Lazy Girl's Upholstery

I'm the first to admit I take the cheap and easy way out when I can. 

I was going to paint the wood and then try to cover the fabric on this old chair from the 80's. Like everyone else, I would cover it with an old grain sack, but I don't have any! 

So I decided to try to paint it on. Here's my version of the poor girl's grain sack: 

Stage One.

This is the best "before" I have. The old 80's fabric doesn't look that bad in the picture below, but believe me it was country blue with mauve diamonds... and not attractive!

I bought it for $30 about 3 years back. It's been in storage all this time and almost got donated many times.

While painting the wood, I decided to try a little homemade chalk paint on the fabric.

The plan (and I do have one)  is to give it another coat of paint to make it a little more brown, like burlap. After that, I'll "French it up"  with a graphic, then paint a couple of lines running from top to bottom.



I hope you'll come back to see the next stage. Meanwhile, I'm sharing at the following parties:

http://twenty-eight-0-five.blogspot.com

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com

http://www.primpjunktion.com
http://youaretalkingtoomuch.com

Remembering 9/11

On this day, it's hard not to think of 9/11/2001.

Everyone seems to remember where they were when they learned of the attacks. I was living near Seattle, so it was early morning for us and we were getting ready for work. We watched in horror as the second plane hit. Stunned, we were still compelled to go to work. Yet, as I drove through the gates at work early that morning, the thought would not leave my mind that our lives had changed forever. Two hours later, I went home and stayed in bed for 3 days. I still feel overwhelming grief on this day. I truly hope that we will never forget.

We changed our lives soon after that day. Within 6 months, we had moved half way across the country and changed jobs to ones we liked better. I hope you are where you want to be too. Life is too short to be unhappy.

POWDER ROOM

Here's our little powder room, which was one of the rooms that recently got travertine tile on the floor.

It's not done, it's still a work in progress, but it's the only room I'm not too embarrassed to show you! 

The walls are highly textured and then covered with a stain. We bought a builder's spec home, so we didn't get to pick the colors or fixtures. But I like the stain they put over the wall color, so for now it stays.

This is the corner of the room, which is aged down with stain more in the corner than on the walls. It gives it a vintage look.

The original ugly brass faucet that came with this sink stopped working within the first 2 months that we had the house, even though we only came up to the house every other weekend.

We replaced it with this Kohler faucet, which was well worth the extra expense. The handles turn like butter. Sometimes I turn them just to feel how smooth the turn (no not really...well...maybe a little).

The cabinet and mirror are reproductions, which suit me fine.

I am fond of the sconce, but the original shade was black and a different shape. The walls are a yellowish base, so the black shade with the yellow reminded me of Halloween. I already had this shade so it was an easy cheap fix. If you see my garage, you might think I'm a candidate for the hoarder show, but sometimes keeping things pays off!

Here's a decoration at the top of the wall that the builder did. I'm not a fan of the beads and paint decor, and I have spent a year trying to figure out how to tone it down or remove it completely.

The top is painted on and the chain is an actual piece of chain glued to the wall and the bottom tip is a glued on bead. I'm afraid that removing them will damage the wall texture. Any suggestions on how to remove the decoration or tone it down??? I would appreciate ANY suggestions. HELP please!

Here's the travertine tile. It was hard to get a decent picture of it showing the actual color. It tends to show up as a pinkish brown in pictures, but it's really a cream base with grey and taupe streaks running through it.

This picture hangs outside the door in the hallway, but I'm going to hang it in the powder room. It has the same colors that are in the powder room and I'm going to darken the brassy metal towel hook and T.P. holder to match the dark brown color of the picture frame. Cross your fingers for me!

I'm sharing at the following blog parties this week. I hope you'll come join us:

http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com

http://commonground-debrasvintagedesigns.blogspot.com

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com