Exactly the Chairs I Was Hoping For!

Sometimes Facebook is annoying and other times it's wonderful.  Today, I think it's wonderful.  It helped me get the word out to my friends so I could get exactly the chairs I was looking for in record time.  Let me explain...

I have been wanting two matching chairs for ages.  I actually started the hunt when we first moved into our current house in 2008.  I couldn't find the chairs and I gave up looking for a while and headed in another direction.  Then, a couple of years ago, I started looking again.

I wanted the chairs to be sturdy and comfy, but they also needed to be pet friendly.  I wanted two loose cushions in each chair and no fabric around the outside because that's way too attractive to my super destructive cat, Cindy Lou.  She has scratch pads of all sorts, but she prefers furniture.  I've tried (without success) every trick on the internet to keep her away.  I give up.  It's easier to decorate around her issues.  She likes to scratch fabric - upholstered chair backs and sides are her favorites.  So, I needed chairs without fabric on the sides on backs.

There were a number of styles that would work for me, but I never seemed to be able to find them.  I did not want to buy new.  I knew I'd eventually come across a used set at a decent price.  I've been pretty patient, but my patience finally wore thin and I decided to get more aggressive in my search.

Any of these styles would do.

Yesterday, I posted a collage on Facebook showing the various chair styles that would work.  Then, I tagged a number of my treasure hunting buddies and asked them to keep an eye out for me.  Within a few hours of that post, I had a message with a photo of just what I was looking for.

Spoon Sisters in Tyrone

Lynne, the wonderful owner of Spoon Sisters in Tyrone, saw my post and showed it to her vendors right away.  Betty, one of her vendors, had these chairs at her house.  She was planning to put them in her booth as soon as she had room.  No need for that!  I went to her house and picked them up.  By the way, Betty's house was fabulous - lots of incredible pieces of furniture - and she had the prettiest pond out back.  I wish I'd taken a photo, but it was hard to concentrate on anything but my new chairs.   I couldn't believe my search was finally over.

Love those details!

I love the details on the bamboo (or is it rattan?).  The chairs are sturdy and comfy - they definitely passed my test. They're roomy, too. I'm looking forward to having company, now that more people will be able to sit comfortably.

I didn't care what kind of shape the cushions were in.  I was pretty sure I'd be getting new cushions and having covers made for them.  As it turns out, I won't be in any rush to do that.  These cushions are in great shape and the black and white check fabric looks just fine in the room.

This is the second one on the opposite side of the sitting area.

As a bonus, these chairs will be super easy to slipcover.  I can change the look easily.  Each chair came with a small throw pillow, also in the black and white check.  I prefer to have a contrasting pattern, so I added yellow and white pillows there for now.  I will probably change those soon.  There are some other colors I want to bring out in the room.  One decorating change leads to another and I have a number of changes in mind for this room.

It's crazy how quickly I got exactly what I was looking for.  There's probably a lesson here. Good things happen fast when you ask for a little help from your friends!!!

Grateful My Home is My Hobby

It feels a bit shallow and a bit inappropriate right now, but I think I'm finding something that brings me a little joy.  I'm sprucing up my house and re-doing some things that haven't felt right.  No one would question that of an ordinary woman, but since I'm a new widow, NOTHING seems right.  I have lost my goals.  I've lost my plans.  I've lost control of what I thought was my life.  Very little makes sense anymore.  Having anything at all that feels good to do is a gift and I'm grabbing hold of it and running.

I love quotes.  I find tons of inspiration from reading.  First, I came across a bit that I have always believed.

Once is a happenstance.  

A second time is a coincidence.  

A third time is a significance.  

That quote was fresh on my mind when I had a few encounters which seemed particularly meaningful right now.

I didn't give the first encounter much notice. I read a little something about finding a hobby or some little something to do as a way to get past trauma.

Next, I read an article about a woman who had 3 sad events in three years - a divorce, a death in the family and a fiance who  dumped her.  She felt she had lost control of her life (that got my attention).  She had threw herself into decorating a house and found that he healed as she fixed up her house.   She wrote a book about it - Bee Cottage. You can read more about it HERE.

