my first attempt at a slipcover.....

was interesting to say the least.....

i have a couple of pieces of furniture that need to be recovered or reupholstered.  the thought of doing it by myself freaked me out.  i would read blogs about people that do this seemingly effortlessly.  

reupholstery is scary.  

the fabric on this small sofa is scarier.

and don't even get me started on this one...

can we just pretend that this chair is not dressed like a ghost?

this chair is actually a really nice chair whose fabric no longer fits our decor. 

the decor that i changed about 18 months ago.  being the intelligent man that my wonderful husband is, he started (18 months ago) ripping said fabric from the chair.  i was able to stop him before he got all of the fabric off but not quick enough to rip the fabric from the ottoman that i have already recovered.

but that only took a staple gun and a glue gun.

now, it looks goofy if we leave the chair uncovered. 

hence, the hillbilly slipcover, aka the paint drop cloth. 

don hates it and is convinced that i am a master upholsterer and for the life of him, cannot figure out why i haven't reupholstered this chair in a nice home decor fabric.

well, this is why...

 detail....

 detail....

and more detail, aka, piping......

like i said,  reupholstery is scary.

  

slipcovers seemed a little more doable for me. 

even though i have no real sewing skills to speak of.  

so i researched. and researched. and researched some more.  

i found and followed the video tutorial series that marian from miss mustard seed was generous enough to provide for everyone.

and i am proud to announce that after only 4 days, three broken sewing machine needles 

and two canvas drop cloths from lowes

and heavy duty thread that never did work in my sewing machine (hence one of the broken needles)

this...

became this...

no piping on the arms because piping scares me...

 and a little grey paint on the pretty legs,

it beats the white sheet i had on it before to cover it up.....

i still need to sew some ribbons on the back to keep it tied up

 but is so much prettier now than that green fabric.

 it's not perfect, there are lots of mistakes (try not to notice that the ruffle is uneven) and it tugs, pulls and buckles in places that it is not supposed to, and my seam ripper was really given a workout.

but overall, i think it turned out okay and i am glad that i finally took the plunge. 

 this one is next, and i am using the drop cloth that is part of it's ghost costume.  maybe i'll wait until after halloween......it's kinda cute!

progress....

remember this dresser?

a craigslist find from a few months back.

it came with this mirror

 and, be still my heart, these handles....

why doesn't anyone reproduce these handles?  they are gorgeous, don't you think?

i would have bought the dresser just for this hardware.  

anyway...$40.00 for the dresser and mirror....

and those beautiful handles.....

since i am lightening up my kitchen, i thought this would be a great piece to replace the black console table that was in there before. 

so i brought it in so see if it fit in the space.  it fit perfectly

so i started painting it.

 rather than painting the whole thing the same color, i opted for a white top and colored bottom. 

i used the annie sloan chalk paint in old white for the top and 

duck egg mixed with the old white and louis blue for the base.

 the detail was much prettier painted than it was in the less than attractive white with gold overspray....

the detail on the drawers is pretty too.  

but then disaster struck....

i tipped the dresser forward to touch up the paint on one of the back legs and all of the drawers slid out and landed on the floor.  

this was the result..

 crap!!!!

 oh well, nothing that i couldn't fix with a little carpenters glue 

 and a clamp....

good as new!!  

i sanded to distress around the carved detail and the edges;

i didn't paint the hardware.  i love how it pops against the color and brings down the white top.

i know that the handles are on differently, i wasn't sure how i wanted them to go.  i will stick with the way they are on the left side.

i painted the market fresh sign onto a broken dresser drawer front

that i pulled out of someone's trash.  its the one in the back that says "pants".

i painted it and stenciled the letters on.  i love the way it looks.

this dressser helps also, to lighten up the kitchen a little more. and it adds 6 drawers of storage.

and who doesn't need more storage in the kitchen, right?

what do you think?

oh, and i got this rug at ikea for $19.99.  i got it mostly to cover up the paint marks on the floor under the table. 

 when don painted the base of the table for me, (he was bored when i was out one day) he didn't use a drop cloth....(yes, that is the drop cloth right next to the table) but we are replacing the flooring anyway.

