Good things take time....

So about a year ago I sold these chairs to a lady in Auckland who was redecorating her house and was hoping to have it featured in the "Your home and garden" magazine. Since I hadn't heard back from her regarding the magazine feature and it had been so long ago I had kind of given up on it ever happening let alone a picture of my chairs being included. About a month ago though I received a brief email from her asking for my business details and this month my chairs have been included as part of the feature of her redecorated home.

Sorry about the quality of the photo but here are my chairs looking very at home in their new owners house don't you think ;-) It's a very cool feeling to have something that I spent hours creating be featured in a beautiful magazine like this....

Paper patchwork.....

 

 A couple of months ago my china cabinet got water damaged from a burst water pipe. I've had a few burst water pipes in the last year or so but this one was quite spectacular in that it was coming out of the wall in a fountain across the room. Unfortunately this china cabinet was directly underneath it....

On the plus side of this unfortunate incident was that I had always intended to  remove the ugly old wallpaper that graced its interior but just hadn't been able to prioritise it to the top of my 'to do' list. Every time I opened it I was greeted with a grandmotherly musty smell. I dragged it out onto my deck so I could make the removal job of the old paper a bit more pleasant by doing it in the sun. It took quite a few hours to scrape off the layers of paper as I discovered the top layer was covering 2 more layers of ugly old wallpaper.

 I have had a collection of Amy Butler prints for a while now waiting for a perfect project to show them off on although I did use a few on this table here last year. I cut out the paper squares and pasted them on all in one evening. So much more pleasurable than scraping off the old paper.

I'm so very pleased with how this cabinet looks now. It really has given it a new lease of life with its modern vintage look.

Oh and it smells so much nicer now :-)

3 Retro chair makeovers...

 Earlier this year I inherited three of these retro 70's lounge chairs from my Mother who was moving to a smaller home. There were originally six of these chairs which were purchased to go in my parents shoe shop and then once that was sold three of them ended up in my parents home.

 That lovely faded yellow boucle` fabric which was once a  bright "70's" orange had to go and the wooden arm rests were in desperate need of some 'TLC'.

 And here they are, finally finished with 3 different but much more cheerful Scandinavian prints purchased at Andshine on Etsy.  

 The metal chair frames were given a fresh coat of blue/grey spray paint. Much nicer than their original dreary brown don't you think ;-)

 I'm really pleased with how the arm-rests turned out which I sanded back then applied 3 layers of polyurethane to bring out the lovely wood grain.

I like them all but this pretty butterfly print is my favourite and is designed and printed by an old Swedish fabric company called "Klippan", a family run business that was established back in 1879.

Upcycling ......

 Feeling pretty pleased to have some finishes this week to show everyone. The painted stool took a lot longer than I anticipated but now it is finally finished I am very happy with how it's turned out. It took a good couple of days to sand off the original dirty off-white paint to reveal yet another layer of an ugly wood dark stain. Forgot to photograph some before shots but they were both in well need of a freshen-up :-)

Once it was stripped back bare I applied 2 coats of undercoat then 3 coats of each colour of top coat. Each triangle had to be taped up with painters tape to get those nice clean straight edges so that slowed the process down a lot but so worth the extra time and effort. Then to protect all that painting from wear and tear I applied 3 coats of polyurethane. 

And this stool has been waiting very patiently for its makeover since I bought it way back in January. I just couldn't find/decide on the perfect fabric. The fabric I have used is a Scandinavian print produced by Swedish textile company "Klippan" who only use top quality natural fibres and incidentally use New Zealand lambswool for their blankets. This particular print is 50% cotton & 50% linen and was purchased from "Andshine" on Etsy 

 Just love the way piping gives such a professional look to an item.

And this is what is keeping my hands busy at night. I think I'm nearly 2/3 finished.

Work in progress....

 Working with these yummy colours today on my one of my current projects. I know, I just can't get away from the 'blue/green' combo but they looked good together on the "Pinterest" photo that inspired this paint effect :-) I picked them out yesterday down at my local Bunnings shop where I have to say the staff there are very helpful and friendly and don't make me feel like I have know idea what I'm talking about. 

This stool is just one of my current 'work in progress' projects that I seem to be multi-tasking on at present. I have chairs that are awaiting fabric, chairs that are awaiting new foam for the seats and another 2 stools that are awaiting fabric to arrive. It doesn't go with my personality to have so many projects half done as I generally like to finish a project completely and move on but I'm learning to be flexible :-)

My painting assistant taking a break from playing with my brushes and trying to drink the water that is meant for cleaning the brushes....

Flag inspired retro dining chairs

 Finished up the last of these chairs yesterday afternoon.  Once again one of my neighbours helped me out and fixed a couple of the chair seat bases that were in need of some minor strengthening repairs.

 So after I had finished the Union Jack chair, inspiration came to me to do the other two chairs with simple flag designs so they would have not only be a similar colour but also have some sort of theme in common too. A quick search on Google and I came up with the 'Swiss' and 'Norwegian' flag designs chosen because of their simplicity and similar colour combos. I also needed them to look good with the blue and white stripe oilcloth that I already and put aside to cover the seats. So pleased with how they have turned out. Wish I had more of these chairs to re-vamp now... Which one do you like best??

Ready for the fun stage

Stripped of the layers of old paint these 3 retro dining chairs are now ready for their makeover. There is the odd chip in various places which I think will just add to their charm. Now that they are in their bare wood condition I can really appreciate the lovely simple design and wish I had more to makeover. Can't wait to get started on the painting stage now.

