Guest bedroom makeover

What a short and rough summer!  We started out with our Key West vacation. It was great until I ended up in the ER due to dehydration.  Thank heavens, I only spent a few hours there and was good as new after they gave me IV fluids.  The rest of the vacation was awesome.  Shortly after we got home, mom got sick, and we went to MS to visit her.  I am so glad I got to spend time with her.  Then school started and I was back to the grind.  After less than two weeks into the school year, mom got sick again and passed away.  I told you it was rough!  Well since I got home from her funeral, I knew I needed to stay busy and decided to redo the guest bedroom.

Ottoman Facelift

Yesterday I went to an estate sale and found a few things for me. I was excited to find a couple of mini books.  I paid 5 dollars for both of them and later found that they are selling for $200 on Ebay.  But I was most excited about the $5 ottoman I found for my daughter.  I knew it would be the perfect accent to her new kitchen/dining decor.  I also knew it would look amazing by her "coffe chair". However, It was the ugliest green I had ever seen.  But I also knew my trusted ASCP would be the perfect fix.  I painted the top Pure White and the legs aqua.  Can you believe that you can paint vinyl with ASCP?  What a transformation! 

Before

After

How to print from computer directly on fabric.

Steps to print directly onto fabric:

First, find your image. I got my image from www.thegraphicsfairy.com.  She has tons of free graphics and awesome DIY tutorials.  I used a glue stick to adhere the fabric to a piece of card stock. Readjust as necessary to remove wrinkles from fabric.

 I then trimmed the fabric edges so it was exactly the same size as the card stock. The final step is to load the fabric into an ink jet printer.  I have to load mine fabric side down on the tray. ( I always do a test image on paper) .  

Here is my image after it has printed on the fabric.

The pink is the card stock.  I wait just a few seconds and then separate the fabric from the card stock..if you wait too long, the paper will stick to the fabric.

This is the pillow that I made with the image.

The completely painted chair...

Of course you know I paint furniture...the wooden kind right?  I bet you didn't know I paint, and you can too, paint the upholstered/fabric part of furniture. I started this little project after my daughter painted a Queen Anne Craigslist find.  She used acrylic craft paint and Delta Textile medium.  However, I decided to use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.  Coco is my new favorite color and I knew it would look great on my chair's upholstery.  Here is the chair before I began.

I had purchased her for $20.00 at a barn sale last summer and had planned an reupholstering this little lady.   But, I just never got around to it.  So when my daughter painted her chair, I knew I had to paint my treasure.  

I began by misting a small section with water and then applying the paint.  I spayed and painted only a small section at a time. I had to rub the paint in by using a circular motion.  This is how she looked after the first coat of paint.

I knew right then, I would love  her new look.  

After I painted the bottom portion of chair, I decided it would be a time-saver to go ahead and paint the wood while the fabric was drying.  I used Pure White with a small amount of Coco added.

Finally all of the wood was painted.  I let her dry overnight and then added a second layer of paint to the fabric.  I sat her out in the sun and she dried within 30 minutes.  I then lightly sanded the fabric and then distressed the wooden part by heavier sanding.  Isn't she a beauty?

Check out new blog posting for pics of vintage lantern

I got this lovely lantern at a junkyard in Mississippi for just 5 dollars.  However, it was missing the handle and the top piece, not sure what it's called.  I was able to order them both from Kirkman's online lantern parts shop.  They even antiqued the new parts to make them look old like mine.  

Check out this cute little painted table on my blog

Today was spring cleaning day at my house. As it was rainy, foggy, and cool outside, it would have been a great day to lounge around and read a good book, but not for me.  I have put off cleaning out kitchen cabinets and fridge too long.  But before I started, I decided to paint this lovely little table and embellish her top with a French bakery advertisement graphic.

Beveren crate decor

I luv, luv, LUV Decor Steals and Antique Farmhouse.  They really seem to have their fingers on the pulse of the latest decorating items and ideas.  They are both online and are sister companies.  Check them out and sign up for their  newsletters and be sure to like them on FB for their daily flash steals. This is my newest item from them.  It is a Beveren crate from Belgium.  It was used for grape transporting from the local vineyards.  It actually still had a little straw and some dirt in it when I got it, which made it even more special to me.

I love how it looks on my coffee table.

Vintage Scale and Lantern

Found these vintage beauties while on my recent trip to Mississippi to visit my parents.

Lovely red Winged Wheel lantern.

HUGE Lantern

Those of you who know me, are aware of my lantern obsession.  I have been wanting a really big one after seeing Christen's( blogger at Blue Egg Brown Nest) huge lantern on her coffee table.  TJ Maxx had this beauty and I knew it would look great on my table.  I filled it with some old books, a vintage spool, antique iron, and an old snuff jar.  Luv!!!!

