Refinishing the Legs

Hi! Here is the second part in my reupholstering adventure! I am so excited to share this with you all because I am so excited with how this turned out!! Its like getting an A+ on a test you thought you would never pass! :)

This part is Refinishing the legs. It was by far the EASIEST part in this. Incase you missed it you can check out the first step here in: Love Seat Reupholstering.

The steps all together are 

Removing the Old

Refinishing the Legs

How to Make Piping

Tufting!

Reupholstering

Once the loveseat was down to its base:

 I sanded the legs very lightly with 320 grit sand paper. I sanded by hand since they are curved and pretty worn out from being so old - there was not much varnish. There were a few paint stains that I wanted to sand out. 

Before:

The stain I used was AMAZING! It was the General Finishes in Java - Gel Stain. I was unable to find it locally so I ordered it on Amazon. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be as thick as it was - but its really like hair gel thick. I applied with a cloth and rubbed it in until it was even. I only did two coats and finished with a spray polyurethane. 

 The finished product: The dark really makes the wood look rich and new.

[Sorry for the poor lighting]

Mission accomplished!

Stop, Look, & Link Party Week 8 & Features!

Hi! Welcome to our Linky Party - This party is hosted by Alexandra @ In Designer Jeans and Lauren @ All Things Homie. We are very excited to see all of your great projects and ideas! 

Once the party is done we will post the most viewed links and a few of our favorites so be sure to check back next week to see if you are featured.

We finally had out first spell of cold weather and rain... FALL IS HERE! Woohoo! Time to bust out the scarfs and hot chocolate. Thank you to everyone who linked up last week! We had 28 links!! That is our largest party so far! We cannot wait to see what you have for us this week :)


Features from last weeks Stop, Link, & Look party:


Check out this super good idea from While Wearing Heels - An ironing Mat that sticks to your dryer!

About Blogging Time Shared this adorable catch all tote! You can never have too many tote bags! :)

SweetPepperRose showed us how to make a very 'green' Halloween wreath!

Lauren loved the Boo Cuteness from Ribbons & Glue - The ghosts look so fun and festive!

Alexandra's pick was the Burlap Love form Turtles and Tails - absolutely LOVE anything that involves burlap!

Thank you again for everyone's support! <3

Now its party time!

The guidelines are simple, promise!

Please follow your lovely hosts :)

Link back in some way... Grab a button on the side bar or a text link on your page

Link projects, crafts, recipes, fun stories, or anything created in some way by YOU
Please do not link up other parties, stores, or giveaways

It is not required but would be much appreciated to check out other links and share the blog love! <3

The party will start at 10am! 
Have fun!

Love Seat Reupholstering!

Hello! I have been busy working on the little love seat I mentioned here - and it is OH SO CLOSE to being finished! 

I wanted to start sharing my reupholstering adventure and how I did it. I started a lot of research online on reupholstering and even spoke to a very helpful man at a local shop. I was very intimidated to get started, it is quite a project, and from everything I read online striping the piece down to its bare form is 75% of the battle. 

This is the first of five posts on this project - I thought about the best way to accurately describe how I went about it and explain my process. 

The next steps are:

Refinishing the Legs

How to Make Piping

Tufting!

Reupholstering

BUT first things first - lets remove all of the OLD and bring on the new :)

I decided to remove all of the old foam and batting too - it is over 100 years old and worn out... Not to mention it smells a little off..

*** Be sure to take a bunch of pictures not only in the beginning but as you go**

Here was my starting point:
 [Baby thinks this is for her]

I started by removing the black dust cover on the bottom.
As you go - keep a list of the order in which you removed the parts - it will help with the reassembly.
AND remove the staples as carefully as possible - the old fabric will be the pattern for your new fabric and save a ton of time.

To remove the staples I used this handy little guy [borrowed from my dad - but any hardware store sells them] and a pair of needle nose pliers.

This is tedious work - there are literally thousands of staples.

The next step was removing the back:
 Be sure to keep track of how each piece was stapled on. The back sides used a tack strip which I saved.

Then the side panels 

After the back and the sides were moved I had a general understanding of how the piece was put together initially and wasn't so intimidated. 

Now that the basic parts were removed it was time to move on to the next step:

The seat - the front of the seat had two rows of piping with a band to create a nice finish on the front meaning lots of staples.

The cardboard strips along the edges help to keep the fabric in a nice straight and clean line when stapling.

Once I had the seat removed the back part was very easy to remove.

The most difficult part of this process for me was the arms. There was alot of curves, nail heads, and tight spaces. 

Curve ease was used along the wing back portion - I saved this as well since it was such a small strip.

Getting so close:

The last part was going through and removing any missed staples, broken staples, and pieces of the fiberfill that was used as a padding.

With the broken staples that were too small to pull out with plier I tacked in with a hammer and lightly sanded the bare wood with a 320 grit to smooth out any rough edges.

TaDaaaa:

SO crazy to see it down to its bare frame.. kinda nutso that this is what furniture starts with!
Every reupholstery project is different - I am going to tackle this wing backed, tufted, and nail head studded love seat :)

Stop, Look, & Link Party Week 7 & Features!

Hi! Welcome to our Linky Party - This party is hosted by Alexandra @ In Designer Jeans and Lauren @ All Things Homie. We are very excited to see all of your great projects and ideas! 