My third encounter was as good as a note from above giving me permission to play.  I bought a used copy of Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach at Goodwill.  I'd read that book (all about gratitude) when it first came out in 1995, but decided it might be worth reading again.  I'm using anything I can to keep me from sinking into dark places.  The book is written calendar style. There's a short chapter each day.  I started on the appropriate date.

The July 29th chapter was The Home as a Hobby.  She quotes a 1929 magazine article. The quote is long and I'm too lazy to write the whole thing, but my favorite part was this -

A home which is not a fair expression of us at our best, a home which lacks what it might have, a home which is in any part more ugly or in any part more uncomfortable than it absolutely need be... a home which cannot be run without waste, a home which by any detail gets on the nerves of its inhabitants and so impairs the harmony of their existence - something ought to be done about such a home.  Why not make the perfecting of the home a hobby?

To me that quote isn't about following the latest style trends or creating spots in your house that would make perfect Pinterest photos.  It's about creating a home that promotes comfort and happiness and life.

I've already been trying to do improve things in my house a little, but now maybe I'll put a little more effort into it.  I don't work fast.  You can't when you prefer to buy used.  The hunt is half the fun.  Well, today's treasure hunting went a little better than expected.  It went so well that I'll need to put off additional treasure hunting for awhile.

First, I bought this extra large stool.  No need to paint or recover - the colors work well as is.  And I got it for a song.  It's in the guest room.

I had moved the bench that was there to my bathroom.  This wood bench was made by my hubby a year or two ago, before he got sick.  When he made it, I wasn't crazy about it.  It's a little too high and the seat area seems too hefty.  Rudy built things as if they were going to be tested in a tornado.  He made the bench for us to sell, but for some reason we kept it.  I'm really glad now.  I like the idea of having it placed where I'll see it more often.  Plus, it's really functional in it's new place.  Also, check out the curtains in this photo.  That's actually a chenille bedspread.  I'm thinking of making it into a curtain and before cutting it up decided to hang it from cafe rings to try it out.  I'm liking it.  One more thing - the walls will be painted white as soon as I get in the mood to paint. Who knows when that'll be.

I've had these three framed greenery pictures in the master bath for a while now. Just yesterday, I thought about how pretty green towels would look in this mostly white room.  I was fairly specific when envisioning the color - celery green.

This photo just shows 2 of the ones I found.  Everything else has been put out.

Guess what I found at an antique mall today?  A towel set of celery green towels.  Two huge bath towels, two hand towels, two washcloths and a fabulous bath mat.  All in pristine condition.  All the tags still intact - they are from Restoration Hardware.  Lush as all getout.  I know antique malls.  I can tell you all about most of the ones in the area.  Towels are not something I recall ever seeing at any of my favorite stores.  To find a set like this was a huge surprise.  I washed the whole set the minute I got home and everything is in place now.  They are fabulous!

I also found these cool vintage metal chairs.  They are finished in a funky bohemian style which really caught my eye.  There are 4, but the vendor came in while I was browsing and it turns out I know her. She's such a sweet lady.  She told me she has two more at home and she's going to bring them in for me sometime next week.  Please don't judge the crowded arrangement and un-put-together look in this photo.  The balmy weather here is horrendous right now.  It's comparable to a Turkish steam bath.  August is usually worse, which is hard to imagine. I may not work on this porch til Fall.

So... my hobby may not be noble, but by golly it's giving me something to be interested in, other than to just get through another day.  And Sarah Ban Breathnach would agree that is something to be grateful for!

Mis-Matched Chairs at the Table

I am not a big fan of decor being perfectly matched.  I don't like sticking to a color palette   lately, I've also become of fan of not using matched sets of chairs at a table.  I recently decorated a feature booth at the store where I have a booth.  It has mis-matched chairs.  I am hoping that more odd chairs come into the store soon.  I need a few more colorful ones to get just the look I am after.  A photo of this booth is shown at the bottom of this post.