i will be painting the mirror that goes with it too and replacing the black one there.  i am just trying to decide if i want to paint it old white like the top of the dresser or duck egg like the base.  any suggestions?

i am also linking up to robyn's blog for the mountain of giveaway for annie sloan chalk paint.  i could sure use some more and if i don't have to pay for it, that would rock!!!

i'm a hottie.....

as i'm sure, is everyone else in the country this past week....

the temps have been dreadful for about 10 days.

high 90's and last thursday we hit 99 degrees.  the heat index was 110 degrees...

it hasn't gotten much better in the last few days.  it is almost too hot to do anything.  i have been taking my morning walk between 6:30 and 7:00 am and i come home in a dripping sweat.  and the dog starts tugging at the leash to go home after the first lap around the subdivision,

even though he knows we always go 3-4 laps....

he plops down on the kitchen floor when we get into the house and tries to flatten himself to get every square inch of his body onto the cool floor.

I have been very grateful this past week for: 

central air-conditioning

the neighbor's pool

air conditioning in my car

electricity to run the air conditioning

shade

air conditioning

the chance to see this

and this

during austen's baseball tournament in grand haven, michigan....an adorable little lakeside town on the west side of the state where we had the opportunity to spend last weekend.  

poor austen baked in the sun during his games

which were played in a school yard surrounded by a parking lot, a street and fortunately for me,

some trees right next to the field which kept us nicely shaded and cooled.  

they (the team) didn't do too well, only winning one game out of four but we had a really fun weekend with breakfast out at a great little restaurant in town, a great hotel with a pool, a team picnic with food that we all brought and great company with the other baseball moms and dads. 

the night before we came home, we headed to the beach and pier for some sightseeing and an ice cream cone....

i only got a few pictures of the pier but i loved this one of austen who is getting tall enough to block dad's face.  

and this one of both of my guys

and austen got this one of us

as we were leaving the pier to go back to the hotel.   

it has been too hot to do any painting lately, i just don't have the motivation or desire to fight the heat. 

i did finish up this cute little table before i left though...

painted in a striped beachy style.....

and i am getting ready to let this one go.....

a sweet little craigslist find for $20,
repainted and dressed with a paint drop cloth.

 it started out looking like this

and i will be sad to see her go......

two more projects finished.....

remember this cabinet?

 it was a tv cabinet purchased off of craigslist for $35.00.  

my friend lisa wanted a stand-alone pantry for the kitchen in her new house.  

the one she really wanted was from ikea.  this one.  that was $320.00

ooh, expensive!!

she also wanted the same color/finish as the one at ikea, which was sort of a brown with a gray wash.  i tried to replicate the color/finish but

it looked like poo-poo! 

so i started layering the paint.....

which we both liked much better.  

she also wanted it to be taller so she got these feet for it and stacked two of them together.

w

we decided to add a couple of layers of 2 x 4's to make it even taller and ultimately added more stability to the bottom of the cabinet to brace the feet.

we thought that this would be the look she ultimately wanted but we really didn't like it. 

so it got some crown moulding that i had leftover in the basement.  after it was added, it looked like 

this:

(half painted)

much better.  much, much better!!

after a few tweaks and LOTS  of work (because it was laminated paper over particle board and needed lots of primer, paint and glaze) and replacing the cardboard back panel with painted and glazed beadboard, i fulfilled her vision for it.

the revisions at the bottom of the cabinet added 13 inches to the total height.

i am 5'10.

after finishing the painting and glazing of the bottom moulding, my husband and i were attempting to move it.  we lifted it straight up and because it is so tall, it hit the top of the garage door and threw us both off balance and we DROPPED IT.  it survived, but while i was falling on my buttski and the cabinet was boinking me in the head, i ripped off the side panel of the moulding at the bottom while trying to keep the piece from taking a complete header.  

luckily, we were able to prevent any major damage and all i had to do 

was re-nail the moulding on and touch up the paint!

phew!!!!

anyway....

here is the final result...

outside

and inside....

because it was a tv cabinet, there were only 3 shelves for it.  (she has one at home)  she and her husband will add shelving as needed when she gets it to her new home in minnesota.....

here is a sneak peek of the last project for miss lisa...

love!!!!