, but not badly enough that the whole finish needs to be redone.  It just needs some touchups, so any ideas for that would be much appreciated as well!

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Thrifty Decor Chick’s Before & After Party

Show and Tell at Blue Cricket Designs

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage

Get Your Craft on Thursday at Life as Lori

Headboard Solution

My lack of a headboard has been bothering me for a while, but I wasn’t sure what I could do about it.  I’d love an upholstered headboard, but even the DIY version is way out of my budget right now.  There was a post on Room Remix the other day featuring this chair and the way they used a scarf to add a punch of color.  It reminded me that I had a similar scarf in my favorite color (teal) that I rarely wear in this SoCal weather, so I pulled it out and found it was the perfect size for a “headboard”.

I didn’t want to put any holes in the scarf or the wall, but I have a nice ledge at just the right height, so I pulled it about an inch onto the ledge and just taped it down in a bunch of spots.  (Yes, I still have Christmas lights up there, but I just think of them as all-season happy lights .)

I also taped it across the bottom so that it wouldn’t move around.  I ended up with this, but it was a little boring for me.

To add some more visual interest, I added some ribbon.  I spaced them out at equal intervals and then just taped them down as well.  I used a skinny white ribbon because that was what I had on hand, but I think it would also look really nice with a wider patterned ribbon.  Here’s the completed “headboard”.

A little wrinkled, but not too bad for 20 minutes and $0!!

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Metamorphosis Monday at

Just Something I Whipped Up Monday at

Funky Junk’s Saturday Nite Special

Its So Very Cheri

Made It Monday at The Persimmon Perch

5-Minute Valentine’s Craft

I wanted to do a Valentine’s Day project today, but I didn’t have a lot of time (or energy), so I came up with this.

I hesitate to even call it a tassel after seeing The Nester’s tassels, but it does add some much appreciated color.  I just cut a bunch of ribbon to the same length and pulled the top together with beading wire.

Cheap, quick, and easy Valentine’s spirit!

Posted at Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage.

Candlelit Mantle

Today was a rare rainy day off, so I stayed inside and lit some candles.

I picked up all my candle holders at a thrift store for a couple dollars a piece and gave them a quick coat of black spray paint.

I found the glittery “faith” at Michaels for only 20 cents and put it in front of my spare change jar.  It helps remind me to trust God with all of my money worries

I’m on the lookout for a pretty (and cheap) mirror to fill this big empty spot, but I haven’t seen anything I’ve liked yet.  Any ideas on how to fill it in during the meantime?  Even with the candles rearranged it all feels a bit bare.

Oh, and the new handles for my nightstand/file cabinet finally came.  They’re a bit bigger than I expected, but I like the look.  What do you think?

That’s all for today!

Valentine’s Day Picture Frame

I went to Michaels today and was inspired to do a quick Valentine’s Day project.  I picked up this unfinished frame, some scrapbook paper, and ribbon.

Then I just Mod Podged a piece of scrapbook paper to the front and some pretty ribbon around the sides.  (I didn’t do the best job on the paper, its a little bubbly, but you can’t see it from the front.)

I taped a doily to the back and added some stick-on rhinestones to give it a little sparkle

Then I finally took down my Christmas candles and put up my new frame.

Much better!

And not bad for under $3!

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DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land, Someday Crafts, and The Inspired Room.