First, let me show you some of the examples that inspired me.   There are lots of ways to beautifully use different chairs together.  Usually, but not always, there's something that ties them together - color, fabric, or style.

source: Remodelista

source Southern Living via My Home Ideas

source: The Cottage of Vinnord

source: Braebourne Farm

source: Coastal Living

source: Scott Little via  Braebourne Farm

source: Style Files

source: BHG

source: Wedding Chicks

Sarah Jessica Parker's house - as seen on Elle Decor

source: Snap

Source: Dreams and Happy Things

source: My Dream Home

as seen on The Decorologist

This next example is my favorite of all.  I love the colors and un-matched look that magically comes together.  this is a photo that I keep coming back to.  I keep trying to figure out what it is that draws me.  I haven't cracked the code yet.  Sometimes I can block out one or two things in a photo and the room will turn blah.  Not this room.  I do think the white walls are important  Any other color might ruin the look.

Am I alone? Is anyone else fascinated by this room?

source: Molly Sims

Last, here's the table in the feature booth I put together at the store with the help of my sweet friend, Nicole. Don't you think we need some colorful chairs?  I found one chair in a vibrant color and it just wasn't right.  Oh well, obviously this room is not lacking in color.  I think after decorating in "The White Booth" for so long, I am swinging in the opposite direction!

Table and Chairs - Before and After

I completed a table and chair set and it *finally* turned out well.

I put the set in The B Hive Booth at Rockin' B.  The chairs sold in a couple of days.  Wow.

The chairs were my first set after I got married.  Back then, pine furniture was the rage. I used them like that for several years. I stained them dark when the next style came along.  At some point their rush seats became tattered and I put the chairs in storage.  I have no idea why I didn't get rid of them all this time.

Now that I have a booth, I knew it was time for me to give these chairs a new lease on life.  First, I wove new seats.  I wove them out of drop cloth fabric and they looked pretty cool.  I hate painting chairs and was hoping I could get away with leaving these dark. I put them over at Rockin' B and waited.  Every time I looked at them, I felt a pang of regret.  I should have painted them.  And they didn't sell.  Once we started the B Hive Booth, with everything white and cream, I new the time had come.  I needed to take those chairs back home and paint them!

Painting took a bit more time because now I had to tape off the woven seats. In the end it was worth it.

I love, love, love them, and even thought about keeping them.  After a firm talk with myself about not keeping everything I like, I took them over to the booth.

The table was just a butcher block top with painted legs that was so popular 10 or so years ago.  It's sturdy and well made.  I love the size of it - just right for a small kitchen table.  It would even work great as a desk and I considered keeping it for that.  But I was firm with myself again and didn't.  I needed a table to go with my chairs.

The table turned out nice, but the distressing wasn't as striking as the chairs because the under color was not dark.  It was still pretty, don't get me wrong, but it didn't go perfectly with the chairs. Still I prefer the look of the chairs and think I may play around with painting dark undercoats the next time I paint a light piece of furniture.  

In the end, it didn't matter that the table didn't quite match the chairs.  The woman who bought the chairs already had a table.  Now I'm thinking of setting the table up to look like a desk.  All it needs is a great chair to put with it.

By the way, most everything on and around this table sold within a matter of days.  The chairs, the tablecloth, the bowl, the chandelier...  sold, sold, sold, and sold.  This booth is loads of fun, but it sure is hard keeping it full.  That's a wonderful problem to have.

Mr. Wheat's Rockers

Mr. Wheat replaced his front porch rockers.  He gave the four old ones to me.  The bones were good and sturdy but had definitely seen better days.  Time for a bit of rocker resuscitation!

The first step was to remove all the seat rushing.  This was no small task.  It was messy and dusty.  Mr. Wheat keeps a spotless home, but anytime furniture is left outside, even on a covered porch, the are places that even a clean freak can't clean.  Between the rushes is one of those places.

