Mission-Style Rocking Chairs

Due Date Countdown:  8 Days

Yes, I'm still pregnant :)

Baby seems perfectly content to keep hangin' around in my belly, so for now you get to wait in expectancy with me.  Except you can probably walk without waddling, so you can only kind of sympathize.

Quack.

But are you ready to see a couple of chairs get a makeover??  I bet you are.  I've been getting emails up the wazoo about people really wanting to see chair makeovers.
Okay, I just made that up.

But I have been getting a few people asking questions about projects via the new "contacts" tab, and I'm loving all your creativity and sweet compliments!  Also, the archive tabs above are all updated and ready for you, so if this baby comes before I can put up another post, you'll be set for a bit.
(Joe and I actually think that since we have family driving from 5 and 12 hours away, the baby is bound to come during a snow storm.  We keep checking the forecast to figure out when the little munchkin's going to arrive.  Nothing yet...)

Here we go.

Mission-Style Rocking Chairs

Ooh, pretty!  And how often have I seen these chairs and never thought to do anything with them?

This was a project I was hired to do for a wonderful couple at our church.  Let's call them the M&M's (because I'm apparently still not over that chocolate craze of a previous post).  The chairs came to them from Mr. M&M's mother, and Mrs. M&M just wanted to update the look.  They went back and forth about painting the oak frames--which is perfectly understandable--but decided that paint would really give her the finish she wanted (wood purists, are you fainting?).  In the end, I think the paint was a great choice.  Why have something if you don't really like it?  Plus they're practically oozing awesome now.

It seemed like a fairly manageable project from what I saw initially, and actually turned out to be a bit easier than even I anticipated.  So if you have a pair of Mission-Style rockers that you want to re-do, have no fear.  You don't even have to have a special staple gun for this one!  All you need is a sewing machine, something that throws staples, and some gumption.

I won't get into a lengthy explanation, but if you have questions please feel free to ask and I will gladly go into more detail for you.

My Super-Handy Hubby painted the frames for me.  Because he's such a good dad already :)  As you can tell by the t-shirt he's wearing and the snow-free driveway, this was a while ago.  

All slicked up in their new finish!  I then sanded the edges very lightly.  We wanted a tish of distressing for dimension, but nothing close to the "chippy" look.  Just a light touch did the trick.

The back cushion had only a little sewing in the top corners, so that was really simple.

The fabric was installed by fitting the corners properly at the top, and then wrapping the fabric around to the back side to staple.  This whole cushion was essentially an "insert" that screwed into the sides of the frame.  It was a pretty slick system to work with.

The bottom cushion was a little more sewing, but it only involved attaching two side panels to the seat.  Again, really simple.

Then once again, Joe to the rescue!  These frames were solid oak--even the inside framing that was for the upholstery.  Seriously, if I had tried to break these chairs I just would have ended up with bruises.  They were so tough.  Tough enough that I couldn't get these screws in or out by myself.  Thanks honey, you're the best.  And I apparently need to work out more.

Here's the finished product again.  I apologize for the not-awesome pictures.  I *may* have forgotten to take pictures until Joe was getting ready to load them into the truck for delivery, and it was dark out.  Oops.  But hey, at least we deliver!  We deliver for the small cost of cookies and ice cream.  Not really, but they did give us cookies and ice cream when we picked the chairs up...because they're super sweet people.

And in case you're wondering, Mrs. M&M picked the fabric out herself, and I really love it.  It's classy but not too formal at the same time.  She bought it at Joann Fabrics, in case you're now in dire need to buy some for yourself.

And now you can mentally sit in those chairs, rock back and forth and dream of how cute our baby is going to be!

In case you missed the Nursery Reveal! last week, you can check it out Here (or in the linked text before, but hey I like to be thorough).

And I did forget to post our Christmas picture this year, so I'll bid you adieu with that.

Photo Courtesy of Cheryl Lancaster

Have a great weekend, everyone!

~The Doodle Bug

I'm usually partyin' at these hangouts:

Friday Feature @ Redoux

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Simply Creations Link Party @ Simple Home. Life

It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday @ Kammy's Korner

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

Nursery Reveal!

I know, you thought it would never come.
But it has!