Once the party is done we will post the most viewed links and a few of our favorites so be sure to check back next week to see if you are featured.

Fall is starting to finally arrive! The trees are changing and the weather is cooling [a little bit at least]. Can you believe Thanksgiving is only five weeks away!? Hope that everyone had a nice week and are enjoying the changing seasons too! :)
Thank you to everyone who took the time, stopped by, linked up, and shared the love! Its fun to see everyone's great ideas and decorations !!!


Features from last weeks Stop, Link, & Look party:

Thank you A Casarella for sharing Faux Zink Letters! They look so good!

Check out the Hobbit Cape from See Make Love - Capes are such a fun way to stay warm!!

Lauren thought the Pumpkin Cheesecake Trifle from Turtles and Tails Looked Delicious!

Alexandra's pick was the DIY Halloween Apothecary Jars from Crafting the Night Away!

Thank you again for everyone's support! <3

Now its party time!

The rules are simple, promise!

 Please follow both of your hosts! 

Link back in some way... Grab a button on the side bar or a text link on your page

Link projects, crafts, recipes, fun stories, or anything created in some way by YOU
Please do not link up other parties, stores, or giveaways

It is not required but would be much appreciated to check out other links and share the blog love! <3

The party will start at 10am! 
Have fun!

Backstage at the Deftones

Last week I had such an amazing experience! Z and I went to the Deftones show in San Francisco and watched the whole show from backstage! That is something that I had never done before, and I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the floor once they started playing. My husband is friends with the guitar player, Stef, so over the years I have been to many Deftones shows, as we try to go and say hi whenever the band is playing locally [or semi locally]. All of the shows I have been too have such a good energy to them because they are such nice guys, have great music, and it is always packed. BUT seeing their performance from fifteen feet away and looking out to see 2,500 people watching them was unreal. 

I snapped a few photos of it - hope enjoy it! 

The Deftones new album, KOI NO YOKAN, comes out November 13, 2012! 

Stop, Look, & Link Party Week 6 & Features!

Hi! Welcome to our Linky Party - This party is hosted by Alexandra @ In Designer Jeans and Lauren @ All Things Homie. We are very excited to see all of your great projects and ideas! 

Once the party is done we will post the most viewed links and a few of our favorites so be sure to check back next week to see if you are featured.

It is the start of that busy time of year again and we totally know how hectic things can get, with family functions, event planning, and decorating every few weeks on top of all of the existing projects and creative ventures! 
Thank you to everyone who took the time, stopped by, linked up, and shared the love! Its fun to see everyone's great ideas and decorations as we transition into fall! Last week was our biggest party yet!!!
WoooHoooo!


Features from last weeks Stop, Link, & Look party:

Our top TWO links this week came from Teenah's Projects!

Thank you so much for sharing your kitchen update - it turned out really great! 

Aaaand your fall table decor! We are loving ALL of your ideas!

Check out what a little paint and love can do to this old dresser from Kayboo Creations:

Lauren's Pick was the adorable (and simple) top from Dindin Does- how cute is the sheer fabric?!

Alexandra's pick was the the Lollipop Masks & Halloween Rings- so fun and easy to do! 

Thank you again for everyone's support! <3

Now its party time!

The rules are simple, promise!

 Please follow both of your hosts! 

Link back in some way.. Grab a button on the side bar or a text link on your page

Link projects, crafts, recipes, fun stories, or anything created in some way by YOU
Please do not link up other parties, stores, or giveaways

It is not required but would be much appreciated to check out other links and share the blog love! <3

The party will start at 10am! 
Have fun!

New Decor

So this past week Z and I have decided to completely redecorate our home. We I have filled the space with a bit of randomness here and there. It was time to clean house - literally- and start over! Sooo we got rid of the bed in the spare room, our old coffee table, our dining table (yes, the one i refinished - it turned out to be too big in our home), and a lounge chair that we never sit in. Most of the items went on craigslist to put into our new furniture fund and a few large bags went to good will! With that being said the once office is now going to be Z's home studio (we bought an awesome desk!!!), we ordered amazing lounge chairs that will not arrive until January to fill the space that was once a dining room, and the spare room is now the office/sewing room. 

 [I WILL post pictures once everything is complete and our furniture arrives]

The office/ sewing room is where my pie safe with all of my crafting supplies live and it is where my love seat that is currently being reupholstered will be too! I want to create a fun and chic space that I can work from and enjoy too. A few months back I saw this photo from the 

Shelter Blog

And fell in LOVE!! I knew there was a reason I saved all of my old designer bags!! 

I figured this was the perfect time to finally make my version of this - so off to Ikea I went - they have a great selection of frames that are wood with glass and a great deal!

I immediately started putting them together:

(dont mind the messy couch)

Once I had them all framed I laid them out on the newly empty dining room floor to get the placement:

And then I measured all around them and the space between and then very carefully put nails and picture hangers in the wall. I used two spaced two inches apart as all of the frames had wire on the back - which made leveling a breeze!!

I had a really hard time capturing a good picture - Im not sure if it was the lighting from the window or lack there of but....

Viola!

I am super happy with the result and cannot wait to have my little love seat beneath it with a cool rug and side table! 

Tres Chic