Browsing Tag

bedroom

Spring One Room Challenge Week Five: Paint Diaries

Week One | Week Two | Week Three | Week Four

Another week, another post from the depths of paint despair. I always start off optimistic about a paint job, and then end up becoming slowly disenchanted with the work as time goes on. As I mentioned before, the paint in this room is pretty involved, and from the outset, I budgeted myself two weeks just to paint. As of the time of this writing, it’s been exactly two weeks since I put the first coat of paint on a surface, and I probably have one more day of painting before I’m officially done.

I have shown you guys the green paint that is the majority of the room, but I haven’t talked about here what my plans were for the upper portion of the wall. I am doing a faux wallpaper look (more on that later I promise!) using just paint. I’ve done it with a few different methods in the past, and so I’m lovingly referring to this “wallpaper” as Fake Wallpaper3.0. While I’m not ready to show you what the wallpaper is, I want to share what color I painted the wall as a base for Fake Wallpaper3.0. I’m going for a moody, English country style, and so I chose Windswept Leaves by Behr to help darken the space. It’s not transferring super well in the photo I snapped today, it’s a lovely camel shade and less of a gold, but I think it’ll serve as the perfect backdrop for what I’m hoping to achieve with the faux wallpaper.

Does it not bring some drama to the situation? I’m excited to show you what’s coming next, but I’ll have to leave you in some suspense! Be sure to check out the other ORC guests this week as they reveal their progress too. That’s all for today, have a fabulous day!

May 4, 2022 by Fawn Rumfield

Status Update: End of 2018

Hi friends! I’m so glad you’re here! If you’ve been following along on our house progress on Instagram then you probably have seen lots of little projects we’ve been working on as we’ve been doing them. These days, it’s a bit easier for me to do a quick update there than on here, just because life with a newborn is busy! In case you haven’t been following along, here’s the deal with this post. My Status Updates (Check out the first one here or the second one here) are a series of unedited, real life photos rounding up the entire process of what we’ve accomplished thus far.

At the time of my last update, we had not yet moved into the house. We have since moved, had a baby, and continued working. To say things are a bit crazy would be an understatement. We are definitely still in “fixer upper mode,” when looking at any room in the house, there are at least five undone projects that come to mind. So, bearing all of that in mind, let’s have a look at what our house looks like right now.

The Foyer

We lived with completely undone stairs for a little while before I went ahead and painted the stairs. This is the view from our front door, and it’s a very tight space. Painting the stairs and the walls made it look a little bit more open though. Still to do in this space: replace the light fixture, add trim along the ceiling going up the stairs, add a runner up the stairs, do something about the floors (we aren’t sure what the plan is…there are no original hardwoods, so we might lay a statement tile. We are still in the very early planning stages on that particular project), and lay a transition piece between this an the living room floor.

The Living Room

This room is mostly “done” with the exception of the transitions on the floor from one section to the next, and replacing the light fixture (we haven’t done that in any area of the house yet). If you look closely in the first picture, you can see a thin cable running along the floor. It’s something for the internet that needs to be run underneath the house. I also want to replace 99% of the furniture here, but that’s not necessarily considered a project.

The Dining Room

The dining room is the most embarrassing in its current state. It took me a month to clear the moving boxes from here, we had no table for two months, and Ethan still has a makeshift desk sitting in the corner (the room that will be the office upstairs is completely undone). We don’t have chairs or any other dining room furniture, but it’ll get there. The fireplace has been painted, and everything else is complete, with the exception of caulking along the ceiling trim.

The Bedroom

Our room has a ways to go, but since our son is still sleeping in here in the bassinet (not pictured), everything is temporarily out of place. The rocker will eventually go back into the nursery once he starts sleeping through the night, and once the extra furniture is out of there, I’ll feel more inspired to decorate and finish things in here. We need to add some trim pieces in here, and add a light fixture. This room doesn’t have an overhead fixture at all, so it’ll be a bit more labor intensive than fixtures in the other rooms.

The Bathroom

The bathroom is small and hard to photograph, but the only thing completed in here is the cabinetry has been painted this emerald green color. As you can see, we need to replace the light switch box, which we will do in the entire house all at once. We replaced the outlets, but we haven’t done the light switches yet.

