"Metal" Letters and New Chair Upholstery.

In doing my 2012 recap, I realized I posted a project sneak peak in April and NEVER SHOWED YOU THE FINISHED PROJECTS!!  Oh my goodness!  So, here we go.

DIY "Metal" Letters

 The first one is so easy and so chic, if I do say so myself.  I've always loved the metal letters offered by Anthropologie but at $98 a piece for the oversized ones, they were completely out of my budget.  However, there are lots of budget-savvy bloggers out there who pointed me in the right direction: cardboard and spray paint.

Yep.  That's it.  Run out to your nearest craft store, make sure you have a coupon, and pick out the letters you want.  I started with our initials but definitely want to add a word to our kitchen.  As soon as I can pick out the right word!  (Right now I'm thinking Eat, Bake, Yum, or something fun.  Any suggestions?!)

Anyway, before I found the spray paint, I thought I'd just paint them white.  So I did.  But then the hammered metal spray paint walked into my life and I was never the same. 

We went with silver to stay as true to the Anthropologie Zinc Letters and it worked perfectly!  Just lightly mist on the color to avoid any heavy areas or drips.  I think we did 2 coats.  

I love them, don't you?!

Dining Room Chairs Reupholstery Project

One of my favorite parts of owning a home is collecting furniture that is functional but has a story.  I love the history.  It adds so much to the story of our home.

Anyway, before I wax poetic too much longer about finding the right pieces, let me tell you about my first reupholstery project.  I was generously given a large dining room table and six chairs to go with it.  I love how big it is and love the character but I wasn't crazy about the fabric on the chairs.  It just wasn't going to go with what I had planned.

If you don't like it, fix it.

Seriously.  Love the table, love the chairs, hate the chair fabric.  So I fixed it and now I love the whole thing!

Reupholstery sounds scary but with the right tools and a little bit of tenacity, you'll be just fine!  I used a flathead screwdriver and pliers to help remove the old fabric.  To put the new fabric on, I used a staple gun (not pictured).

The first step is to remove the cushion.  Flip the chair over and unscrew the screws in the corner.  Easy, right?  After you unscrew all four, the cushion should come right off.

To take the fabric off, I just used the screwdriver to pry up the old staples and used the pliers to wrestle them out.  This part was a little difficult because I lack upper-body strength. I'm working on that.  

Once the fabric is removed, check out the cushion itself.  Mine looked pretty good so I decided not to replace it.  If yours do need replacing, then you should do that now.

I bought some pretty fabric onsale at JoAnn's (with a coupon).  Seriously, don't ever go to Michael's or JoAnn's without a coupon.  Make sure you get some tougher fabric - these seats are going to see a lot of action.  If you have any questions, just ask at the store!

When you are ready to attach the new fabric, use the old piece as a pattern to cut to size.  Then staple one side, and stretch the fabric to the opposite side and staple.  I found this tutorial helpful, especially for the corners.

If you are using a patterned fabric, remember to check the placement of the fabric before you cut and staple.  

While scary to start, reupholstering my dining room chairs was easier than I had expected.  And a simple change in fabric made a HUGE difference in the dining room.  It spruced it up so quickly!  I just love it.

*****

There you go - the long awaited project reveal!

xoxo,

Alex