From the '80s to Today . . .

Ok, so my dad FINALLY retired last December. He went slightly kicking and screaming into retirement because he still wanted to work 70 hours a week! Why?? We'll never really know but he is slowly starting to get used to the idea and actually starting to like retirement, at least a little bit.

With his retirement came clearing out his office for the past 30 years. O vey! Since he was a CPA, there were papers everywhere, and we mean ev-ery-wh-ere! There was also a lot of wood furniture just begging for a coat of Chalk Paint. I passed on all of those items but I did have a big need for seating in my living room so I chose to take two of the chairs below . . .  yeah, me (slightly sarcastic).

This looks like it belongs in a John Hughes
movie but I will admit,
they are S.U.P.E.R. comfy!

The original plan was to have them recovered and that still might be my long term goal. Unfortunately, I don't have a bunch of extra money just laying around (I spent it all on eBay and Craigslist, remember?) and reupholstering can be pricey. My next option was a slipcover but they're not my favorite unless it's a down-filled, sink-in-it, cozy couch. So where did my crazy mind go - how about if I paint them? I had read about other people who had done it, right?  I mean, if its on the Internet, then it must be true! But then I remembered I actually already owned a painted fabric chair that I bought for my daughter's bedroom from The Brocante Market.

Isn't it cute? 

So I can do this, I think to myself. I am woman, here my roar! Ok, a bit melodramatic but I do get excited when I have a project to work on. So off I went to Michael's to buy some fabric medium. You mix the medium with some paint (I used the eggshell latex paint I had used in the hallway and stairwell) and water so the fabric doesn't get too stiff.  It will be rougher than fabric but not much worse than outdoor fabric and truth be told, anything was better than the current fabric.

I took off the cushion and being my lazy self,
threw down a towel in front of the TV.
It was the perfect time to catch up on 74 episodes of
Days of our Lives. Yes, I still watch
it so don't judge me!

I first sprayed the chair with a light mist of water and then
I used a regular paintbrush and just started painting.
It was a bit addicting as I slowly started saying
good-bye to 1986!

This is the second coat.
I did a light sanding with 100 grit sandpaper
in between coats once the paint had
completely dried.

The third, and final, coat.
It looks kind of like a leather chair and
feels a bit like a fuzzy leather chair.

The only funny thing is that when you sit on it, the cushion slowly deflates. It's kind of depressing when you have been dieting hard but it does pop back up when you get off of it so that's a plus. We thought maybe if I didn't paint the back of the cushion it wouldn't do it but we will never know, at least on these chairs.

One last look at the Before . . .

And now the pretty after!

Overall, I'm very happy with the way they turned out. I used coupons at Michael's (I put them on my phone so I always have coupons) to get the Fabric/Textile Medium for cheap and since I used paint I already had, it really only cost me under $10 to change the two chairs! Hello!?!? That's a freaking good deal. I have some extra medium so now I'm constantly walking around the house to see what else I can paint. It's an issue, I know and I'm sure something will be my next victim makeover but that's for another post!

Kristin

Coming Clean and "Un" Done . . .

Ok, so you have heard me whine and complain that I have started many minor home improvement projects/room renewals, without actually 100% completing them!! I decided to lay it all on the line and share all the rest of my started-with-the-best-intentions projects. No other explanation needed, here goes:

Upstairs outside porch and our go-to room this time of year . . .

Great space, colorless and sad!

You might remember me sharing bitching about this project -

Painted, but nothing else done!

My pantry before . . .

My playroom-turned-craftroom (again, almost!) . . .

Definitely some promise and maybe a light at the end of this tunnel??

Who can forget my family room?

Close, but not quite a cigar!

The entryway to our home . . . 

Sorry for the dark photo but this is BORING!

And the front hallway closet . . . .

Yes, it's all our photos I plan on putting on DVD . . .  someday (said wistfully in my head). 

The garage . . .  need I say more?

I have organized this space at least four times since living in this house.
The next time will be the last time!

Our sad little stairwell hallway (but love the portraits of the girls done in Paris) . . .

And the master bedroom retreat (it's clean but I am sick of this look!) . . . 

The wasted-space-we-now-turned-into-an-office . . . 

 And my sweet Olivia's room  . . . 

Started with removing the popcorn on the ceiling before repainting and decorating.

A small sitting area on the third floor . . .

 And lastly, the laundry room . . .

Ok, to be fair (and make myself feel a little better), I am showing you these rooms on their worst days. They don't all look like this on an on-going basis and many of them, I have already started their changes (and they have been cleaned up but yucky photos always make for a more dramatic reveal!). 

Therefore, I am sitting here on a Saturday night, fighting to stay awake at 8:08 p.m. (in my defense, I am at the end of a pretty nasty 3 day cold and spent the better portion of the day selling Girl Scouts cookies), so I can pick my oldest daughter up from a birthday party and I was just reading my blog and getting depressed reading in almost all the posts about my Befores and no Afters!

So, from here on out, no more projects started without completion (until I at least make some headway!)!! I promise it to you, and more importantly, to myself! Since the weather has been so nice lately, I am going to tackle the upstairs outside porch and backyard first. I mean really, who wants to wait until Florida summer kicks in. My hair frizzes in the humidity. Hand to my heart, I promise you, an AFTER coming soon, but that is for another post!

Color . . . It's a Good Thing!

Here's a random, off-kilter (not sure why?) photo of my kitchen that I found. The French doors are boring. I had read once where you might be able to remove the window grids and have one, nice piece of glass underneath. So I removed it, and there, dangling by a thread, were 15 individual panes of glass. Needless to say, I quickly screwed it back on! So what's a girl to do who every time looks at her boring, but can't afford new hurricane-proof French doors? Add color!

Boring and shows every piece of dirt and scuff mark.

This is the fabric I used for my curtains.

This is a coordinating fabric I have for my pillows
and will use for a few more accent pieces.

I ran up to my local Dyco and found a blue that I thought would be perfect to bring a pop of color to this room and match the two fabrics I used. I went with Benjamin Moore Ash Blue, #2057-40 and I love it!

Looking good.

Done? Well, not quite (gee, imagine that, me blogging about a project that is not done!?!). I will do one of two things to finish this. One, my GTG (my Go-To-Guy) is coming over tomorrow to give me some quotes on some projects around our house that will include replacing all the trim in this room to a dark brown. If we go that way, I will paint the grids on the doors brown and replace the antique white trim with stained wood. If we decide to wait, I will just touch up all the trim with paint so that is TBD.

Again, here's the before -

And the almost-finished!
Sorry it's so dark, it's a super cloudy, rainy day and that was the
best I could do with my iPhone.

So I just love my pop of color. Can't wait to see it completely done, but that is for another post!