Category Archives: Guest Blogger

How to Reupholster Dining Room Chairs

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I had the pleasure of meeting Ethan from One Project Closer in real life last summer at the Shaw/HGTV Home Design Challenge. Ethan was a partner in the winning team. The team at One Project Closer shares crafts and DIY tutorials and reviews. Today he’s here to introduce you to One Project Closer with an easy way to update chairs.

This is a guest post by Ethan from One Project Closer.

Reupholstering chairs and cushions may sound like a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. With a few tools and some DIY spirit, you can give old seat cushions new life. My wife and her mother recovered six dining room chairs, and I was able to take pictures of the whole process. Read on to learn how you can conceal ugly stains and worn fabric on your own chairs.

Reupholstering Chairs

Reupholstering six chairs only took a few hours and it wasn’t very expensive at all. The cost is almost entirely the upholstery fabric so just wait until Joanne’s has a sale or you find a coupon. Here are the necessary tools and materials you’ll need before starting.

  • Heavy-duty stapler
  • 1/2″ staples
  • Screwdriver
  • Scissors
  • Upholstery fabric

Most seat cushions are held in place with a few (usually hidden) screws. Flip your chair upside-down and remove the screws. We found one in each corner.

We didn’t bother to remove the existing fabric because there’s really no need. You can just cover right over it.

My wife bought a fun zebra print upholstery fabric to give our dining room a fresh, new look. No matter what pattern you chose, just make sure it’s upholstery fabric because it’s more durable. Otherwise, your new seats won’t last very long.

Place the seat cushion upside-down on the upholstery fabric, and measure out the necessary dimensions. Add about three inches to each side so that the fabric will be long enough to wrap underneath the cushion. Remember, it’s better to have too much than too little. You can always cut any excess later. We oriented the zebra strips across the seat cushion. If your fabric has a pattern, make sure you keep it consistent with the other cushions.

We used a heavy-duty staple to staple the fabric to the bottom of the cushion. Starting on the front side, put staples every couple of inches. Then, on the opposite site (the back) pull the fabric tight (but not too tight) and staple that side. Repeat these steps with the other two sides, and leave the corners open for now.

As you’re stapling, the goal is to smooth away wrinkles, and the corners are the most difficult. To make the turn, we used overlapping pleats. Start on one side, make a small pleat and then continue in a likewise fashion through the entire corner. Staple the heck out of the corners!

After everything is stapled and you’re happy with how the cushion looks, trim away any excess fabric.

Once we had completed all six cushions, we sprayed ’em with ScotchGuard to better prevent any future stains. This was an important step because we have two young girls ages 1 and 3, and they always seem to spill or drop food. As you’re screwing the cushions back on, don’t over-tighten the screws or the wood may strip.

Now it’s time to enjoy the “new” chairs!

One Project Closer is a website where Fred, Kim, Jocie, and I share how-to projects, tool reviews, coupons for home improvement centers, and crafty projects. We hope you’ll stop by OPC for great resources like building a shed or making merlot cupcakes. We also provide the most up-to-date list of coupons for home improvement stores like this Lowe’s coupon page. Stop by and say hello! Join the DIY party.

Distressed Vintage-Looking Alphabet Blocks by ThistleWood Farms

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I am so excited to have Karianne from 

visiting today. You may know her recently as one of the hostesses from the fun “Imagine the Possibilities 2012 Challenge” and her beautiful cottage bathroom makeover {it’s Pinterest Popular recently!}, a finalist in the WhisperWood Cottage First Project of 2012 Contest and a beautiful inspiration (see the bathroom reveal here). I love her style and she’s very sweet too…so if you’re not friends, hop over and introduce yourself.

Today, Kari is sharing a super cute tutorial for Distressed Vintage-Looking Alphabet Blocks. I love these. Here she is:

Project Details:

  • Scraps of left over wood free
  • Sample paint left over from projects free
  • Hot glue gun free
  • Scrabble tiles $1.00 at yard sale
  • Chip board letters from Hobby Lobby $1.99
  • Little bits of worn chippy typography for the hallway priceless

Step 1: Go to your workroom/garage/craft room and find the wood left over from projects. I used pieces of molding from other projects and scraps of wood that were just piled in the workshop.

Step 2: Cut wood into squares or rectangles or perhaps an octagon or two if you are feeling especially adventurous.

These blocks are 2″x 2″ and 3″x 5″ and 3 1/4″x 2 1/4″ and 5 1/4″ x 4 1/4.”

Step 3: Paint the leftover wood.

Leftover paint is the best. I used SW 7045 Intellectual Grey, SW 7015 Repose Grey and SW 7046 Anonymous. These were the sample cans I used to test out colors in my dining room. Yep. Leftover wall paint at its finest.

Step 4: Distress. Distress as much or as little as you like. You can see….I like a lot. I was going for the “wood left out over winter in the rain look.”

Step 5: Paint your alphabet.

