Makeovers--2008

So, in the blogging world, is it fashionable to come late to a party, or is it rude? Because I am doing it every time! But you know I hate to miss a good party, so I dash over for a little bit, anyway!

Today (it's today for 20 more minutes!), Southern Hospitality is hosting a "Before and After" Project party, so I wanted to share two big makeovers that we did in 2008 during Miracle Worker Week. That is the week (er, almost two) that my parents came to help us out with a ridiculous amount of projects. Enough projects that I haven't even gotten to blog about most of them, yet! If you like these, I can only take credit for the vision, but most of the skill and labor was provided by my dear parents/miracle workers.

Project #1--The Ugly Green Chairs

I was on the hunt for inexpensive folding chairs before my Gourmet Group meal in August. I found some on Craigslist at a church that was going out of business (is that what churches do?). The folding chairs were ugly and cumbersome, but the price was right, so I brought them home anyway, but I was much more excited about these green chairs, that I negotiated to buy for $15/each. My husband wasn't so thrilled when he saw them. They smelled a little funny and were clearly from the 70's. I loved the shape, and must admit that I might have considered keeping the bright green fabric if it weren't so scratchy, uncomfortable and dirty.

So I hit Craigslist again and actually found an interior decorator selling her fabric remnants. I found a lovely chenille piece that she said was gracing the dining room chairs of a $3 million home, and brought that home at a bargain, along with several other trims and a few cans of paint that she threw in for good measure.

Then Miracle Worker Week begins:

Mom and Dad carefully pulled apart the chairs, making sure to keep the original pieces intact.

This is when we discovered the chairs had a bit more history (and nicer legs) than we had originally realized. There was a certificate stating that they had been professionally and commercially reupholstered in the 1970s--hence the green impenetrable fabric. Judging from the fabric underneath, I think they were more likely from the 1930s or 1940s (maybe even older). My dad stained the wood while my mom worked on the new cover.

See how she uses the old pieces as her pattern. She is a sewing genius!

And here is the after:

I had envisioned them skirted all along, but we were lucky that the legs were so nice, because I really didn't have enough fabric to do skirts, even with miracle worker mom at the sewing machine!

Now would you guess those were $15 chairs? (Plus about $50 for fabric and materials, so more like $35-40 chairs. See the value of cheap labor? :-))


Project #2--Children's Desk/Project area

My FIL is a physician and had this beauty in the waiting room of his office for many years. Well, this year they decided the office was long overdue for a makeover and thought this bulky piece of wood had to go. When I saw it, it was just sitting in their garage waiting for a trip to the thrift store and sitting right next to a couple of gallons of red paint that my MIL just could not bring herself to use (I have been working with her on white wall therapy. "It is OK to put color on walls. It will not make them look too small. Sometimes deep or bold colors look the best." Baby steps.).

So the kids helped my dad give it a fresh coat of paint (can you see their brushstrokes?) And now it has a new home in the playroom/loft (which I am working on and hope to have all put together soon!)

(Sorry about the funny angle) Add some books and a fun stool from IKEA and this thing has life again!

(Yes. There are already marker marks on the desk. That is why you shouldn't spend the big bucks on kids furniture, even if it is soooooo cute!)

This is the back side. My dad decided that the back should be reinforced a little, so we bought some beadboard and trim, and that side now functions as the wall for the play kitchen. I might paint some fun design on them, or leave them white, but I have a colorful miniature Cuckoo clock from Germany, that will be decorating the play kitchen, soon. Total cost for this project is around $20 for the beadboard and trim. Paint and furniture were Free! And we used the paint for our mudroom, put that is a post for another day.

So there you have it! I hope all of you creative people visiting from Southern Hospitality will consider coming back next week for my Blogoversary Party Party. What's that you say? Go here for more info!

And thanks for letting me crash the party...late, as usual! For more furniture makeovers, go here!