Thrift Store Chair Redo

 

So we've had this chair for about two years now.  My roommate Georgia and I found it at a thrift store and thought it was great, so we bought it for something like $30 (I'm pretty sure we got an end table as well, so the chair itself was not actually $30, but probably more like $15).  It wasn't in awesome condition to begin with, but after 2 years of use (and abuse from my wonderful cat Voldemort), it needed some serious help.  This was first furniture re-do, and I'm pretty damned proud of the result.  Take a look:

Hooray!  I love it.  So here's the process:

First I pulled off the cording that lined the bottom of the seat, which revealed about a million staples underneath.  I pulled as many of them out as I possibly could while trying not to damage the wood too much.

Then I pulled off the fabric that covered the seat.  It was a very worn goldenrod velvet, which I though was both ugly and awesome.  The foam underneath was in great shape though, so I reused it when I reupholstered it.

Foam is gone and we're ready to prime!

After an entire can of spray primer (which got everything but the bottom of that one leg.  Not really worth going out for another can, but I'll know for next to always have extra.)

And the first coat of spray paint!  I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor spray paint in Pebble with a satin finish.

Close up for the color

After the second coat.  We're done painting!

Tape is removed and ready for upholstery

I used the fabric that I pulled off the chair to trace a pattern onto the new fabric so I would make sure it lined up perfectly without being too big or too small.

Stapling very carefully around the edge and trying to get my corners perfect

And voila!  It's like a brand new chair!

I'm so so proud!  I think it looks awesome.  The rest of the living room furniture will follow a similar color scheme.  I was planning on doing the couch in a solid green but I'm sort of obsessed with this fabric, so we'll see.  Til next time!

Backyard In Progress

We've been working a little bit every day on the backyard, and it's coming along really well.  Here are some pictures:

If you remember, this is what it looked like before we did anything.

Another before picture

And the insanely over-grown vegetable garden.  Yes, believe it or not, there are vegetables are in there.

Removing rocks and bits of trash, raking through the dirt to try to loosen it up.

Sweeping near the door

Some nice fresh looking dirt was hiding under the rocks and garbage.

Before weeding...

After weeding!

Some cool chairs we found on the curb, just need a little paint job.  Plus some fresh oregano from our garden!

Starting to clear out the overgrown ivy and weeds along the fence and the yard area

We found this guy buried in the mass of vines at the back of the yard.

A candle holder that was buried in the garden, later we found the rest of the set.

What else did we find in the garden?  This eggplant!

And these tomatoes

There is also basil, celery, oregano, chives, and what I think are cucumbers.

The other half of the garden cleared out

Look how nice it looks!  We haven't even planted anything yet, just weeded.  I'm really impressed these plants were able to pull through with all the crap that was strangling them in there.

Today Steve ripped up the disgusting black plastic that was covering our half of the yard. Yay!

This is what it looked like until...

he pulled up all the crap, raked through the compacted soil, and voila!

Plus he added this little mini wall of rocks and a little stepping path to the tomato plants.

It looks like a totally different yard!

So that's it!  Well, for now.  We had a lot more work to do, but it's really coming along and I'm pretty proud of the progress we've made in only a few days.

Painting the Brick Wall

So we painted the ugly red brick wall in our bedroom.  I think it looks TONS better if I may say so myself. The pictures speak for themselves.

And here is the process:

Our paint of choice

Prepping the wall - trying to vacuum out all the dirt and debris

Filling the holes and cracks with textured caulk so we can paint it

Starting to paint.  Like my ghost?

Making some progress!

Filling in the mortar and the creases

So close to being done!

Shoutout to the Brooklyn Summer Ale for helping us through this tedious paint job.

Finally finished!

All in all, the whole process took 3 days to complete (a few hours each day after we each got home from work).  The first day of cleaning and filling in the mortar took a while, then we had to wait for the caulk to dry.  The humidity made it take a while, so we decided to wait til the next day to start painting.  We cleaned the wall a bit more the second day, then started painting.  The two of us worked hard for 2 and a half hours before we finally had the whole wall covered.  We let the paint dry overnight, came back the next day and painted the second coat.  It only took about an our to cover the whole wall, which I ended up doing mostly on my own while Steve worked on stuff outside.

There are still some cracks that need to be more thoroughly cleaned and touched up, but the white makes the room feel much bigger and fresher.  Yay no more horrible red brick in the bedroom!