The Nursery

I did a whole post about our son’s room, because it’s the only room that’s “done.” It actually still needs a new light fixture and light switch box, but other than that it is done. If you missed that post, you can check out more photos of it here.

We haven’t done anything else on the outside just yet, but we do have some major plans for that yellow house. (Hint – it won’t be yellow forever). We’re at a point now where we have to slowly plan things out. In part, because we spent all the money we had earmarked for house projects when we bought the house, but also because things move at a much slower pace with a newborn around. When I was 8 months pregnant, I was working 12 hour days in the house, and people thought that was crazy. It may have been, but now I can only work in one or two hour increments during naptime. So, in 2019, we’ll be moving a bit slower. Anywho, that’s the update for today. This house has come a looooooong way since our closing date, but she still has a long way to go before she is everything we envision. That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

December 27, 2018 by Fawn Rumfield

Room Tours, Uncategorized

Bedroom Update: We Have a Rug!

Hello all! Wow. It’s been awhile! *covers face in shame* I’m so sorry about that…time gets away so quickly, doesn’t it? Well, I have a little update to share today, which really could be summed up by the title alone, but of course, I’m going to chat about it a bit.

So, we’ve lived in this house for a year and a half. It’s a rental, blah blah blah, you know the spiel. Our bedrooms have tile, and that’s absolutely the last thing I would choose for a bedroom if I were the owner of this house, but I’m not, so I suck it up and move along. Anyway, we have been here a while, and I have always intended to add a rug to this bedroom, but for whatever reason, I’ve never set aside the money in the budget.

So when I received some gift cards, the hunt was finally on for a bedroom rug. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen in my stories a few weeks ago where I posted a few options of rugs that I was thinking of. I ended up going with the one less people liked, but #yolo guys. Go with your gut.

So, I got an 8×10 foot jute rug, and let me just say, I am in love with it! I don’t know why I didn’t do it sooner!

I like the natural texture, and I think it adds the perfect warmth to the room.

I chose this rug from At Home, and the best part is that it was only $150! For an 8×10 size rug, that is the most affordable option I came across. I was slightly skeptical of the quality for the price, but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it in person!

The other concern that I had with this type of rug is that it would be rough or scratchy, which isn’t what you’d like in a bedroom. The best way that I can describe it is that it is sturdy, but not scratchy. It has a stiff texture, but it is not uncomfortable.

I’m so happy with this purchase. Took me long enough, I suppose! I’m loving this simple update in our room, and I think it makes a big impact! I’m so excited about it, I may or may not find myself sitting on my bed just so I can stare at it.

Anyway, that’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

October 19, 2017 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor, Room Tours

Spring Bedroom Refresh

Hey y’all! I am so glad you’re here! Easter has passed, and spring is in the air! Can you feel that itch for summer where you are? I wore shorts for the first time this weekend, and it was wonderful! Today I am finally sharing something that has honestly gotten out of hand. What do I mean by that? Well, let me explain. Do you ever start something and then just stall for a while until you almost forget about it? That’s pretty much what happened to me.

I decided to shuffle things around between our bedroom and guest bedroom right around New Years. I bought new bedding for our room, moved the old bedding into the guestroom, and promptly left it at that. Never mind that I wanted to get new lamps and possibly new nightstands. I just went on for a few months halfway done with what I was doing. #typical

So here’s a photo I shared a while back on my review of some bedsheets, but it gives you an idea of what it looked like beforehand.

The lamps were too small, and the modern look wasn’t really my taste anymore anyway. The pillows, while comfortable, were more colorful than I was hoping for, and I wanted something more soothing. So, I ended up with this:

All the bedding (throw pillows and comforter) came from TJMaxx. I can’t find the exact link on their site because of the nature of the store. The lamps were purchased at HomeGoods.

The lamps match my personal style much better, and they are sized a little better than the old ones were.

I also added some faux greenery to the top of the window which I think helps to add a bit of dimension. The garland is from Hobby Lobby.