I've been working on the nursery for...a long time now.  Putting it together bit-by-bit since August.

People have been asking Joe at work what the theme is for the nursery.
Theme?
Uhhhh...

There's no theme.
My goal was to make a gender-neutral nursery (we don't know what we're having), and since I didn't want to do yellow and green, I decided on a different route.  I decided to put feminine and masculine elements into the room and (hopefully) strike a balance between them.  You can judge for yourself how I did.  And if you don't like it, just lie and tell me you do, or I might break into a bout of hormonal crying :)

37 weeks this Sunday, by the way!

Here is how the room looked when we moved in.

Not bad...just boring, and like the rest of the house, "oaky" (check out the Kitchen & Dining Room Reveal if you want to see more).

I decided first that I would put a "lemongrass" color on the wall.  Awesome.
So I mixed up a sample, pretty excited to get started.
I tenderly painted the color on the wall, thinking fondly of our little munchkin-to-come.
...and then I just about bopped in my mouth.
I. Hated. It.
I'm going to be looking at enough baby poop in the coming months, I don't need the walls to be singing the same tune!
Okay, time to revamp.
So I headed to my computer to Pinterest (where else??) and my trusty Nursery board.  And I found a solution.
Phew!

I know, beige and white are a bit...boring?  But I like it.  Simple, and I could add whatever color I wanted in the rest of the room without worrying about clashing.

So that's the introduction, and here is the finished room!  I'll list out some items and details at the end.

SCREECH!!!

Hang on a second.  Where the heck did that INCREDIBLE blanket come from???

Oh, you know.  

My Mom made it.

SAY WHAT?  She Made it??  I knew she was knitting a blanket, and I picked out the colors, but I was pretty much envisioning a simple stripe or a basic chevron pattern.  Then at Christmas I open THIS.  I was completely blown away.  Thank you, Mom, for slaving away for six months +.  Baby is going to love it.

Yes, I am still in shock.

She made it.

So exciting!

Here are the dirty details:

Paint & Moldings:  We painted the walls, window and trim.  The trim around the top of the room is actually two different moldings, and we painted the wall between them white to give a bigger impact.  The top trim is a small crown, and the lower one is Picture Rail Molding.  I think we spent about $60 for both moldings.  We had to special order the Picture Rail, and I still need to order hooks to go on it.  It's a molding you can hang stuff from with special hangers they make (Google it, it's pretty snazzy).  And I think it makes the ceiling feel higher, which is nice.

Joe thinks it's funny that the only room in our house with crown molding is the Nursery.

Meh.

Okay, here's where I got a bunch of stuff.  I did a lot myself, many were gifts (recent and from the past) and some I bought from stores or other creative people.  

Crib:  A Beautiful and generous gift from my parents.  It's the DaVinci crib made by Kalani, in Espresso.

Mobile:  A gift from my Grandparents.

Embroidery Hoops with Fabric:  I bought the embroidery hoops at a thrift shop, painted them white, and put  in fabric that I had on hand.  $8.

Knitted Blanket:  A gorgeous gift from my awesome Mom.  Wow.

Crib Sheet:  Carter's Brown Plush (Velour) Easy-Fit Crib sheet.  Babies-R-Us.  $18.

Crib Skirt:  A gift from my Grandparents

Curtains:  I bought plain white grommeted panels at Target ($29.99) and bought a yard of the super cute Argyle fabric on Etsy ($9?).  I sewed a strip of the fabric onto the panels and voila!  Custom panels for under $40!

Metal Bucket O' Blankets:  I bought the bucket (with red handles! Eee!) at Now & Again.  ~$20?

Glider & Ottoman:  I bought it on Craigslist for $25, in desperate need of new foam and fabric (but the wood was already white.  Score).  I recovered it with fabric from Jo-Ann Fabrics and replaced almost all the foam.  Total came to about $60.

Red Changing Table:  I found this at one of the Occasional stores in town, This & That, for $50.  Already painted and everything!

Changing Pad Cover:  Mod Pod "Pop Monkey."  Babies-R-Us, $17.99

White Wall Shelves:  I bought these at Now & Again, and painted them white.  I used a little stamp for the green flourish and bought the hooks at Menards.  $19.

