Category Archives: Furniture Projects

A Cry For Help

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I fear we may have become Hoarders (with a capital “H”). Maybe I just watch too much television (really, though? When am I doing that? In a former life?). Yet the unmistakable signs are there. Getting in and out of the front door has become a struggle, as well as accessing our one functioning bathroom, and I am too embarrassed to have people over or even to open my door to a stranger.

The scene of the crime. Somebody call TLC.

Pictured: the dresser I saw at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore and just “had to have” (sans drawers, which reminds me, where are they? Oh yes! “Hidden” behind the longer couch), the buffet which will become the vanity in the master-ish bathroom, a portion of the secret furniture project I have been working on, the hutch we are desperately trying to use in the master-ish bathroom, pieces of mirror from this adventure, and the window we need to install in the master-ish bathroom.

Help me.

A few nights ago we were reminiscing with the neighbors (while standing in our driveways handing out candy to a few straggling trick-or-treaters, because we were too embarrassed to have anyone come to our door and see that catastrophe) about how difficult the first few months were, when we were living without a kitchen, doing dishes in the garage, and our fridge was in the living room.

Yep. Notice the peach walls and stack of tiles too.

I feel as though we are dangerously close to reverting back to those times. In fact, we initially had one functioning bathroom (the green bathroom) and a toilet room (the now renovated bathroom). We currently have one functioning bathroom (the now renovated bathroom) and a toilet room (the green bathroom). We also have a very crowded living room again.  We are one credenza or bookshelf away from chaos. Wait, no … we are already there.

To do list for this weekend includes: install window (check!), finish secret furniture project (check!), finish stripping (not that kind, Mom!) and maybe even start sanding buffet (ugh – it is taking forever!), and finish the dresser so I can get it listed on Craigslist (check!). I was looking forward to a weekend full of completed projects, and then The Boy entices me with a Saturday full of helping a friend we owe big-time, and a fun time with other friends we haven’t seen in a while. I suppose it is a great “problem” to have that we have lots of fabulous friends, but it is really cutting into my project time!  I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Pull Up Two Chairs

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The Boy and I have guests coming next weekend, so we are waiting to demo the green bathroom (seen here). I can hardly contain myself. I cleaned the disgusting green tub recently and repeated to myself, over and over, “I will never have to scrub this green tub again. I will never have to scrub this green tub again. I will never have to scrub this green tub again.” It is getting to the point where the bathroom is starting to demo itself, in a desperate cry for help.

“If I weren’t green, I’d be so blue.”

In the meantime, we are tackling a few smaller projects and finishing touches around the house.  I reupholstered a few chairs over a year ago, and I can fully admit that I had no idea what I was doing and did a terrible job.  I learn by doing, and sometimes I fail by doing, but every attempt gets me closer to mastering a new task.  I also sometimes shoot myself in the thigh with the staple gun.

True Story.

Here is our current dining room situation:

Poor Phoebe.

Please note:  chairs, Phoebe, and “just because” roses from The Boy. Please ignore:  dust, folding doors, power strip, cement, and “artistic” nature of the picture.

The seat on the chair on the left just comes out (no screws), so I popped it out and started removing all of the staples using pliers.

The underbelly of the beast.

For reasons that now baffle current me, past me decided to use loose stuffing when I upholstered these chairs, which I was reminded of then I started pulling out the old staples and it all came tumbling out and made a HUGE mess.

Surprise!

What on earth was past me thinking?  The results were a very lumpy and uncomfortable set of chairs that appeared to have cellulite.  I wanted to not only remedy this, but give them pretty new seats that will match the dining room (if it is EVER completed), since they spend most of their time hanging out with Phoebe Buffet, who is quite a stunning beauty.  Phoebe prefers not to be flanked by cellulite-ridden imbeciles, and who can blame her?

I saved some of the stuffing in a giant Ziplock bag for future projects, and trashed the rest.  Current me is now much wiser and bought two foam pads, which is the preferred method of cushioning chairs.  Thanks to Joann’s coupon app, I got 50% off my entire purchase, and only spent around $7.00 for both.  The new fabric was purchased from Joann’s a long time ago when I was furiously buying 1/2 price remnants, so I am not sure how much I paid for it.  Although me of a year ago was obviously pretty dumb, I am sure I was still cheap frugal.