The overall vibe I was looking for was calm and peaceful, with a farmhouse flair. I think I pretty well accomplished that goal.

Now of course, because I am all too cheap, I didn’t want to spend much money on this refresh. So I listed random household items on my local Facebook Swap page and made money to purchase the things I wanted! If nothing else, it was a creative way to spend a small amount of money! I ended up keeping the nightstands the same. I may eventually change them out, but the budget didn’t allow it at the moment.

So there it is! My super simple but super prolonged project! In case you missed it, you can read all about how I made that headboard myself here. That little DIY is still working for us, and I love the simplicity of it. Oh, and it was free. So that’s a win in my book.

Thanks for stopping by the blog today! That’s all for today, have a fabulous day!

April 17, 2017 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor

Comfy Bed Sheets

Hello friends! Happy Thanksgiving week! I’m excited to stop by and share with you another part of our ever-evolving home. We’ve been in this rental for four months now, and I’m still working on cozying up the space. The bedroom feels mostly finished, other than a large rug on (which I’m waiting on the budget for).

I’m all about repurposing and making things last as long as possible, but one thing I always want to feel new and fresh is our bed sheets. I’ve had a difficult time finding good quality sheets that don’t wear out super quickly but also don’t break the bank. I recently discovered a new source for all things home where I ordered some new sheets, and I just couldn’t wait to share!

I finally caved and bought white sheets because I can bleach the whole thing every time I wash them. My style is pretty light and bright, but I’ve always been hesitant with white bedding because of how quickly it can get dingy looking.

I ordered these sheets from Hayneedle.com, and so far I absolutely love them! We’ve had a couple weeks to sleep on them, and they are super comfortable and I love that I finally have white sheets!

They help to make our bedroom a little bit more cozy! I’ve washed them a few times, and they have just gotten more and more soft and cozy.

I would absolutely recommend these sheets to anybody; they are so soft! Not to mention the price is awesome, and the quality is great. I’m super happy with them, and it’s another thing to check off the list in making this bedroom complete. Now I’m waiting on a rug and this room will be “finished.” I say that loosely because nothing is ever actually finished around here.

Now I’m off to work on some more projects today! Well, that’s all for today, friends! Have a fabulous day!

A few sources for this bedroom:

Comforter, lamps, and nightstands: Target

Blue Pillows: Pier One Imports

Gray and Linen Pillow: Homegoods

**Hayneedle was kind enough to send me this gorgeous bedding, but as always, opinions are my own.

November 21, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects, Furniture Makeover

Family Heirloom Dresser Refresh

Hello friends! Thanks for stopping by today! Has the fall weather hit where you are? It finally feels like fall around here, with the leaves finally falling and the hint of cool weather in the breeze. Texas falls are nothing like the falls in New York where I grew up, but I’ll take what I can get.

This season has brought a hint of change in the air, both literally and figuratively. I’ve been super inspired lately to create more, paint more, make more, etc. So what I’m showing you today is something I’m super excited about.

So this is the dresser in our bedroom.

It has a beautiful shape that I have always loved. It’s a solid wood piece, and it’s something we’ll always have. It was Ethan’s growing up, and before that, was in my mother in law’s family when they moved from the northeast down to Texas. It’s such a gorgeous dresser, but it used to be an orange stained finish with large circular wooden handles. Not to mention the stickers that were put on the side by Ethan as a kid. So needless to say, I’ve wanted to give her a little facelift, but since it was a family piece, it just wasn’t a possibility. Until recently.

My mother in law finally gave us the okay to paint, and I was super excited. I bought some new drawer pulls from Hobby Lobby, and knew exactly how I wanted to finish it.

The outer part of the dresser got a coat of my favorite paint, Annie Sloan’s Old White, and the drawer fronts got sanded down and left bare. Guys. I am OBSESSED with this new look. I always knew there was a gorgeous dresser hiding behind that orange finish, but it’s even prettier than I thought.

I’m so thankful to have gotten the okay to work on this piece. When there’s a family history you have to honor in a piece, it can be a little intimidating. Hopefully this little refresh honors my mother in law and her family. I know that it definitely finishes out our bedroom in a way that makes the dresser fit. This piece will definitely be with us forever.