Rooster:  The rooster on the shelf was a gift from a dear friend.  

Large Wood Sign:  The piece of wood was a tabletop that I really loved...and couldn't let go of (look at the grain, I know you wouldn't let it go either).  So I found a new purpose for it!  We took it off the table frame (it was wobbly and couldn't be fixed), and I painted the Robert Frost quote on it using a large engineering print from Staples and transfer paper.  I used the same method that I did for the Mailbox Makeover and DIY Canvas Art.  Then I distressed the writing a bit with sandpaper and waxed the whole thing with a dark furniture wax.  I am super happy with it.  And in case you're worried about baby, we hung it on the wall with two hangers, each rated for 50 lbs.  Special order at the hardware store for this worried first-time Mom :) 

"Imagine" Sign:  This was a gift a few years back from another dear friend.  The company covers letters with recycled metal containers.  Crazy fun.  I don't know where my friend got it, sorry.

God Gave Us You Book:  A sweet little gift from my parents. 

The pictures I took myself and other little knick-knacks I had on hand from random places.  

If you have questions about anything else, just let me know.

So there you have it!  The Nursery is finished and just waiting for a perfect little bundle to arrive!

We're all packed (well, as packed as we can get at this point) for the hospital, and waiting impatiently for the time to come.  But the baby will come in God's time, we know.  

We're hoping & praying for you, Little One,  

and we can't wait to meet you!

~The Doodle Bug

I'm usually partyin' at these hangouts:

Friday Feature @ Redoux

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Simply Creations Link Party @ Simple Home. Life

It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday @ Kammy's Korner

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

Button-Tufted Bench

DONE!
We got our trim up!!
A huge "THANK YOU!" to J&S for their willingness to help us out.  You are the best.

I am so excited that our house no longer looks like it's under construction.
Sure, we have the closet doors to paint and hang.
Sure, we have to put putty in all the little nail holes.

But the trim. is. up.
And I am a happy girl.

Today's post comes courtesy of a friend I'll refer to as...Lucille.  Because that's a fun name.

Lucille had this little bench that had been a part of her family, and it needed...some love.
Or a whole bucket full o' love.
Here's how she looked when I picked her up (the bench, not Lucille):

Did a little tear fall from your eye?
Well, not to worry.  I told Lucille I'd take good care of her little munchkin and bring her back with her love tank on "full" (book reference, anyone?).
And I have.
Though I haven't actually returned her yet, as she is still sitting in my living room.

 Much better, right?
Lucille picked out a fabric that would match her decor and we decided to go with an off-white for the frame.  Super cute.

And in case you have a sad little bench with an empty love tank that needs filling, here are some upholstery tips and details on button tufting!
If you're looking for a basic upholstery tutorial without tufting, check out the Baby Piano Bench.
A couple other good ones to check out are The Little Chair that was Oft Misunderstood, or An Upholstered Chair Fit for a Princess.

The first step of any reupholstery project is to tear the piece down.  Take off the fabric and remove staples.
And try not to give yourself too many blisters.
Since I was repainting the frame, I also took off the padding.

Joe spray primed and then painted the frame.  Because he's just that awesome and helpful.

...and he wants a healthy baby :)

I usually use spray paint on chairs and such because it goes on SO much smoother than brushing.

And it's faster, so it's a win-win!

I then gave the frame a light distressing around the edges using sandpaper.

 The padding was a sort of synthetic "horse hair" type stuffing, covered with cotton batting.  Unfortunately, over time the fabric had torn along the front and some of the stuffing had fallen out.  I beefed it back up with some Poly-Fill, tucking it under the existing stuffing to keep it smooth.

Then, I used some leftover cotton batting from the Hollywood Regency Chair to patch in where the original cotton batting had been lost.
Now, I don't usually use legit' upholstery materials like cotton batting, because you HAVE to buy it at full retail.  However, in this case it was needed because I needed the new materials to mesh smoothly with the old ones.  Cotton batting is perfect for this, because it pulls apart easily and creates really smooth seams.  Just pull on it to tear and smooth it out with your hands.
Magic.