I laid the seat, including foam, on top of the large sheet of material and cut out a square, giving myself plenty of extra around the edges.  Once it was cut, I started by putting a few staples in one side, then pulling the opposite side taut and putting a few there. Then I flip it over and see if any of the staples are pulling too hard.  It wil be pretty obvious because it makes an indention in the foam that is very noticeable.  If a staple is too tight, I simply take it out and give the fabric a little slack before re-stapling.  This is the part that can be slightly infuriating, because you want the material to be tight, but you do not want indentions.  Once I am satisfied, I do the same thing with the other opposing sides.  The corners are tricky, and tough to explain/photograph.  It is very much like wrapping a present, and you just want to get it as taut and smooth as possible.  I find it helpful to do the corners last, once all four sides are secure, so that I can cut out some of the material in the corner.  Finally, I fill in the gaps with staples to finish her off, and then cut off the excess material.

I just popped that baby back in, and was very pleased with the new look:

I repeated this process with the other chair, which also had the loose stuffing.  The only difference is that the seat was held on with four screws, but it was no big deal.  Every chair is a little different, and just takes a little inspection to determine how (or if) the seat portion is held into place.  I have two other chairs while require full disassembly to reupholster, but that is a completely different story, and they might stay ugly forever.

These photos are not the best, but it was difficult to photograph because the dining table is in the way.  I promise MUCH better pictures when the room is more finished. My plan is to buy this rug to go under the square table, which I am hoping is a little less off-white in person:

Eivor Cirkel from Ikea.

but I haven’t figured out window treatments or any finishing touches.  I am pretty bad at decorating.  I would rather lay hardwood floors or operate a jackhammer than pick out curtains or throw pillows, because I want color, but I never know which ones go well together, and I fear tackiness. And while The Boy embraces his feminine side, he is not much help in this department.  That isn’t to say he doesn’t placate and humor me, but he just doesn’t care about decorating, and he loves the 90’s.  Awhile back I emailed him some rug options I liked for the living room, and I threw in one hilarious Zach Morris-esque option just for laughs.  HE PICKED IT.  I knew then and there that all decorating decisions were mine and mine alone.  It is just now occuring to me that I may have been duped by some reverse psychology.  Darn The Boy.  He is so smart.

So Many Changes!

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Our friends Erin and Kevin are pregnant with their first child (well, Erin is cooking the bun), and I wanted to get them something nice but personal.  I knew she wasn’t buying a traditional nursery set, and had found a crib on clearance, so I offered to redo a dresser to go with it that could also be a changing table.  Erin loved the idea and we started browsing on Craigslist.  I really wanted something with clean lines but some character.  I also obsess over furniture with feet.  I am not sure why, since I am VERY averse to human feet (except the kind attached to babies who are not yet toddling) but I will ooh and aah over footed furniture.  I’m a strange gal.

FYI – this post is very long and chock-full of pictures and details, so if you are reading for pleasure as opposed to a how-to tutorial, I promise not to be offended if you skip to the showcase showdown at the bottom. Spoiler alert:  everyone misses Bob Barker, the dresser wins, spay and neuter your pets.

This baby popped up on Craigslist, and I jumped on her (not literally, I’ve been running but I don’t think I am light enough for jumping on furniture):

She was rough, to say the least.  The drawers do not flare out at the bottom, that is the laminate peeling away, because the face of the drawers had some old water damage.  I removed the drawers and got her prepped for priming.  First surprise was one drawer full of blankets, clothes, and oh yes, even panties.  Blech.  I just dumped everything into the trash very quickly without touching or photographing it, and you are welcome for that.  (Note to everyone everywhere selling anything anytime – check drawers before selling!  Duh.)  Then I had to clean her, which I do with good old-fashioned Clorox wipes.  This dresser had been sitting outside and was gross:

Ew.

Before priming, I always fix any dings, missing laminate, etc. so that the finished product will be smooth and uniform.

It was hard to photograph, but I am trying to show where the laminate is pulling away from this edge.