Inside of lantern (door open for this pic)

Let the decorating continue......

I have been debating on whether or not to get a new sofa and love seat for quite a while now.  After church today, I went to Tuesday Morning just to look around and saw a love seat slip cover by SureFit and decided to give it a try since it was on sale.

 I also found a matching pillow to go with the first two I had purchased there.  I love how it looks and may try to get another for my sofa.  (Wrinkles in fabric will go away after a few days.)

  On my way home, I noticed a new antique shop and stopped in and found this beautiful vintage suitcase for a steal.  

II found this dresser at a local antique shop and paid $35.00 for it.  The previous owner had made a feeble attempt to paint it, and I do mean feeble.  It was in rough shape.  After working on the poor paint job for a couple of hours, I decided it would have to be super shabby.  So I distressed it....a lot!  

However after the painting and distressing, I knew it needed something to perk it up.  I found the perfect graphic at www.thegraphicsfairy.com.  My next problem was how to make the image large enough and how to transfer it onto the dresser.  Once again, the graphics fairy website came to my rescue. I looked under the post called "14 dresser makeovers".  In the post there is a link to the website called posterblocks.com.  Just follow the directions for enlarging the image and how to transfer the image.  One thing the post didn't mention was the type of pen used for the final step.  After a few phone calls, I found out, she used a paint pen.  I used a black oil based one by Sharpee. I purchased a fine and medium point.  Once I had the image on the dresser, I lightly sanded the entire surface.  This gave it an aged look and removed the chalk residue left by the transfer method.  

I still have to get new drawer pulls.  Should I get glass pulls or something else?  I am not sure yet.  I will post new pics when I decide.  Isn't it divine?

This is the before pic.  Plain huh?

More DIY Pillows

Pillows are a great way to spruce up your home and add a fresh look to any decor.

 The first two pillows were made by printing an image directly onto the fabric.  The burlap shabby chic flowers were made with Tim Holtz's shabby flower dye cut and then lightly frayed.  Two different fabrics were used for contrast.  The others were stenciled on burlap.

Burlap pillows

Pillow Love

I saw a tutorial of this lovely DIY pillow on www,thegraphicsfairy.com.  The three images were printed from my inkjet printer directly onto the fabric.  I used a piece of card stock and attached the fabric by lightly covering the entire surface of the card stock with glue from a cheap glue stick.  For my printer the fabric has to be on the underside of the paper when it is inserted into the machine.  For the pillow base, I bought a remnant from my local fabric store.  I centered the large piece of material and stitched each side onto the base.  I played around with the image pieces until I got them the way I liked them and then sewed them on with a zigzag stitch.  I made a couple of loops in some jute and glued it down.  I put the three flowers on top of the jute and then used hot glue to attach them.  Isn't it beautiful?

Living Room Redo

I have had a major decor dilemma.  My dear husband got himself a new 55 inch tv for Christmas and wanted to put it above the fireplace.   Well, I had my fireplace installed and designed my mantle because I wanted to decorate it!  Silly huh?  Don't get me wrong, I love how it warms my entire house it such a short time. And of course,  I love the coziness it gives to the entire room.  But back to my dilemma.  So today I reclaimed my mantle.  I moved the new tv across the room and placed it on my newest piece of refurbished furniture.  Once I got started, I ended up redoing the entire room.

( I even touched up the paint on the walls.). I really feel that the rearrangement of the furniture opened up the entire room. I love, love, LOVE IT!  

Vintage occasional table with bell jar cloche.

Antique Bench

 Old Singer sewing cabinet with vintage luggage and antlers 

Vintage French chair

Coffee Table

Mantle

Cane back chair.

I went on a little antique hunting trip on Saturday and bought a lovely depression era dresser (pics later) and the owner threw in a lovely cane backed chair for free.  Someone had spray painted it white and the upholstery was terrible.  I decided to paint it ASCP Old White and then recover the seat with a quilted remnant of black on cream toile.  I distressed it and hand waxed it with clear wax.  I love it and really want to keep it but I posted it in my Etsy shop, ChicColors.  

Books, boxes, and architectural pieces.

I love to decorate with books and now they are the hottest trend. They can be used with any decor style.  Boxes are a really great base for starting a decor focal point.  I also luv to throw in some old architectural pieces to add a little flare.

DIY Drapes

I really debated as to whether I should puts drapes in my bedroom.  My sister, who has excellent taste and seems to know the latest decor tips said, "no".  My daughter, who is also an awesome decorator, said the windows took away from the finished look of the room.   So, I decided to go with the drapes.  I chose a black/off-white ticking pattern in a heavyweight fabric.  I used black grosgrain ribbons at the top as hooks.  I made them extra long so they would "puddle" on the floor.  I love them and really think they add a finishing touch to the room.