$25 Chair

Today I put together a chair for Duppy's desk for a grand total of...you guessed it, about $25.00. I didn't plan on it costing quite that much, but when I took the seat of my $5.00 DI find, I discovered mold. So, I had to buy new padding and cut a new seat. Luckily I already had wood in the garage, or it would've been a bit more. This poor chair was a mess when I bought it, but I didn't take a before picture. To give you an idea (even before I spotted the mold), it was black/bronze metal with a few rust spots, the rubber feet were cracked and one was missing, the top sides were open tubes, and the seat had more stains than I think I've ever seen on a chair. But to look at it now, you'd never know!
My purchased supplies included two cans of white spray paint ($5.00), plastic feet caps ($1.00), crystal knob things for the top back ($6.00 for 2), yellow canvas to cover the seat ($4.00 @ 50% off), cushion padding for the seat ($4.00), and of course the $5.00 chair. I used some other things from around the house, of course, like hardware, a staple gun, ribbon for the back, etc.

Anyway, I think this chair is one of the happiest looking I've ever seen. The crystal knobs sure add a nice sparkle too. Notice how from the side they look clear and from above they are yellow in the picture below. I sure love adding personal touches to things for our home!

Growth Chart

Well, well. I've been working on all sorts of projects the last couple weeks, so I thought I should start posting some of them. This was one that I did the other night. I've been wanting a growth chart, so I designed one and cut it on my plotter. It is now hanging in the playroom, waiting for me to find a Sharpie. I don't know about your house, but scissors and Sharpies are two of the things that I know we have a million of, but I can't ever find them when I need them. And exacto knives. Anyway, I love the way it turned out, all graphic and such. I might just start selling them in my Etsy shop, along with a few other things I've been working on.

Baby's Wall Decor

This week I've been working on decorating Mia's room. I will have it decorated before she turns one. That's my goal at least. A bit pathetic, but hey, she's too little to care! Here are two of the projects, and I have a couple more I'll post about, hopefully soon.First, I've finally gotten around to hanging her name on the wall. I bought various letter from eBay and Etsy, a couple from old theater sign boards (A & I), a letterpress wood block (M), one from a '70s interstate sign that used to hold reflective "coins" (E), and a couple old wall hangings (L & A).I've also hung artwork above the changing table. I love how this turned out as well. I bought different frames from the D.I., prints and artwork from different sellers on Etsy (some cards, some prints, and one or two originals), and there fun little flowers from Target. A couple of my favorite prints are the drawing of the girl with a city in her hair from Paula Zakimi's shop (bottom left), The Neighborhood print from meArtDesign (bottom left of bottom right photo), and Give from ErinJaneShop (top right of bottom right photo). The flowers from Target look as though they are being blown out of their frame towards and out the window on the adjacent wall. Did I mention I love how this looks?

City View

Manhattan, now 4, has become obsessed with the city for which she was named in the last few months. So, I decided to bring the city to her room! She loves it, and is getting more and more excited to take a trip there, hopefully sometime this year. Can I tell you how simple this was? I love my plotter and all the many fun things I can do with it!

Blue Birdies

Most of my recent projects have been decorating our house in one way or another. Plenty to keep me busy for quite a while! In our room I decided to go with a birds and trees theme, using a robin's egg blue and dark brown. On Etsy I found EarthArt, an artist who paints on wood leaving a lot of texture. She is very willing to do custom orders, so I told her I wanted two birds on a branch using browns and the particular blue-green for the sky and this is what I received. I LOVE it and it fits perfectly in our room!

I also created these three images to hang just by our door. My three birdies greeting us as we enter and bidding farewell as we leave the room.

One of my recent projects...

So, yeah, it's been a while again. Lame excuse (but true): we couldn't find the charger for our camera and didn't want to buy a new one because we knew the old one would turn up as soon as we did. After a few months we bought one and as soon as it arrived, I found the old one. Anyway, now we have two. I've done a few little projects in the last 6 months (I sure would hope so), and this is one.

It seems as though most kids these days have their names displayed in there room in one way or another, and this is one of the more generic. I bought some pre-cut letters from Michael's and glued scrap book paper to the fronts using colors that coordinate with her room, of course. This is the result. after I've finished all of my planned projects in the room I'll post some shots of the "finished" product. Even though I don't really think a room is ever finished and they just continue to evolve.

Happy Chair

Today's project: bring new life to an old chair. Last year when I started getting pieces together for my space/studio/office here in the basement, I found a stool at the D.I. that I brought home, sanded, and made mobile with casters. As much as I love my stool, and even though the super-soft cushion is the perfect color of green vinyl to go with my space, I'm going to have to retire it. (By retire, I mean I'll probably just pull out the casters that make it the perfect height and use it as a spare chair...because I just can't part with it.) Mike has told me since the beginning that my stool is unsafe and that I'm going to fall off it and hurt myself, and although I personally haven't fallen off it, I've witnessed just about every other person who has sat on it either tip and almost fall, or completely fall off the stool. I won't name names, but you know who you are! Here's the stool:

As much as I love it, I love my new chair even more. I was browsing Craig's List the other day and spotted the chair I've been looking for: an old school adjustable counter- or bar-height chair with a footrest and back. Kinda looks like a lab chair or something. Here's the before:

Sorry for the tiny pic. I always forget to take the before pic before I start working. So you have the Craig's List pic followed by a pic after I disassembled the chair. It was an icky brown colored vinyl for the cushion and the back, and the metal was a creamy tan/beige color. Not the best. Mike thought I made him stop to pick up a piece of junk, but took it back when he saw what a couple cans of spray paint, a yard of fabric, and a couple of hours can do. Let me just say that Rustoleum spray paint is super awesome. I LOVE this fabric! Matches my decor of white, green, stainless steel, and light wood to a tee, not to mention my retro-ish details I've added around the room. Green makes me happy!