Good grief it’s just so pretty. Well y’all, that’s about it for today. Just wanted to pop in and share this fun project. Have you ever painted something that belonged in the family for a long time? How did it go?

That’s all for today friends, have a fabulous day!

October 23, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

Organization

Tips on Loving Your Closet

Do you have the perfect vision of what your dream closet is? I know I do. Cue soft playing music and a warm bright spot. My dream closet is ultra feminine, with a full window for natural light, and a vanity for doing makeup. My dream closet is obviously larger than my childhood bedroom. There’s room in there for a soft armchair where I can drink my tea, a freestanding full length mirror for trying on clothing, and perhaps a vintage mannequin. My wedding dress is displayed, and the whole thing is light and airy. Have I even mentioned the perfectly organized rows of clothing and shoes? My collection is expansive, yet impeccably organized just like a magazine. Can you tell I’ve thought about this? Just a little bit.

Raise your hand if you have something pictured in your head similar to what I just described. Yes, I’m talking to you. I know most of us have unrealistic dreams like this and that’s okay!

Cue reality though (we’ll use my closet for an example): my closet is a 2×3 foot box with one awkwardly placed pole (not even tall enough to hang a knee length dress from) and two measly shelves on the top (one of which I can barely reach). Like the rest of our house, it’s the color of a camel’s behind, and a carpet that hasn’t been touched since the 1960’s. Living the rental dream.

Here’s the deal. It would be so easy for me to be discouraged by the size of my closet, or frustrated that I don’t have things as nice as others. Today I want to share with you some tips I’ve found on how to love the closet you have (that don’t include getting a new closet).

This year, my mission has been to organize everything and purge the excess. The closet was the first place to start! I started off the new year by reading The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. I am not kidding when I say thing book will change your life! It’s a pretty short book, but I had read the whole thing in a day. I finished feeling energized and ready to tackle my house! There are specific sections of the book designated specifically for clothing, and so I took some of the tips listed there and reorganized my closet. I can now tell you that when I walk over to my little closet, I feel refreshed and calm! And I don’t even have an armchair where I can drink my tea. Can you imagine?

Step One:

Get rid of everything. I’m not joking. I took every. single. piece. of clothing out of my closet and laid them on my bed. From there I looked at each item one by one and asked myself when the last time I had worn the item was. I had to be harsh with my answers about what to keep and what to get rid of. The things I love but wear infrequently because I’m too lazy to iron – those things went to the donate pile. The things I’ve been meaning to mend but secretly know I won’t get around to – donate. The things that are near duplicates of other items – donate. Because of the awkward height of the bar in this closet, my dresses are hung in Ethan’s closet. So all I have here are my tops (both blouses and sweaters). I wanted to keep only the things I have in my closet are the things I will actually wear on any given day.

Step Two:

Organize by color. One of the things that makes my teeny-tiny-barely-even-there closet bearable now is that the order of things is aesthetically pleasing. I kept my shirts and sweaters separate, each category moving from the darkest on the left to the lightest on the right. There is a whole psychology behind this method that I don’t really understand, but I will say that it does make things look intentionally placed. Each piece has a perfect spot, and the color scheming actually helps me plan my outfits with ease. All my black tops are in the same place, and I know exactly where the hanger is when I’m putting something away.

Step Three:

It’s all about the hangers. This step is definitely not necessary, but I would recommend it. Until this point, I still had the multi-colored plastic hangers I acquired in bulk in college. They were cheap, and I was broke. I’ve wanted to buy coordinating black velvet hangers for a long time, but could never justify the expense. The only reason I bought these is because I had extra Christmas money. Ethan was not really thrilled with the thought of me spending my Christmas money on hangers, but I assured him it’s what I really wanted. He’s the one who married this organizational freak, so he can’t really complain too much. Anyway, I bought two of these packs, and used Bed Bath and Beyond’s 20% off coupon. I will eventually need to get another pack or two to finish Ethan’s closet and the coat closet, but my wallet says it’ll have to wait.