To fix the minor dings and missing laminate spots,  I pulled out an old tube of Elmer’s Wood Putty, and was barely able to squeeze any out because it was getting dried out. No worries, though, I simply added a dab of wood glue to moisten it up, and I was in business.

Get some of that hot naked knee action.

… and some more. Oh yeah.

Then I squished it into any spots that needed filling.  (Yes, “squish” is the technical term.)  Finally, a scrape-by with the putty knife to smooth it out.  This stuff sands pretty easily, so you don’t have to be too worried about excess.  Just make sure all low spots are filled.

The mini-clamp is there because I discovered that the laminate on the corner was in danger of peeling off, so I squeezed a bit of wood glue in there, and clamped it to dry.

The long strip of peeling laminate at the top edge was a bit more tricky to repair.  I squeezed as much wood glue as I could get in the crack, and then I used a scrap of oak flooring (from the ongoing flooring saga) to apply even pressure while I clamped.  This task was not easy to do alone, and required two hands, one knee, a few teeth, and a stool to get everything in place, therefore I could not take a “during” photo.  (It must be noted that The Boy was inside doing who-knows-what at this time but he is always willing to help.  If I ask for help.  Which I don’t.  Because I am stubborn.)

I wiped off the massive amount of excess glue that squeezed out, and then I let everything dry for a few hours.  A little gentle sanding in the puttied spot and I was finally ready for priming!

My priming arsenal.

I prefer the roller for this job because it is easy and doesn’t leave streaks.  And yes, that is a Tupperware container holding primer, because it is the perfect size, and I refuse to pay for a mini-roller tray when a free old Tupperware container is capable of doing the job.  I met the heir apparent to the Tupperware throne once, and I do not believe she would approve of this use, but she is elderly and probably not internet savvy (fingers crossed) and hopefully doesn’t Google “heir apparent to Tupperware throne” on a daily basis to find out what people are saying about her.

Going …

Going …

Gone!

After the primer dried, I applied two coats of white interior (low-VOC) paint in the same manner.  The next obstacle was the drawers.  Oh the drawers!!  After mulling over options, the decision was made that we must completely replace the drawer fronts.  It was the only option that made sense.  We purchased some poplar planks and used the table saw to cut them to the exact same size as the current fronts.  This task required precision because the drawers recess into the openings, and we chose poplar because it is cheap and we were painting it anyways.  The Boy used a hammer and wood chisel to remove the old drawer fronts, which were dovetail.

This process was messy.  Here are the players:

Worker.

Supervisor.

The Boss is not shown (she was behind the camera).  The Boy used a jigsaw to cut off the remaining doves (tails?) on the drawers.

Always use clamps to avoid splitting!

Then, we attached the new fronts using small L-brackets.  We ended up putting the brackets in all four corners of each drawer to help it stay square and sturdy.

The Boy is not topless, I swear!

It fits!

I made a template to drill holes for the drawer pulls, and was able to drill all of the holes pretty quickly.

The template.

The inspiration for painting the drawers comes from a blog post I pinned (http://poppytalk.blogspot.com/2012/06/love-is-like-apricot.html), and I did exactly as it suggested – I found a paint color I liked, and got samples of all three colors on the swatch (the middle color is called “Friendship” … awww).  The fact that the colors are so similar to the dresser on the Poppytalk blog is really just a coincidence, as I was matching a pillow case the mom-to-be gave me.

I added one coat of polyurethane to the dresser and fronts of the drawers, and then a second coat of poly to the top, since it will be used/touched/pooped on the most.  Finally, it was time to add hardware, which I was pretty excited about.  Erin helped pick out these pulls from Anthropologie, and while they were a bit expensive, they were absolutely perfect, because the nursery has a tree mural with very similar flowers on it.

The stems were too long, so The Boy cut them to the right size using a tool he loves, the dremel.  Here he is watching football and making sparks:

The definition of male.

Finally, the dresser/changing table was complete:

I added the tree in the top left drawer, as a fun little surprise.

Erin and Kevin have a lot of very exciting changes coming soon, including lots of diapers. They are going to be the most amazing parents to a lucky little girl, and I am so glad I could help in this small way.  Congrats!!

 (PSST – I entered this project in a DIY contest – check it out!)