Chair re-do

We have been looking for a chair for the corner of our living room for about 4 years. Stupid right? But I didn't want to spend ridiculous money and I refused to busy something affordable that I didn't love. Then when we were in Canada last summer I came across a picture of a reupholstered couch in a magazine. I was instantly in love with the fabric. I tried searching for it online but came up empty handed. A few days later I pulled out the magazine again and realized that the fabric name was included in the article!!! ya-hoo.

So I found a super creepy chair on Craigslist for $35, stripped it down to the bone, scrubbed it with bleach and vinegar AND let it sit in the sun for several days, refinished the wood (with Curt's help) and recushioned/covered the chair. The stripping was fun, everything else was pretty much torture.



I think recovering is a lot easier when you can keep the orignal padding. Making it all fit and look smooth proved to be pretty much impossible. I still havne't finished the nail heads that are supposed to line the borders. I'll get around to it.

I still adore the fabric and mostly I'm glad I did it but just don't look too closely. :)

Color

Went a little crazy with the bathrooms and laundry room. I can't stay away from bright colors. They make me too happy!

Map Room

I finally got around to taking some pics of the Jonah and Daniel's bedroom. They didn't turn out great- I just can't seem to get the lighting right! But here they are. I saw this mural map online and instantly fell in love. I got mine at ToyRus but there are other cool maps out there (check here). Putting it up was a hassle- it's basically wall paper, but we followed the directions and it worked out. The map is not laminated, which really worried me but I didn't want a big glare and the laminated versions were double the price. It's been up for a few months now with no disasters (knock on wood!).

We painted the room "Squash" and I think it looks more like schoolbus yellow but it actually makes me really happy. Bedding, curtains and dressers are from IKEA. I have no intention of changing the decor in here anytime soon. Part of the reason I liked the map idea was that I figured they wouldn't outgrow it too quickly. Heck, I'd like it in my room. :)

There are a few more things yet to do but mostly it's done. I'll post Isaac's room soon here too.

Fabric and stuff

ahhh... did I tell you I love fabric? I dream about fabric. Seriously. One of my VERY favorite things is sleeping kids while I browse fabric on etsy and eat a good snack. A few weeks ago I noticed a seller was having an aweseom sale and I stocked up on some beautiful prints. Several are by Etsuko Echino- I LOVE this fabric. The only problem- I'm having trouble cutting into it. :O

I've wanted to make a bunting for family room/playroom for awhile now and finally finished it. Now I have to hang hooks so it might be another month or so...

I think these little flags are a great idea for birthdays or year round decor. Really simple and fun to make.

And this is my first quilt of 2011! Da-da! I made it using a jellyroll I found on clearance. I've been wanting to try something like for awhile. Piecing this type of quilt is so hard for me- I'm just not patient enough but I still like it. I had planned to quilt it with horizontal or diagonal lines but realized that would accentuate all the errors so I chose a circular pattern. I'll get a finished pic once I get the binding done.

Before for anyone interested

I found a couple of "before" pics of Lucy's room. I always forget to take those and it's so fun to see the contrast. Wish I had more!

Karma

Curtis is a superstitious person. If I walk in while he's watching a hockey game and things start to go badly he'll politely ask me to leave. If I ever talk about something bad happening he will with all seriously tell me to zip it and then knock on some wood. He also has a thing about certains socks when he's playing a sport. I've always laughed it off... until today. See, just this weekend I was talking with a group of people and sickness came up. I couldn't help it- I'm frankly sort of amazed about it and had to mention that I rarely get sick. And when I do, it's short and mild. I get sick maybe once a year and every 3 or 4 years it will be sort of awful. I have no idea what to attribute it to other than good genes.



But I spoke too soon because last night (just a few days after bragging about my good health) I started a pukefest that lasted all night. Horrible. The. Worst. Wanted to die. I still feel rotten right now but at least I'm not hanging over a commode. Curtis and his pagan ways may have a point. The bonus is that one of the only things I can do is sit at the computer so I'm gonna post some pics of Lucy's happy blue room. Enjoy. :)

PS: Per Angry Baker's request I've written a little about the stuff in the rooms. LY AB

Curtis made this maple bed frame when we lived in Minnesota. Someday it will be Lucy's but for now it's here for guests. The drawer chest was part of my best craigslist score ever!! Bought a set of 2 for $200! Oh and the wall paint is called "True Turquoise."