Step Four:

Tidy up all the non-hanging items. On the top shelf, I have a few pairs of shoes, a handbag filled with other handbags, pants stacked standing straight up, and a basket with scarves and important jewelry boxes. I also have a small hanging shelf unit with a few folded skirts hanging from the rod. Notice how I have extra room on these shelves? Before I purged and organized, I could barely cram anything else in this closet, and finding what I needed was never simple. Now everything has a location, everything has a purpose, and it all looks generally appealing.

I feel like I should mention a few disclaimers. The floor if this closet hosts the majority of my shoes, which aren’t perfectly organized yet. Additionally, this is not the entirety of my wardrobe. My dresses are stored in Ethan’s closet, and coats and special occasion outfits are stored in the coat closet. I also have casual wear that is stored in Ethan and my shared dresser.

My overall point is this: this is no way near the dream closet I described at the beginning of this post. However, it makes me feel refreshed and at ease when I open the door. I will likely never have this fantasy closet, but I’m willing to love the closet that I have now. I know that later in life, I’ll move up in closet. Right now though, I’m learning to love the closet I have. Right now, this is my dream closet. Purged, organized, and accessible. Do you have your dream closet or do you have something you have to learn to love like me? How do you organize? I’d love to hear all about it! That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

January 12, 2016 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects, Tutorials

Salvaged Wood Headboard DIY

It’s been a few weeks since we updated our bedroom and I am still living in a fairy-dream world because of it. I showed you guys the full result a week or so ago, and you guys have been so sweet about how it turned out. If you didn’t get a chance to check that post out, you can read all about it here. Today what I wanted to do was show you guys with a little more detail the headboard that I made for this space.

When I bought all the new pillows for the bed, I knew something was still missing. Our old headboard was a pre-blog DIY that was imperfect but served us well for the time that it did. I made it back when I was still unsure about the style direction I was heading in with our house, so it just didn’t quite work. And let’s be honest. I still don’t think I know the style I’m headed toward. Live and learn.

I wanted to make something, but I didn’t want to spend any money. Yes, you read that correctly. I wanted to spend zero dollars. Story of my life, right? I knew that I could only justify to Ethan building a new headboard if I could do it for free since I had just built one a year prior. Now that I think about it, I think Ethan has learned not to question my unreasonable antics. The other stipulation for this project was that I had to do it completely by myself. Normally our DIY projects are a team effort (and by that I mean Ethan does the work and I make it pretty). This time, before I knew what I was thinking, I told him that I was going to make this project for free, and I was going to do it completely on my own. Cue “On My Own” from Les Mis as I head to the garage to work on this project.

So here’s how it went down. A few months back, our neighbors were replacing a portion of their wood fence. I ~~hoarded~~ rescued some of the pieces and they have been sitting in my garage, safe from harm. I headed to my stash and chose the best looking pieces for the job. I (and when I say I, I do mean me myself and I. All by my lonesome) cut the pieces using a circular saw to 60″. We have a queen size bed, so that was the size we needed. If you were to do something similar, be sure to measure the size of your bed. I did wash these with warm water and soap, and lightly sanded them, just to make sure they were clean. And not going to give me splinters. Because those things are important, I guess.

So I laid out all the pieces on the garage floor to make sure I liked to order of them, since all the pieces were slightly different.

Then I used two cross pieces to screw onto the backside of my headboard. These pieces were vertical, and were 54″ tall. Our old headboard was a bit taller than this, but I always thought it looked kind of weird, so I was very mindful of how tall this one was going to be. I don’t know if there are official rules about how tall a headboard should be, but I think y’all all know that I make up my rules as I go when it comes to home decor. I wish I could show you the pictures of me screwing this together just to show off my brute strength, but alas, I did this one on my own. And I don’t have enough hands to photograph myself building a headboard. You’ll just have to trust me in the fact that I did make this.

After I screwed the back pieces together, I turned it around to paint it. It looked like this:

Technically, it didn’t need to be painted, I did like the way it looked like this, I just love lighter colors, so it didn’t really stand a chance. I used my dry-brushing technique, which you can read about here. It took about ten minutes total to paint. Have I mentioned that’s my favorite way to paint things?

The color is Mourning Dove by Behr, and I use that for tons of projects around the house.

