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

Before & Afters and Blow Money Magic

Do you ever have those days when you just want to see some quick results, and you don't care how you get them?  Today is one of those for me.  I was working downstairs in a tizzy not because I'm in a hurry, but because I just want to get something done!!  I finished for now downstairs, and because I can't seem to sit still, I got busy on a post--an "instant gratification" update post.  Meaning I'm going to show you a little bunch of things that won't require you--or me--to think!  Hooray!

Actually my brain is a little fried.  Last night we went over to "Family H's" (remember them?  They gave me the Striped Bench and Antique Wood Box, just because they're awesome.  And they think they're giving me junk! HA!), because they were burning a big pile of...big timbers...and we were up late making sure nothing else caught on fire.  Actually Joe & "A" were up late.  I went to bed, because I'm a diva.

Anyway, as promised, here are a few little stories and pictures to update you on my awesome recent projects and finds.

Up first, this little rocking horse that I bought for CHEEEP!

Closet Door Sofa Table

The leaves on the trees are starting to turn, kids are back in school, and I just heard that we have a chance of frost in the next few days.  As much as I have tried to deny that fall is coming, it doesn't really care what my opinion is.  I am starting to embrace it--slowly.  And I'm starting to get Christmas decor ready for the store.  The store is such a great excuse to make pretty, Chrismasy things in September!  So be ready for some simple Christmas decorating ideas coming in time for you to do a couple yourself!

But for today, I have a DIY repurposing post for you.  It starts with two solid wood closet doors that I found at a salvage store:

Ooh, look at that molding!  (Confession: I always want to write "moulding," does that mean I've read too many British novels??).








I bought these doors really inexpensively, not really knowing what to do with them.  Finally, after talking it over with Joe, we decided that making a sofa table would be a good idea.  They're nice and narrow, so it gives the right dimension for the tabletop depth.









We started by cutting down one of the doors to make the top, and cutting the other door down for two legs.  I also bough one 1"x6" board 8ft long to cut into a bottom brace and two aprons (those boards that go under a tabletop to support it).

Long Black Library Table

Do not fall in love with what I am about to show you--because it didn't survive very long.

I decided that sometimes it's best to learn from others' successes as well as their failures, so in an attempt to be completely honest I am going to show you a failed project.  Pretty, yes, but failed.

Let me introduce to you, the failed table.  It looks like a bench, but the way that the legs and top are attached does not provide the stability that you really need in a bench.  Thus, a long coffee table thing is what I call it.  This is the picture of the "final" finish...before I did it over again.  Looks great, huh?

 

 

So here's the story, morning glory.  A few weeks back, I painted up a bookcase using a wax-resist technique that I thought of, and it worked out really nicely.  So I thought I would just do the same thing with this table, allowing some of the natural wood finish to show through in a rough pattern.

And it worked...kind of.

Glossy Black Dresser

Joe and I have entered adult-land and we have a dresser.  We had reached a breaking point and something had to be done.  Piles of clothes are excusable in college and high school (anyone who knew me in high school knows that piles of clothes were my special talent), but we are a little old for that.  And since storage is at a huge premium in our apartment, it required furniture.  A Dresser, to be exact.

I went to my favorite little thrift store and found a white dresser for $10.  It's not of the highest quality, (drawers are sticky and hard to move in and out) but for $10, it means that if I don't want to move it somewhere in the end, I can just re-donate it.  My theme throughout this whole project was, "Hey, $10 Dresser."  It was the perfect reasoning to do a few crazy things.

Here is the dresser as I brought it home:  It had been repainted by someone, probably in the 60's-70's, since they went for a white and gold theme.

I loved these hardware pulls on the top drawers, and the textured lines on the drawers.