I bought these chip board letters at Hobby Lobby (for 50% off in the scrapbooking section) in a variety of sizes and fonts.

And I painted them using the same leftover paint.

On my dining room table.

On what used to be my dining room curtains…..

…but that’s a post for another day.

Step 6: Hot glue your letters to your painted and distressed wood.

Or you can hot glue them to your really, really painted and distressed wood.

You can also glue scrabble tiles to the wood to mix it up a little.

That’s it.

Here are the letters in my PB knock-off/used to be an advent calendar/typography holder.

I love this project.

It met my requirements.

Easy. Check.

Cheap. Check.

Good use of my dining room curtains. Check. 🙂

Thanks for joining me on my journey through the alphabet. If you want to hear a funny story about this project, stop by my blog….thistlewood farm.

And lastly, a big shout out to Roeshel for letting me post about my little bits of chippy, painted typography.

She is a true rockstar and diy diva.

Kitchen Makeover Part 2 by Christy at 11 Magnolia Lane

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Hi there, everyone–it’s Christy from 11 Magnolia Lane (again!). I’m laughing as I write this, because I know that if you’ve seen part 1 of my kitchen reveal here on the DIY Showoff or on 11 Magnolia Lane, then probably not more than a few days or weeks have passed–and now I’m changing it again! I let Roeshel know that it was a work in progress, and she graciously invited me to show the updates I’ve made (thanks, Roeshel!).I know I’m not the only one constantly tweaking and updating things in my decor, and although I was thrilled with how my kitchen cabinets turned out, I didn’t like the paint color I put on the walls. I also wanted to tear down my tile backsplash and update my range hood. I lived with it for about three months, but Thanksgiving was drawing nearer, and I was hosting the holiday this year, so I had motivation to proceed quickly.
Here’s what I started out with when we bought the house in June (it’s more of a “during” than a “before” but you get the idea!):
 
Here’s my first reveal, in August:
 Now, here’s reveal number two, after painting the walls, painting the tile backsplash, spray painting the exhaust hood with stainless steel paint, and adding window treatments (made with canvas drop cloths):
I normally choose lighter paint colors, but the Old Prairie by Benjamin Moore that I used first had some green undertones that just didn’t work with my White Dove cabinets. After trying three different paint samples on the wall for a few days (BM’s Camouflage, BM’s London Fog, and BM’s Waynesboro Taupe), Waynesboro Taupe–the darkest of the three colors–won.
After I painted the walls, I turned to the backsplash. I read up on painting tile, and decided that I really had nothing to lose, because I was already planning on taking the backsplash down. Why not try to paint it first and see if I could save time and money? The brown of the tile really clashed with my countertops–they have some brown in them but they’re really more gray. The warm and the cool tones right next to each other really bothered me (my husband thought I was nuts about that, although he admits that he likes the result).First, I scrubbed the tiles really well. TSP works great, and I also used rubbing alcohol to degrease the tiles. Next, I had to wait a day or two before priming to let the grout dry (I HATE to wait to start a project!). I tried to sand the tiles but they were too hard to really get roughed up by the sandpaper, so I was sure to use a primer for glossy surfaces that specifically mentioned ceramic tile (Zinsser Bulls-Eye 123; although sometimes I use their oil based primer in the gold can, too). I primed with one coat, and then applied two coats of oil-based paint. I bought a quart of Behr from Home Depot, tinted to match White Dove at half strength. I used a brush to prime and paint–you really have to work a bit to get the paint into the grout and a roller just wasn’t cutting it. Plus, I have some decorative tiles that needed extra attention. While I think I should add a clear coat at some point, I’m really happy with how it’s turned out, and I’ve been able to wipe splatters off without removing any paint.Here are a few before and after shots of the backsplash. Note the frozen pizza and the Sonic milkshake in the first shot. These are essentials for effectively tackling home improvement jobs!

   

The exhaust hood and fan were black, and while I’m dying to pull the old one out and do a nice, custom-built one, I decided that a $5 can of Epoxy appliance spray paint would be a worthwhile investment for a quick fix in the meantime. I did take the hood down to spray it, but that’s because I’m pretty comfortable working with electricity and didn’t mind rewiring it when I hung it back up. I think you could probably use tape and plastic to protect the cabinets enough to spray it in place, if you needed to. Love the appliance spray paint!

 

My last update was to add the window treatments around the sliding glass door, and this really made a huge difference in the room. I used canvas painter’s dropcloths from Home Depot (6′ x 9′ and $11 each!) and sewed them to the right length. Mine are tied with jute twine and swagged, but if I let them hang they would puddle on the floor (which was intentional). The balloon valance over the sink is completely no-sew. I just draped the dropcloth (another 6 ‘ x 9’) and tied three pieces of twine around it and adjusted it. Since we’re a military family and move frequently, I need as many no-sew options as possible, just to keep things versatile for the next house.

I think I might be done with the kitchen, at least for awhile, but I’ll be sure to let you know if I make any more changes. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few more pictures. Thanks for stopping by!