Next I painted the rockers white.  Painting chairs and rockers is very tedious, so I decided this was a fine time to finally try out my new power spray paint gizmo.

That may have been my first and last time using a power sprayer.  I have a love/hate relationship with the thing.

LOVE:

• It covers in no time.  

HATE:

• It uses up paint at a shocking rate.  
• Each time the container gets a little low (which is very, very often), the paint spits out, making blobs that need to be touched up immediately.  
• At one point I didn't screw the container on correctly and when I picked up the sprayer, the container dropped and paint went everywhere.  
• I used three large dropcloths.  (The photo above doesn't show them all.  I had already started moving stuff when I remembered to take a photo.)  Three dropcloths was not enough.  
• The sprayer should not be used when there's any wind at all.  
• The sprayer needs to be cleaned up very, very well, otherwise it won't work well the next time you use it.  It takes a long time and a lot of water to clean all the parts. 
• By the end I was exhausted and covered in paint from head to toe.  I am not a power sprayer kind of girl.  I'll stick to my nice and slow and slightly meditative old fashioned painting.  But the chairs turned out great.

Note - If you had two very organized people working together and you had a lot of things you wanted to paint the same color and  if you were willing to use up a lot of paint and if you had a great place to paint with lots of drop-cloths, the power sprayer could be a very good thing.

Once the paint had thoroughly cured, it was time to weave the seats and back. 

I have a chair-weaving tutorial in a previous post.

Even though I stuck to a color palette of red, green, tan, and white, the pattern is still a little busy.  I'm not worried.  Once I add pillows and cushions, not so much of the pattern will show up.  Meanwhile, the pattern hides dirt and fur.

Once I sat in the chairs, I realized that they weren't all that comfortable.  They could use some cushions.  Not a problem.  I came across four old cushions at a yard sale that fit perfectly.

 

The cushions are weathered and worn, but that didn't concern me.  I'm planning to make covers for them in a pretty fabric.  That means I can't mark this project off my list.  I also want to add small pillows on the chairs.  That's not a huge rush.  I'm keeping my eye out at yard sales.  Maybe I'll even come across some that don't need to be re-covered! 

I have shared this post on the following link parties:

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors

Favorite Things Saturday at Bargain Hunting with Laurie 
Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello  

Sunday Showcase at Under the Table and Dreaming 

Bar Stool Color Burst

I've been going a little wild with color lately.  And for some reason, I haven't been hesitant about it.  In fact, I'm just plunging right in with abandon. 

I think it started with wanting green chairs at my dining table.  That's still a work in progress.

Next I found some wild fabric that I love.  You'll see that in a minute.  It's what I used to cover my bar stools.

Then, I went to an estate sale that was amazing.  It has haunted me.  I think the man who had lived there was a decorator... a really good one and his house was wonderful.  It was very livable, not stuffy at all.  He used color in just the right amounts.  It wasn't overpowering (like my house will be if I keep bringing in crazy things).  I find myself thinking about him a lot and hoping he had a happy life. 

I spent a small fortune at that sale.  Some things I put into my booth. Lots of it has already sold.  Some things I'm keeping.  One is a colorful framed poster. 

 

It is a reproduction of a vintage French advertising art poster for umbrellas in Paris, France by Italian artist Leonetto Cappiello (1875 – 1942). It is entitled ' Parapluie Revel'.  I found conflicting information about the words.  Parapluie is the french word for umbrella.  No conflict there.  But some say Revel is the name of a french umbrella company which doesn't exist anymore.  Another source said revel means 'to take great pleasure or delight', so basically the poster says "Umbrella-Delight".

I also bought some wonderful Fiesta dishes.  They aren't terribly old - most are from 1997 to 2004.  I had been thinking about changing my white dishes to colorful Fiesta ones.  Now, the transition is in full swing.  I need more.  I can't decide if I should go buy some new pieces or just wait til I come across more when I'm out thrifting.  Somehow I don't feel confident about finding many of those secondhand.

