my, how your baby has grown

shelf life

i originally got this for a friend who needed a shelf, but i guess she didn't really need that bad because she kept saying she would get it later and it ended up living in the trunk of my car for the whole summer.  i don't remember exactly where i got it, but i know it was free.  i used it in my studio at my old apartment to hold sewing stuff -->

i wanted a project so i decided to give this shelf a new life.  i realized i could chip the paint away and expose the wood -->

i looked like this while doing it -->

 

while this was very satisfying, i figured it probably wasn't worth the hours it would take to scrape away the black paint.  so i decided instead to spray paint it.  after a couple of hours this is what i had -->

my first reupholster

i always thought reupholstering would be difficult, but this was actually quite simple.  i'm sure if it were a couch i would think differently, but this was a good place to start -->

i've had this chair for over ten years.  a friend's mom was going to set it out with the trash and i saved its life.  there is nothing wrong with it other than the missing piece on the back, which is only decorative.  the old fabric is a maroonish velvet, which i liked in high school, but not so much anymore.  after watching this instructional video from thread banger, i thought it would be a snap.  but after removing the seat and cutting the fabric i realized we didn't have any staples for the staple gun.  normally this would be a quick trip to the hardware store, but we had other errands to run so i had to wait to finish my project.  four hours and a boogie burger later, i was able to return.  it had already been reupholstered a couple of times, so i had to cut away at the old fabrics so there would be room for the new fabric and screws.  once all that was done i attached the new fabric and this is my new chair -->

you can see pish posh anxiously waiting at the door.  this is her new favorite chair.  i thought about figuring out how to make the missing piece and re-staining the whole thing, but realized it was kind of nice a little worn and i really didn't feel like spending the extra time and money on it right now.  i got the fabric at the free market.  it looked like it used to be a quilt.  here is a close up -->

now we just need people to come over.  what do you say, want to come over and sit on it?

pretty kitty