Nursery Dresser: Found

The nursery dresser search ended quicker than I thought! Last week I found THE ONE for $25 at Value Village. It's the right height, has three roomy drawers, and nice, clean lines. 

Now time to I dress it up! I still need to decide on and buy paint and pulls. And what to do about a sad, broken back leg? I'm not sure.

Stay tuned for the transformation!

*Martha

Reupholstered Kitchen Chairs

I've been wanting to reupholster my kitchen chairs for a long time. Ever since we got the table and set of four chairs all for $200 about four years ago, I'd always thought, "They'll work because I know they're temporary." Welp, like I said, four years later, they are still very much present. And I'm a little attached to them. They were one of the first furniture purchases my husband and I made as a newly married couple. I like them enough - they're not my dream set by any means, but I do like the clean, simple lines. So, they're a part of the family for as long as we continue our moving-every-year lifestyle. 

Here's the chair with the ugly cushion (and some beefy little toddler hands). (Sorry, I can't get some of these pictures to stay upright. Go ahead, turn your head sideways.)

And here's the scoop on what I did to cover up the ugliness. A tip on The Nate Berkus show enabled me to move forward with this long overdue reupholster project. The fabric I really wanted to use would have been a grey trellis Kelly Wearstler print, probably $14 a yard I'm guessing, though I was never brave enough to check it out. But on Nate's show, they covered a lady's chair cushions using one shower curtain! Hello, brilliant! Be sure to get a cotton/polyester blend, they said. Off to Target! This curtain I got was 100% polyester (I'm guessing polyester's easier to clean). It feels and looks like cotton, though. No plasticy-ness here. Shower curtain: $15.

I used the chair cushions as a guide to cut out four squares (after I unscrewed them from the chair part).

Then I cut them down even more once I got going. If you're more careful about making the fabric the right size at first, you can have plenty of leftover fabric for pillows or something else if you want. I was a little haphazard and ended up with a lot of scraps.

I pulled the fabric taut and stapled all around, in no particular fashion. Just get that stuff on tight and straight, and no one will ever care what the bottom looks like!

Here's the top of the cushion after it's covered.

Here are my tools: scissors for cutting fabric, screwdriver for removing and replacing chair cushions, staple gun for securing fabric to the wood in the seat cushion, and a hammer for nailing in the staple if it doesn't go in all the way flush.

Once the cushions were back on the chairs, I sprayed them with two coats of Scotch Guard to further guard against stains. 

Sorry, sideways head.

Here is the finished product!

A mere 15 dolla later and I have a much happier kitchen.

Ikea "I" Candy

I am a HUGE Ikea fan! I love everything! I could literally live in an Ikea store...they have everything I need and more! Last night I went to Ikea to get ONE thing (why do we ever go to any store for one thing...we know we will come out with more). I went to buy a super cute picture frame for my sister for her birthday.

I tried to limit myself from too much temptation and skipped the top floor showroom and went straight to the bottom floor. There is still so much eye candy I could not stand it.

I always OOOO and AAAHHHH over all the different lighting options.I love the MILLIONS of options of SHADES! So fun!
Wouldn't this topsy turvy lamp be fun in a whimsical nursery!?

They have such great artwork....and I love that they have these HUGE pieces of artwork for good prices.



I actually walked out with this surfer one...I found it in the "As Is" section for 60% off!
Oh how I love CLOCKS (not that I love how much time there is because we all would like more time in the day) I just love their style. This modern take on a Grandfather clock is DEFINITELY on my wish list. Textiles! I LOVE fabrics...and oh does Ikea have the FUNNEST fabrics EVER!

RUGS! WOW...there are so many fun things on the bottom floor of an Ikea.
Pillows, blankets....ahh my head is about to explode with JOY! I love love love Ikea. Oh how I wish I could go withOUT a ONE year old in tote...it would be so much more pleasurable.

Well there is some Ikea i-candy for the day...hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

PEACE!
Cyndi

Nursery Dresser Search

I started a design board for my kids' uni-sex nursery. I'll be sharing some projects with you as I put it together in the next couple months on a scant budget. 

So far I've got an obsession: this dresser from the cool new Baby Mod line at Walmart. Not so much a Walmarty price, though. It's 300 bucks. Hmmm. I paid $30 for my daughter's crib on Craigslist. So anything above $100 for baby gear just frightens me. To Craigslist we go to find a suitable knockoff for this dresser of glory!

This one makes me stop breathing. At $250 it's not much better. But saving $50 is a start.

Not much else on Craigslist at the moment, but I'm going to keep looking there and around area thrift stores and I will keep you posted on what I find. 

My criteria for the dresser is this:

1) It needs to have modern lines (mid-centery modern is even better).

2) It needs to be low enough to make it a temporary changing table.

That's it. It can come in whatever color or wood because I'll probably end up painting it anyway. It can come with or without pulls/knobs because I'll probably add or replace those, too.

Check back in a few days for a look at my weekend project: reupholstered kitchen chairs.

Happy Monday!

*Martha

Think Pink

I know Valentine's Day is still a month away but I have pink on the brain. I think it started with Lea Michele's Golden Globes dress. It was my favorite. (Don't you love the celebrity pucker? You know they practice for hours in front of the mirror.)

And then there was Natalie Portman on the cover of Vogue in pale pink perfection. Channeling her new ballerina persona, no doubt.

So here are a few shades of pink in surprising places and large doses. And they make me happy.

Hot pink kitchen! Could you? Would you? If I were single maybe...

Love this pink/green combination a lot. The stripes and flowers combination is surprising, too.

Here we go with some pink accents. I could handle this.

images 1 & 2. The Fashion Dealer  3. houzz  4. Parlour  5. Domino  6. Canadian House & Home