I'm really enjoying using them.  My salads look so much more exciting on a Feista platter than in a plain white bowl.

Now to my main topic - the bar stools. I have thought about recovering them for months.  I'd thought about using a grain sack or something.  But then I found this crazy fabric and decided to head in that direction.  The fabric has my green in it.

The fabric that was on them was pretty, but didn't fit my current decorating mood.

I'm still getting used to the new look.  They make me feel good to look at them, but at the same time, I think they may be a little too much.  I'm keeping them this way until they wear out or I get tired of them.  They're fun.

The rugs, on the other hand, need to go!!!

By the way, I had lots of assistance from Sissy while recovering the seats.  

She's very helpful.

Chair Weaving Tutorial

Here it is.  The much requested how-to on weaving chair seats.

Preparation:

Find a chair that needs a new seat.  Ladderback chairs are great. Lots of rockers are suitable.  Remove all the old chair weaving.  Clean up and paint or stain if necessary.  If you paint it, give it plenty of time to cure before weaving.  The yellow chair in this post came from a recent yard sale.  It was already an interesting chippy yellow so I didn't even bother to repaint it.

Find material - lots of it - and rip or cut it into strips. I usually make my strips about 2 inches wide, but you can vary that for different looks. I mostly use old sheets, but sometimes I use tablecloths, curtains, or nice fabric.  I love finding sheets at Goodwill or yard sales to re-purpose.  You can use a wild assortment of colors.   Sometimes it looks good.  Sometimes it looks obnoxious. I've done that in the past with awful results.  You can use a single color. (I recently did a set of 4 chairs with dropcloth fabric.) My favorite thing is to use a limited color palette for a more coordinated look.

Weaving:

Find a good movie to watch.  You're going to be here for awhile.

Put all the fabric strips where they are in easy reach.  Have scissors nearby.

Start tying the strips across and under the chair.  If the fabric has a good side and bad side, make sure the good side is facing out where it'll be seen.  Don't worry too much about loose threads.  You want the strips fairly tight, but there's no need to be obsessive about it.

I like to tie the knot on top where it's easy to get to then slide the strip around so the knot is on bottom.  You can only do that for the pieces going across.  (Is that weft or warp?  I've forgotten weaving terms.)

Scrunch the strips together towards the front (widest end) as you go.  Keeps adding more strips til you get to the end.  I ended up with 12 strips front to back on this particular chair.  There will be a lot of knots with pieces hanging down underneath.  I cut those ends to about 4 inches.

Now for the weaving.   You have to know at least a little about how to weave because I don't think I could adequately explain that to somebody who has no idea at all.  If you ever did a paper weaving project in elementary school, you probably know enough.

Top

I weave a few strips on top, then turn the chair upside down and weave it on the bottom.  I weave so the ends meet somewhere in the middle of the bottom and then I tie the two ends together.

Bottom

I cut the ends to about 4 inches and tuck them under so they don't show from the top or the bottom.  Try not to put all the knots in one spot.  Try not to put any knots too close to an edge.

Turn the chair back over.  Scrunch the strips together.  Weave in more strips. Keep adding more strips til you finish.  Clip the loose threads. Stand back and admire your chair.

By the way, this is not my favorite chair that I've done.  This one is very chippy and rustic.  I'm in love with greens right now and the last green chair I wove is probably one of my favorites.  I have 4 rockers that I hope to do soon.  I'm thinking about doing them in a similar look.

How does it hold up?  You won't believe how well!  We have cats and dogs.  I have  rockers with woven seats and backs that have been on a porch year-round for over a decade.  The fabric is a bit faded, but the seats (and backs) are still strong and sturdy.  They are comfy, too!

If you use this tutorial to weave your own chairs, I'd love for you to let me know how it came out. Send me a photo if you can!

I've linked this post with the following blog parties:

• Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors 
• Favorite Things Saturday at Bargain Hunting with Laurie  
• Air Your Laundry Friday - Freckled Laundry 
• DIY Project Parade at The DIY Showoff
• Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch