What I Wish I Didn't Know About Reupholstering

Well, it happened. Finally. I finished those chairs. I started them in August 2010, and sloooowly worked on them over the years. I know: YEARS. This was a much bigger project than I anticipated (when is it not?!?). Just so you have the complete picture, here's the before:

And the after:

In retrospect, probably not worth it. I spent about $150 in materials, including the chairs. Then I spent a bazillion hours. I think I'd rather pay for the chairs. Although, you never know when I might change my mind.

To help me retain sanity (and never reupholster a full chair/sofa again), I have compiled The List of What I Wish I Didn't Know About Reupholstering:

• Nap is not something restful when it comes to fabric. This pattern has a very definite direction and sequence. Even though I bought enough fabric, the "nap" (or repeating pattern, in fabric-speak) reduced it dramatically. Meaning: the throw pillow had to be made out of different fabric. Unfortunately, the fabric was on clearance, so there was no going back for more. I have actually thought about getting some green or orange fabric for the pillow. However, since my children have "tagged" these chairs (see below), what's the point? Really.
• Tapestry is not an easy fabric to work with, even when sewing straight lines. So why did I choose it for a project like this? Because I'm a masochist. If you decide to do something like this, take my advice: use a medium- or light-weight fabric. Tapestry is a bad choice for beginners like me.
• Piping is a pain. But it makes the chair. So, what do you do? You do the piping and swear and prick your fingers and then wish you had chosen a chair without so many details.
• An electric staple gun is great, but not really enough for a chair like this. There are staples exploding out the chair on a regular basis.
• Reupholstering is a relationship, not a project. It takes time and dedication. Even the cushions were not as simple as I thought (see "Piping" above) and took many hours.

Funny story: My mother-in-law came over while I was holed up resting my broken leg. She said, "Why don't you just finish those cushions? It would only take a couple of hours - that would just drive me crazy to not have them done when I know it wouldn't take so long to get them done!" With this running through my mind over the next few months, I finished the throw cushion. Easy. Then I did the bottom cushion. Not so easy - 12 hours later, I finally finished both of them. A couple of hours, my foot. Morale of this story: Don't Listen to Well-Wishers on a Project They Are Not Doing.

Now for the sad news. The kids have gotten to these chairs, and not in a good way. There are already holes in the fabric (sob!) and Jack decided to color the pattern in for me. He really is a spectacular color-er. Sadly, this just goes on the list "Top Two Reasons Not to Give Children Sharpies":

Chair 1: Fluorescent Green

Chair 2: Fluorescent Orange

See, not even colored out of the lines. Makes me want to toss the whole project, though, let me tell you. Whatever, at least the chairs match and are DONE. Anyone else finish a project that went south in the doing, especially if it wasn't your fault? I'm hoping not, but at the same time...at least it wouldn't be me!

Have a great week, and may your projects be more successful than mine!

The Writing on the Wall

Well, there's no writing on the wall yet. The paint still has to cure a little. But! We have two enormous chalkboards!

Doug suggested I use the laser level to put up the lines...it was a good suggestion. See how straight they are?

Sophie and Jack helped me tape the hallway. Surprisingly, they were a lot of help. Sophie kept pushing down the tape that popped up - mostly on the baseboard - and Jack industriously covered the heating register. Then they posed for pictures to show how proud they were of their work.

They were a little disappointed that they couldn't help paint. The paint had numerous warnings though: no contact with skin. No contact with eyes (as if I am going to use this stuff as eye drops, right?). Don't inhale the fumes.

Yikes! So I opened the windows - thankfully, it wasn't too cold this weekend - and painted with the smaller kids upstairs. The first coat didn't look too great, to be honest. There were "holidays" (places where the paint didn't cover completely) all over the place. If I tried to go over it, the paint would smear even worse. So, I left it, hoping that the second coat would go much better.

And it DID! No, I'm not excited at all. The second coat really smoothed things out.

If you look close, it looks like someone has scratched the surface...
it's just fingerprints. Beware, they show up really well.

Since I had so much help with the tape, my lines even turned out really well. Usually I have some bleeding underneath the tape, but apparently three-year-olds are the solution to that problem.

Tomorrow, we can get out the chalk. I can hardly wait.

Two Gi-normous Chalk Boards. Woot!

Give the Man a Crown

Since we aren't spending any money in February, Doug and I have been reduced to finishing projects.

I know, tragic. At least in my case. In Doug's case, it means that my kitchen is one step closer to being complete!

Doug spent an entire day measuring, cutting, and assembling the crown molding for the cabinets. First he added a support for a topper...

Then the topper itself (where the molding would be nailed on)...then the molding.

The ceiling isn't level...so the molding isn't flush to the ceiling.
Well, we have to redo the ceiling anyway...

 He also took it upon himself to make sure the cabinets were screwed in correctly. This one, apparently, was hanging on by one screw.

Then he decided to add an extra shelf, because he hates having stuff around the computer. S'okay with me, let me tell you.

He promises that he has all the materials to finish this. And there are still a few days left in February, so it might get done! I can't wait to start organizing...

P.S.: In case you're wondering, the missing cupboard door was a casualty of a date night. We came home and found an apologetic child...and a broken cupboard door. We're still undecided as to whether it can be fixed. Bummer, huh?

No Excuses

For the past few weeks, I've been making excuses for not getting that basement hallway painted.

Kids. Sick kids. Yup, that was mostly it.

This week, it's my taxes. They are turned in, though (sigh of extreme relief), so off I go to paint.

I forgot how much I love to paint. This hallway is a little dark, so I was a little concerned about adding a grey-green color and a black chalkboard down there, but the sheen of the paint actually reflects light better than the primed/matte paint that was there before. Not surprising once you think about it, but exciting for me to enjoy a little bit of light downstairs.

And I have pictures! A first coat has been applied. No idea when the second will follow, but hey. It's progress.

Believe it or not, it's all the same color. I did get excited and painted the ceiling a little. That will definitely need some help in the near future.

Once the second coat of paint is on, I can start bugging Doug about trim. Hehe.

Things I'm Not Going to Worry About

Okay, so still no really exciting pictures of the basement hallway. I forgot about trim.

Some people like to wait until last to do the trim. Me, I do it first - that way, I can paint up to it and the whole paint job seems to go more smoothly. So I started the paint job with the trim, and it's done. Yippee, not really an exciting time to photograph.

While I was painting the trim, though, I found a few problems. But I'm not going to obsess over them (yes, I'm a little obsessive, especially about paint jobs). Here's the list, though, about what I'm actually going to let go (this time):

• The floor. Honestly, I consider this concrete slab the subfloor - so who cares if it gets a bit of paint on it?
• The gap between the trim and the wall. Again, if I'm replacing the trim, why would I caulk the old trim? It would just make replacing it more difficult. I just want it to look decent in the interim.

• Painting the doors. This is kinda like the floor thing. These old 70's doors are so history...eventually. So I'm not going to go through the exercise of taking them down, or even wasting some good painter's tape. They do beg the question, though: why 70's doors in a 1985 house? Hm.
• The curvature on the door frame is fun, right? Yes, another thing I am not going to worry about. That would be a pain to fix (think: rehanging the drywall and doing it the right way this time).

Curvature on the left, excess paint on the right. What's not to love?

• The trim "overhang". Ugh, this is a technique used throughout the house, and I fully intend to set it right, but with new trim. The way things are speeding along, I may be cutting that new trim when Sophia is in school (still a good 2-1/2 years away).

What I am going to worry about: The outlets. I've not been very successful at getting Doug to update these to white, but maybe I can talk him into showing me how to do it...then I can replace all of them downstairs!

I know, another project to remain unfinished for who-knows-how-long. Hush those unpleasant thoughts.

At any rate, I think I'm actually (finally) ready to put color on these walls!

Fiscal Responsibility

Ugh. That title just reeks of being grown up. Makes me want to eat some chocolate - or go shopping.

And, for that reason, Doug and I are taking a spending holiday for the month of February. A friend of mine does this every year - only groceries and gas for the entire month. Whoa.

It does take some planning - making sure the kids have clothes and shoes that fit beforehand, stuff like that. My friend has a kid whose birthday is in February, so all shopping for that celebration happens in January.

So. No fast food, restaurants, random shopping trips, Kindle books, or home supplies. Emergencies excepted, we're going to see how we do bucking the conspicuous consumption trend. It's only been one day and I've already had to stop myself from buying something twice. On the day we started!

Wish me luck. I'm hoping that, as I do taxes this month, my finances won't make me physically ill...since I'm not spending anything!

And, sorry that there aren't any painting pictures. Didn't quite get to that. I know, totally lame, but it snowed and I just wanted to curl up and read a book after shoveling my (too long) sidewalk.