Once I had the padding all back in order, I covered my buttons.  I just used button kits from Wal-Mart.  It worked fine...except that my fabric was REALLY thick and it just about made my thumb fall off trying to push the pieces together.
But I won out in the end.
And my thumb feels much better now, thank you.

Here is how to install the buttons in your button tufting:
First, cover all your buttons.
Then, lay out your piece of fabric onto your project, giving yourself plenty of extra fabric on all sides.
I used the holes on the old fabric to show me where to put the buttons, and marked the new fabric with little pieces of tape.
Which worked fine.
Until Jip decided to pull them up and chew on them.
    He pretty much thinks that since he played with the tape balls from painting the windows,
    ALL TAPE IS FOR HIM AND HIM ALONE.
    All hail the tape master.
Anyway, once you have your button locations marked, follow this handy little picture chart!
 Sorry about the small print, I'll explain it below in case you can't read it.

Hmmm...well, that doesn't look as nice in blogger as it did in Gimp.  So here are the steps if you can't read them above:
1.  Loop thin string through button backs--(large string in pictures is for illustration only)
        I actually used 12 lb test fishing line and it worked really well.
2.  Thread string onto needle and push through upholstery.
      Push it through from the top into one of your marked places.  I had to use pliers to get my needle to go through.
3.  Tie string under the seat around a piece of cotton.
      Tying it around a chunk of something keeps it from pulling back through.
      You could use a cotton ball or wad of fabric for this, too.
4.  Finish seat as usual.

Once the buttons are all in place (smooth the fabric as you go to make sure you have even "tufts"), the staple gun comes into play.
Have I mentioned lately how much I stinkin' love my staple gun and air compressor?

Unfortunately, I have to let you know that without a staple gun with an upholstery nose on it, I could not have completed this project.  I know that's stinky for people who don't want to go buy an expensive gun just to complete a few projects, but I don't know how I would do it without this gun.  It has a nose that's skinnier to fit into grooves for upholstery.  And no safety catch.
I live on the wild side.
If you have questions about the staple gun, just leave me a comment :)

Next came the fun part.  I basically just stapled the fabric around the edges into the grooves.
However, sometimes you have posts and arms and such that you need to work around.  For that, just follow the pictures above.
1.  Cut a wedge out of your fabric that will fit around your post.
       BE CAREFUL NOT TO CUT IT TOO BIG!!  Start with it too small, then cut slits until you can   get it nice and snug.
2.  Tuck it around your post and get a good fit.
3.  Fold under the raw edges
4.  Pull the fabric to exactly where you want it and staple it into the groove.

Hooray!

Now, if your piece has grooves like this, you'll want to trim the excess fabric as tightly to your staples and the groove as you can.  Then, you'll want to sew up some cording to clue into the gap and cover your raw edge.

Once you have your cording sewn, carefully hot glue it into your groove, being careful to cover up all your raw edges.  Go slowly.  This can be trickier than it sounds...trust me :)

Is it weird when a random internet snob tells you to "trust me"?  Yeah, I think that qualifies as creepy.
UNLESS I'm Aladdin and start singing and swooping you around on a magic carpet.  That would qualify me as awesome.

Okay, let's tone it down a bit.
And I'll show you a "Whole New Bench" Hahahaha!  So flippin' clever!
Sorry.
Here's where we came from...

 And here's where we ended up!!

The adorable little buttons that about busted my thumbs.  Worth it, by the way.

 See how the cording cleans the edge up so nicely?

 I can't get enough of these buttons.

Awww, doesn't it look so nice in that little niche?

I suppose I could just not call Lucille for a few days, huh?
Actually, I'm picking up some dust cover for the bottom tonight, so it might be a couple days.
Just covering my bases.
Lucille, are you reading this?

Is grand theft bench a federal offense?
Good luck catching me on my magic carpet.

~The Doodle Bug

I'm usually partyin' at these hangouts:

Friday Feature @ Redoux

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Show & Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Flaunt it Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest

Simply Creations Link Party @ Simple Home. Life

It's a Hodgepodge Friday @ It's a Hodgepodge Life

Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter

Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday @ Kammy's Korner

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Tuesday's Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.

Wow Us Wednesdays@Savvy Southern Style

Make It Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House