Works in progress....

 There is something very satisfying in scraping off bubbled paint. I'm feeling very grateful for the sunny weather so I can do this messy job outside in the fresh air and sunshine.

These chairs are my new project for the next week. They have been hiding in an old bach which has now been sold and the owners were having a clean out over the Easter break. I have a different plan for each one which involves some new oilcloth and padding for the seat and decorative painting on the frames. 

A good days work.....

 Yes I can finally reveal another finished re-upholstered chair and yes this is the twin of this chair that I recovered a couple of months back.  I had to wait until my neighbour who generously helps me out and lets me use his workshop had some free time in his work load plus I too have been busy working on orders from my Etsy shop. Last Saturday we were finally able to get together and work on it for most of the day and then on Friday I put the final touch of applying the braiding to the bottom edges. 

I have to say I was a little nervous about starting this chair as I thought I may have forgotten all the techniques I had been shown, not to mention using the super fast industrial sewing machine again but most things came back to me and I seem to be getting used to using a bigger faster sewing machine. Just like learning to drive a car, the more you do it the more you get used to it and it becomes second nature eventually.

 I am pleased with how it turned out too. The fabrics are still quite a bold look but a little more mellow than the other chair. These photos are taken in our backyard and are kindly photo-bombed by Amelia's cat.

So now that I've finished these chairs I guess I need to think of what my next furniture re-do will be next???

A not so small finish....

 Finished up this chair just this afternoon, phew! It was quite a bit of work and time to get it from it's 'nannerish' state to this fresh, bold and beautiful look. I eventually chose 3 quite different fabrics that I think compliment each other well.

 The piping is made up from the fabric used on the base and I love the way it adds a nice contrast to the 2 floral patterned fabrics.

 Yes, that lattice cane work on the back and sides took a good 2 or 3 hours to paint....and a little bit of patience helped...

 And yes those cushions are reversible ;-)

I am very thankful once again to my very generous and patient neighbour who is a professional upholsterer but lets me work beside him in his workshop showing and helping me each step of the way. 

 

Just like on my first re-upholstered chair makeover I learnt a lot of 'new to me' techniques and I'm very grateful to my neighbour for being so giving of his time and knowledge. I have this chairs "twin" to do next so I'm hoping I can remember everything I learnt! As much as I'd like to keep it for myself this chair is for sale. I haven't quite settled on a price yet but if anyone's interested in having this chair brightening up a corner in your home let me know either in the comments or via my facebook page.

A custom ordered Union Jack....

 I've been working on painting this Union Jack design for the past couple of days. It's for a good friend that lives just a few houses away who has a tiny obsession with all things British :-)

It's painted on a drawer that is no longer needed as a drawer so it has become the perfect canvas for another Union Jack to grace her beautiful home. 

I learnt a few good little techniques when I painted my first Union Jack design on Caitlin's desk. The most helpful thing I learnt was to use proper painters tape instead of masking tape to ensure nice clean lines with no bleeding which means I had very minimal touch-up painting to do. I find this sort project so satisfying to work on especially at the end when I get to reveal the white lines under the masking tape. Hope my client is pleased with my efforts :-)

Stripped back and bare....

The next chair to be resurrected from "nannerish ugly" to fresh, bold and beautiful :-)

 The dusky pink fabric and smelly wadding and foam is gone, and after a few hours of sanding so has that  dark stain. Yes it took a bit of elbow grease and sweat to get rid of that dark stain but now its finally ready for a fresh coat of paint. 

These fabrics arrived right on Christmas eve so it felt like an early Christmas present for me. Purchased here at Hawthorne Threads which I can thoroughly recommend. The next step is to decide on the right fabric combination and a coordinating paint colour. Decisions, decisions.... any input would be greatly welcomed :-)

Just a small finish......

 Okay so I haven't yet done a post on what I finished last week but this is this weeks finish which I am just a wee bit proud of :-) I started this project way back here about 6 weeks ago.  It didn't take 6 weeks to do, I just did other things in between.  It did take a couple of days to remove all the old coverings, tacks and rusty nails though which was not a pleasant job but well worth the end result.

 I am very blessed to live in a street of generous caring neighbours and one of those neighbours happens to be a qualified upholsterer who generously let me work beside him in his workshop, helping me with each step of the process, using his tools and readily imparting his knowledge, and years of experience with me. Another neighbour also helped me by fixing up one of the back legs that was a bit broken and wobbly. I am looking forward to showing him the end result because he struggled to see its potential as he fixed it for me. 

 I think it took about 6 hours or maybe a little less to recover it including sewing the piping. I used a industrial sewing machine for the first time and felt like a complete novice sewer again as it goes way faster than a domestic.

 I probably chose the most difficult chair to reupholster for a first project but on the upside I learnt a lot of upholstery techniques that you would only learn from someone in the trade. I now know that some of the online tutorials that I have read recently are simply the wrong way of doing things.

 The main floral fabric was an off-cut from a piece of curtaining from my neighbour which I had had for a few months waiting for the perfect project to show it off. I bought the chevron print from Spotlight as a contrast to the large flowers and I really love how they look together with the pop of colour from the turquoise piping and legs. What I really enjoyed as I was applying the fabric was seeing my original vision of how I wanted it to look come into reality.

I'm not usually into giving objects names but I am naming this cute but bold little chair "Amy" after the street we bought our first house on which is where we first acquired this chair, quite a few (unspecified) years ago.Yes she's been very patiently waiting far too long for a much needed makeover.