After I let it dry (which didn’t take long with the amount of paint I used), Ethan helped me carry it into the house to put it behind the bed. So I guess he did help. BUT OTHER THAN THAT I did this one on my own, and I am so proud of myself. Picture me pridefully kissing my biceps.

You can see more after photos in the original reveal post. I cannot tell you guys how much this little project changed the feel of our bedroom. And it was 100% free! This cheap-loving girl is jumping up and down with excitement over this one! I promise you, I am super wimpy, and I did this in an afternoon, so I know you can too!

All the sources for the items you see here are in my original reveal post, which you’re welcome to check out! I’d love to hear what you think about this project in the comments below, or you can find more on my Instagram. That’s all for today, friends! Have a fabulous day!

November 25, 2015 by Fawn Rumfield

Home Decor

Quick and Easy Bedroom Update

Hi you guys! Thanks for stopping by! I am so excited about today. It’s the last week before Thanksgiving Break (I know y’all will hate me for saying this, but I get the whole week of Thanksgiving off!). I cannot even tell you how excited I am to have next week off. And we all know what comes quickly approaching after Thanksgiving, right… Not that any of that has anything to do with what I’m talking about today. But this teacher’s got a one track mind. What can I say?

So a while back (like several months back), Ethan and I were talking about some changes we wanted to make with bedding in our bedroom. We’ve only been married a little over a year, and the bedding I picked out on our registry wasn’t quite working out. I still have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to decorating, but I’d like to think I’ve learned a few things at least about what doesn’t work in our home. Maybe I’m completely wrong. Who knows?!

Okay, so this is what our bedroom looked like beforehand. This quilt was just a light quilt that we used this summer, but this is the best photo I could find (why didn’t I take a better photo for you guys before I redid the bedding? I don’t know.) So the bedding you’ll see today is our permanent bedding that we’ve had. There are a couple of problems we ran into with this arrangement.

First, those pillows in the back are too long for the bed. Like, they’re falling off. What was I thinking?

Second, the gray patterned pillows are the ones we actually sleep on, and I don’t like that they’re in the front. I know that’s probably like the first thing you would learn in a design book. But let’s be real, I haven’t read a lot of design books. Because, in case you hadn’t noticed, I still have no idea what I’m doing.

Lastly, (and I can’t even believe I’m typing this) the light gray patterned sheets ~~don’t hide sweat stains very well~~ aren’t very aesthetically pleasing. In case you forgot, I am married. Which means a man sleeps in my bed. So while I’m all for solid white sheets, I do have a husband to consider.

So we decided we needed to change some things up. We were anticipating an extra bit of money, so we waited until then to purchase anything. Which ended up being several months. But what are ya gonna do? Most couples probably spend their money on more important things when extra money comes in, but lucky for me, I have a husband who agrees to let me spend our money on what’s really important. Like throw pillows. He’s kinda the best. Okay, so here’s what I came up with:

So what I actually purchased were the sheets and the throw pillows. I am liking this arrangement SO MUCH better.

So the sheets are these from Target. I wanted to get something neutralish, but would still be dark enough that everyday wear wouldn’t be too evident. I’m a total white lover when it comes to pretty much all things home, but in this case I made an exception.

The white shams came with the bedding but we had never used them before. I was happy to pull them down from the closet and put them on some NORMAL sized pillows. Not ones that are literally falling off the side of the bed.

The blue throw pillows have a super soft velvet-like finish that I got from Pier1 imports. I was surprised to find out at the register that they were also on clearance. So hello, happy shopper here! They come in a wide variety of colors, and they’re super comfy!

The long throw pillow in the front is my favorite of all! I found it at HomeGoods. Funny story about it. I knew I wanted something of this shape for this spot, but I couldn’t find just the right thing. So we were at HomeGoods one weekend, and Ethan found this same pillow with yellow trim. Which of course would have been perfect if it hadn’t been yellow. I told Ethan, “I wish we could find the exact same thing, just with gray trim instead!” But they had no such thing.

