Rescue an Old Chair with New Fabric

Today, a fabric that I carry in my fabric store on etsy was featured on a blog about decorating to make your home soft and restful. Shulman Art
The fabric is a waverly fabric called Millbrook stripe in the colorway Cadet blue.
I have used it in my own home down the shore, to cover a chair that was in dire need of being rescued.

I posted about it last year when I first began my blog.

I was inspired by a photo in a magazine and determined to make that chair look similar.

Florida Challenges

Well I arrived safely after a long ride from New Jersey with my car making some crazy airplane noises. Right now it is in the shop getting ball bearings and brakes!
938 miles is a long way. I had no idea it needed work till half way down.
Before heading off to the Keys  in a couple of weeks, I will be attempting to "neutralize" this Florida house.
When we bought it, everything was Black, Aqua, and Purple. Yes, I said purple.
The walls are mostly grey and I can live with that.
But some things had to ...and still have to go.  The E- normous purple formica entertainment center is gone...it went last year when my big strong boys were down here with me. And that has been replaced with this adorable little tropical theme console table.

I never did take a pic of that purple entertainment center. Trust me it was really big and really purple!

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And the hall foyer had a glass and chrome table which, needless to say, I wasn't crazy about,-->

That has been delegated to the garage and will probably wind up in a consignment shop for some college student. I replaced it with this cutie  below from Home Goods

 The previous owners had the coffee table and end tables that matched the glass and gold foyer table,

 that I also hated. Off to the garage again.. The last time I was down I was able to swap them out for a much more cottage looking set.

I'd like to get rid of the aqua rug but that won't happen this year!
So this time around I am working on the dining room chairs! Get a load of these. We call them the "Beetlejuice" chairs. ....Absolutely not me. Go ahead , laugh if you want. I understand.

I wasn't kidding. Black, Aqua, Purple

So what is a girl to do? I don't have an extra thousand dollars to spend on a completely new dining room set right now, nor will I any time soon. So they will have to get "neutralized."

I am thinking slipcovers from dropcloths.... the perfect color and texture that I want.

I've been experimenting a little bit  and like the idea of some fabric paint on each chair with phrases such as "Beach" "Ocean"  "Surf" 

just so they aren't so plain.

I did this on a throw pillow and like how it looks. And this fabric paint stays on in the wash.

 One side is a nautical print the other the canvas dropcloth with "Ocean" and" Beach" written on them

So that's what I will be busy working on.. my chairs.

So far only one is done. And there are 7 more.

I do prefer this look to the black 80's look!

My sis will help me after our trip to the Keys.. she is a much better seamstress than I am.

In the meantime. I will have to spend some time on this gorgeous beach, on the gulf coast by Sarasota.  In this gorgeous water.

and tanning up this super white skin... I got going on.... from a cold New Jersey winter!
Just jump in!

Now for the Florida challenge...

Does anyone have any ideas what I could possibly do with this dining room table?

*Note>>> hub is NOT handy, this one is on me.

*Note>>> buying a new one is out.

How in God's name would you cottage this thing up? 2 big black formica pedestals hold up an extremely large piece of glass.

Any ideas ?

Changing this thing is a risk worth taking!

joining the nester's risk taking day

Not yet ready for Fall

The last few weeks of Summer are the most savored for me. As long as it is still beach weather, I can hardly bear to think of The Fall. When I drive down the shore and I see the leaves changing then I will feel the season.
And I will invariably enjoy it to it's full extent.  I just had to share these pics from our last few jaunts to the beach. We often walk back through the lighthouse gardens, to get home to our little cottage. Me and my beach bums. Sometimes we are lucky enough to pass the sprinklers when they are on, and we catch a nice spray on our heated walk back from the beach. ...It just feels delightful.

Entering the cool gardens...

The perennials take on an end of summer hue

Just sucking up the last bits of summertime...like me

And back in the Bay, when the sun set, it was a glorious summer evening

When Fall really arrives people will begin to put their boats away. They will shrink wrap them in protective plastic and dry dock them somewhere safe from the Nor'easters that ravage the area in winter.

And my little Beach town will be a ghost town.

comfy Old chair gets a Beach Lift

Friday, July 30, 2010

  I had this old chair that I purchased around 1995 that was desperate for a re-do.It started out in my bedroom at home as a little escape for reading. Then it got pushed out of there for a exercise bike and relegated to the basement to withstand some character building abuse from the kiddos. 

  So in mercy, I drug it down the shore and stuffed into my tiny serene bedroom, where it hardly got any use till recently, when we had the back deck renovated and made it into a sunroom right off my bedroom which now houses all kinds of comfy furniture for taking in the view.

  So here is the before.... hardly fitting in with the beach vibe we were going for....right?

Ugly old and torn seat covered with a sheet

I really wanted to find a fabric similar to the one in this Coastal Living magazine picture below.

With a bit of a nautical vibe. (This was in my vision file since 2002) 

My vision file is just a file of stuff I love.

 And I love the look of this chair right down to the cozy blanket on the ottoman!

Inspiration Love

So I finally found the fabric I would use! 

But I am such a procrastinator some times.

This was one of those times. I'd made a slipcover once before for my sofa and I sewed for 12 hours straight, just stopping for nourishment! It's not something I am great at and didn't really look forward to.

Finally though this job was going to get done!

And here is the end result:

Much more beachy

It fits in the room much better now in it's new skin. And it's still one of my most comfy little chairs!  This nautical fabric is now available in my online fabric store, FreshCutFabrics.com   It is called Millbrook stripe by Waverly.

Thanks foe stopping by!