In the mix

I am in the middle of multiple projects and I kind of hate not having finished items to show you.  I haven't blogged for a little while but I have kept busy. 

First I was given this dresser and although it looks plain,  I am excited to give it a new look.  Here is where I am on it. 

I sprayed a mix of black and silver on it but I made a HUGE mistake in doing so.  I didn't sand the surface enough before spray painting and putting the stickers on so when I peeled the stickers off it ripped more of the paint off than I was hoping for.  SAND, SAND, SAND!  

Then I painted a couple of coats of white chalk paint over all the dresser and the drawers.  

The bottom 2 drawers you can see have a more solid color after the second coat of paint. 

After it had dried I peeled the stickers off and up peeled too much paint.  I am going to grunge up the paint a ton and add some color and embellishments to do a chic, teenage, urban look for the finished product.   I have a long way to go on this piece but I think it will look cool when finished.  Most of my concentration is on a headboard bench right now so this is just what I am working on when I take a break from the bench.  I have to have several things going at once or I get a little buggy.  I compare it to school,  you can't just do math all day,  you need to mix it up with English,  exercise and art class.  Free pieces I can have fun with is my mental down time.  Thanks for checking out my projects!

 Lori

Chair repair

I posted this photo of my before and after of this cute chair yesterday on my Facebook,  now it's time to show you how it was spruced up.

First the chair was in bad shape,  it was not stable at all to sit on and it had big gaps where the wood was seperating.

You can see the finish nails sticking out.

The whole thing needed to be re-glued and re-nailed. 

We had to fix,  glue, clamp and nail each piece. 

Here are four clamps holding in the back as it dried and as we filled the tiny holes with wood filler.  

After all of it was dry,  it was time to do the first coat of paint.   It always looks really streaky with the first coat, especially with the dark wood underneath.  

After the second coat the color was much better.  I reupholstered the seat with the same beautiful fabric I had used on the tufted ottoman I made a few days ago.  

I then waxed it and slightly distressed the details to show off the beautiful touches of why I fell in love with the chair to begin with.  

The chair is part of this set of pieces that are making their way home together.  I think they will look fabulous in their new home.  Thanks for following my blog and I hope to be showing you more projects very soon! 

Finishing touches part #2 of the ottoman

The ottoman is done!   But I have left out how I finished it up and if you are trying to make your own you need these last few steps.

Last time I posted it looked like this,  the top could still easily slide off and it was far from being finished. 

I flipped the foam over to show the back and I used a high tack spray adhesive.  You want to make sure it is liberally applied to have a good adhesion later. 

Then I tucked the batting under the lip of the foam by the wood edge.  This makes it so much easier and cleaner when you staple the fabric.   The staples on all sides also makes the foam sliding around much more difficult.

Once the edge is completely stapled all the way around you cover the staples in decorative trim ribbon. 

This covers nicely and gives it a professional looking edge.  My goal is to get better and better at each of these steps and to make my projects beautiful at every angle.  

This transformation from where this scratched up old table was when we started, to becoming a beautiful and soft tufted ottoman, makes something new and loved from something that was once unwanted.  This will look gorgeous at the bottom of a bed or in a livingroom for added seating and a pop of color. 

Some progress on my ottoman part 1/2 of ottoman

I am making a button tufted ottoman for my friend and client Kristi.  She has seen some of my other ottomans I have made in the past and has commissioned me to making one for her.  First we started with this cute claw foot coffee table. 

She picked this pretty Waverly fabric that was at the local Jo-Anne's fabric store for the colors and pattern that will match her room. 

The top one is for the ottoman and the other fabrics are ones she has to compliment it. 

Then we started by painting the table.  My hubby did most of the painting on this one, except the final coat.  I think he is having fun doing projects with me and he has been working in the office at work too much lately so he is itching to get his hands dirty.  

I used fabric and a button cover kit to apply the fabric.  

I added a bit of glue before pressing the backs on,  I want to make sure it lasts.  I was recently at a furniture store and an ottoman was on clearance because most of the buttons had lost their front covers. I thought how a tiny bit of glue would have solved that headache,  so I make sure to add it to mine. 

My hands are incredibly weak so I used a clamp to squeeze the button covers on.  When you feel a little pop,  they are on perfect.  It takes a lot of pressure so the clamp (which was a recent idea) saved me from tearing up and bruising my hands badly. 

I was wanting to try the tufting another way than I have ever done before so I started by mapping out on a pegboard where I wanted the tufts.  My measurements were a little off to begin with so there are a few different color circles until I could get it right. 

Then I marked using a marker on the back of the foam where I needed to place my buttons. 

Regular needles will not be long enough to get through the 3" foam and batting on top so I used 6"+ upholstry needles and super strong upholstry thread.  Regular thread will break with the pressure you will need to pull.

Here are the needles I got at Hobby Lobby. 

This is the back of that foam after I pulled the thread through and used scraps of material for the backing so the small knots won't rip through.  YouTube has great video's of doing these if you need more detailed examples.  

Then I placed the foam on top to start seeing the overall picture.  It's not attached yet but it's getting closer.  I didn't like how flat it looked (I like the deeper more luxurious padding) so I added extra batting between the buttons.  

I cut it into small squares and used a stir stick to slide it into place under the fabric. 

It might not look like much difference but the top feels much less square and so much softer. 

If it looks a little lumpy right now,  don't worry.  When I smooth it a little and staple the top to the underside of the lip of the table it will even more of the lumps out.  I have more work to do tomorrow,  I need to seal and antique the paint.  I need to glue the foam to the table, staple the fabric and add the trim ribbon and then this piece will be ready.