So what do you know, the next day we were at a DIFFERENT HomeGoods (don’t question how often we go there, okay?), and I found this one! It was like the pillow heavens opened up and smiled down on me that day (it was also five dollars cheaper than the original yellow one I found).

I think the sheets and pillows went a long way here, but in case you didn’t notice from the first photo…I impulsively changed the headboard too! I made it by myself for completely free, because I didn’t think the old headboard worked well with the new bedding. Plus, I’m fickle and I just changed my mind too quickly. I’m going to do a full separate tutorial on the headboard, but I do think it’s the thing that brings the bedding together.

Stay tuned for that tutorial! I’m so happy with how this mini bedroom refresh turned out. I brought in so few new pieces, and the result is something I really love. I hope this inspires you to change things up at home, even if it’s just moving pillows around! 🙂

That’s it for today friends, have a fabulous day!

November 16, 2015 by Fawn Rumfield

DIY Projects, Furniture Makeover, Home Decor, Tutorials

Cane Chair Makeover…again

Have you ever done a project and just hated the results? You work hard on something, and when it’s finished, it’s just not what you thought it would be? This is what I’m sharing today. About two years ago I bought a pair of cane chairs from a thrift store for $20. I was so excited to work on them. Like, SO excited. Unfortunately, I don’t have the original picture anymore, but they were dark wood, with a gross blue fabric. I knew I wanted to make them over, but I had no idea how.

I picked some fabric out for the chairs with no thought to how it might lay on the chair. I learned a lot from this first makeover, but they just weren’t doing it for me. Here’s how they looked after makeover number one (and don’t judge me):

First of all, if you look close enough, you can see that the back legs aren’t even painted. How did I miss that?! I don’t know. I also don’t know how I lived with this for so long. Ugh.

This is a wider shot of the chairs. They are convenient, really. Ethan puts his shoes on here, and they are pretty comfortable. I like to sit here and read on occasion as well. Sidenote, our dresser is my husband’s childhood dresser (a family heirloom), deemed untouchable by the paintbrush. Anyway, looking at these chairs just makes me cringe. I’ve wanted to do something about them for so long, but the amount of work I did the first time around was torturous, and I couldn’t imagine going through that again. So I put it off for a while, thinking that since I had done it, I’d have to live with it.

But that’s just not true. I did these chairs before I got married, before I was making a home, and WAY before I started figuring out what my style was. There’s no rule out there saying you have to live with your DIY mistakes. So, I decided to take the plunge. This time, with a few ground rules. I had to do this the easiest way possible. Because last time was awful.

So let’s go through it, step by step.

I didn’t want to go through the hassle of all the buttons, so I stuffed them with stuffing. A little hot glue on top of the button, and some stuffing. Easy peasy.

I bought a $4 drop cloth and placed the seat bottom face down on the fabric.

Then I carefully pulled the corners over and stapled the dropcloth material to the bottom. The key here is to pull as tight as you can, and keep everything as neat as possible.

The seat bottom took probably a total of ten minutes, but the top section was a bit more involved.

I cut a piece of material the size of the chair back and stapled starting at the top. I found that the best way to keep it tight and even is to start at the top, then staple the bottom, and finish with the sides.

I then wrapped the chair back in quilting batting. I did this to make it a bit more comfy, and to conceal the buttons.

I then wrapped the seat back in the material, and hotglued the extra material to the backside.

I then put the seat back up against the frame, and stapled as closely to the top as possible. This is tricky, and my staple gun was not kind to my hands.

I then covered the staples with trim. I make the trim by wrapping the existing trim in the material and hotgluing it. Hot glue for the win.

The new chairs are still not perfect, but they’re much simpler, and I can live with them now. This was only my second time with reupholstery (on the same set of chairs). I still don’t have it down, but I definitely appreciate these chairs a bit more now.

Overall, they just look cleaner, smoother, and more natural.

The neutral look will allow them to be moved anywhere around our home and work.

So the moral of this story is: if you don’t like something, change it! And if you still don’t like it, change it again! I can’t say that these are perfect, but they’re working SO MUCH BETTER than before.

Have you ever done something you hated? What did you do? I’d love to hear about it! That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

July 2, 2015 by Fawn Rumfield

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