I'm having a thing with birds these days and I happend to find these book ends one day at "Home Goods" for $15! They make me so happy!

Birdie mobile from an online tutorial- seriously simple. I used all fabric scraps and the wooden hoop cost $1. I covered it in ribbon. The vinyl wall art was purchased on etsy for $30. I was so happy with it. Nice and thick vinyl and it went on so easy!



I made this quilt last month- really simple design so I didn't have to cut into that fabric (Little Folks- love it). I think it cost me about $40 in supplies I made the pillow for our downstairs couch but it looked all wrong. I like it here in Lu's room. (made it from scraps and stuffed with a pillow we've had for awhile). I rarely buy stuffed animals- almost every one in our house was a gift, but I saw this polar bear and knew he needed to be in Lucy's blue room because of this awesome room I found online. Lucy is also obsessed with bears, courtesy of the best cartoon ever- "Little Bear."


I bought this lamp at TJMaxx when Curtis and I were first married. The base was brown and I never found a good spot for it in this house. A little spray paint from Home Depot and voila! The horse frame was a gift my good buddy, Marci years ago. It was a shade of blue that clashed with the walls so I painted it squash- I love how it turned out. Pink vinyl chicks off etsy ($6). "Sweet Dreams" sign was a baby gift when Lucy was born from my sweet Aunt Robin. Love it! The dress bunting was a little experiment. Every since I saw the dress quilt in the "Land of Nod" catalog I've wanted to do something with tiny dresses. For now, this will suffice. Made from scraps, the ribbon and tiny clothespins were about $3.

Here's the other piece of the dresser set- such a score! The frame for Lucy's pic was just an old one that I painted cream. Her name plate was a baby gift from a friend at church (thx Samantha!). That puzzle is a toy I bought at Target when Jonah was a baby- I love it but have never seen it anywhere since. The frame box was actually one of three ($25 each) that I bought when we first moved here. I had planned to put art and stuff from each of the boys in them. They promptly broke the door off one of them and so the other 2 have been hiding in the attic ever since. I pulled them out and realized one would be perfect for baby gown my amazing mother-in-law crocheted for Lucy. And the "L" was a gift from my neighbor Terri!

Here are some "Little Bear" pics that I put in old IKEA frames (painted cream). This book holder was something I picked up at Hobby Lobby and painted.



Close up of the lamp- you can tell I'm not a perfectionist. Oh and I found a cute little pic online to go with the words: "Faith is like a little seed."

Close up of the dress. I love this kind of project. It doesn't take long and is just fun to play with.




The quilt on the crib was one I made for Lucy when she was first born. The other crib bedding is from Target. I actually framed those illustrations for the boys when Daniel was a baby. The frames were on clearance at Kohl's and then I cut out some of our favorite pics from good books. I did have to swap a couple out though b/c I had to add Skippy Jon Jones- love that kitty!

I love the way the sunlight pours into this room in the afternoon.

Birds in flight

So I'm sort of obsessed with birds these days. I found this tutorial and wanted to give it a go. Unfortunately I cannot find a decent branch in my yard (that isn't rotting or full of fire ants- seriously!) so I used a round embroidery hoop to hang my birdies from.

Very simple and fun project! And here are a few preview pics of the kid's rooms. I have had SO much fun decorating them.

Chair remake

I was looking for sturdy Lucy sized furniture and found this at IKEA:

n I really like the style but decided the fabric could use a little help. Then I remembered some Amy Butler midest modern fabric that I had on hand. About 30 minutes later I had this:

The good news: It matches Lucy's new room perfectly. I love "almost" instant gratification.

Eye Candy

I am having a lot of fun decorating the kids rooms right now. I kept thinking we were temporary here in TX but who knows- maybe this will just be our home. Anyhoo... here are some of the pics that have inspired me lately. Enjoy!

Found this clock here on Ohdeedoh. (I LOVE this site. It's linked on my sidebar. Men- how do you always find the best sites?!?) I'm gonna try to make my own paper version-stay tuned.


You can find this at clothesline.



alphabet




birds mobile

This one can be found on etsy here.

And I can't seem to upload the pic but I love this "Be" sign found here. I wanna make one!