Retro Dining Chairs Make-over

Today I finally have my stair carpet and hall flooring down so it feels more like a home again and not a project.  I still need to source a couple of pictures for my walls as my old ones don't go anymore but I have the idea to possibly reuse the frames and just get art posters.  That would entail more painting of the frames as they are gold but it would save them and I hate waste.

My table and chairs are getting used and look brand new, I am so glad I saved mums chairs from being thrown out because although they were worn and faded they are a strong frame.  In the end I went for a dark grey on these, the paint was from wilko and it is cupboard and furniture paint.  You have to use primer first but at £18 pound a tin I didn't think that was bad to transform some furniture.

I gave them all a good clean, sanded them and primed them and waited twenty four hours, then I gave them all two coats of the paint.  You have to wait six hours between coats.   When choosing the fabric for the seats I went for an Orla Kiely print in mustard as I though it would look good with the grey.

I am happy with the new look and the good thing is if the seats begin to look tired then the fabric can be updated again in future as it wasn't hard to do.  I also added an extra layer of wadding to make them extra comfy.

before

after

Here are the chairs with the primer on, they actually looked like a distressed effect so if you like that sort of thing I suppose you could have varnished or waxed over them at that point.  

The table top had three coats of clear varnish after the original had been sanded off, it is matt not shiny and I also bought the varnish from Wilko. ( I ought to mention at this point that I am not affiliated with that shop, I just thought it was good value for the paints.)

Here are the pictures of the finished stairs and hall, I didn't take a before shot as I just  got straight on with it and then thought oops.  So  it was originally beige walls, with a dark red carpet and light wood laminate floor in the hall.  The walls are now an off white called cotton, white walls and ceilings and grey floors.  I think it looks more modern but we have repainted the banister mahogany (which is the same) as I have an upcycled wood cupboard and I wanted some contrast.   So I hope we manage to keep it all looking tidy for a while, it is a hallway after all.  The little cupboard is for shoes but my sons seem to think it is there so you can kick your shoes off underneath it and leave them there!  I am going to have to wrap it up for today as for some reason my text keeps vanishing every time I start a new line and I can't seem to type anything below these images Argh!! Bye for now. 

A Quick Dress Between Painting

I have been painting all day, well I had to have a brief period before I could add another coat to the first items so I decided to run up a quick dress to have a change of activity.  I started painting my table this morning, then moved on to the chairs while that was drying then a cupboard in the bathroom that needed touching up.  I have to say by this point I was ready for a change, so I thought I would use this paisley print I bought in  a sale a while ago.  Nothing too fancy I just cut around a t shirt shape I like with cap sleeves and made the back longer than the front, I cut it out long enough to make a dress and also a long strip for a belt.

I think I will add elastic at the waist as I feel when it is just a belt I am constantly arranging the pleats that gather at the waist, an elastic keeps them nice and even for you and doesn't take long.

This is comfortable as the fabric is nice and soft, it is a woven fabric no stretch so I cut a bit bigger to allow for ease of getting it on and off without the need for fastenings.  It was a good easy make and a nice break from decorating.

Having only just finished the second coat on everything, three coats of varnish on the table, I am ready for a rest!  I have a copy of Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope to get on with my next instalment of the Austin Project, I have seen a few poor reviews for this so I will see what I think.  Sometimes it is best to find out for yourself as I have read books with rave reviews that have been terrible so you never know.

Tomorrow I will choose some fabric for the chair seats so I look forward to sharing the finished items with you and early next week my hall and stair carpets should be fitted so hopefully things will be looking more presentable.

A Sew Day

Today I have had something of a sewing frenzy, a friend of mine dropped off a bag of alterations she needed sorting yesterday and I thought I would get them all done in one swoop.  Sometimes I think it is better that way as if these things  hang around in the background they are sort of there on your mind niggling at you.  There were hems, sleeves, turn-ups, buttons to be changed and curtains to be shortened with tie backs made.   To be honest there was only a thin strip left for the tie backs from the bit I chopped off the bottom but she had brought pom pom trim, can't everything be improved with pom pom trim?  Well here they are and I suddenly have an urge for tie backs decorated in this fashion.

So now that is off my mind I can move onto my next upcycle job and that is to restore some life to  a set of dining chairs that have been given to us by my mum.  She has been saying for quite a while that wanted a new set and I have to say that we have had four sets of chairs yet she has had her set nearly all my life. My current set have two splits underneath, we are not a clumsy family they just don't seem to last, my mothers set on the other hand are very 70's well worn but solid.  I think with some attention they could be great and maybe be a set that will last us too. Here they are at the moment and they are not pretty right now...

They are scuffed and some of the seats have small areas of wear but that is ok as the frames are solid, I need to rub them down to prime and then change the colour.  We have also removed the seat so I can add extra padding and new fabric to the tops.  I will take more pics once this is all complete, my dining table is still in its rubbed down state too so I will be painting the legs on that to match the chairs.

I don't know how I will be able to go back to school in September there is just too much to do ;)  well best not think about that just yet and enjoy the remaining time left.  My oldest son and my mum both have holidays to Spain booked as we all go back in September, the nice bargain kind of holiday that School staff can never have.  I know it is the same for families with School age children but that said there are a lot of people that choose to take them in term time and I can see it may be the only way to afford a family holiday.

This week I need to get back into doing my pilates, I did months where I never missed a day and marked it off my checklist each time then we went away and I just stopped.  I think I have done two half hour sessions since we got back.  It is very strange do I need a list that badly? Maybe, so I will start a new one immediately I don't want it to turn into months of not doing it.

Right I am off to start the dinner as that is one thing I can't forget to do as there are people asking what we are having.