Patience and Persistence Pay Off - The Search for a "New" Sofa

Befores and Afters

I wish I had taken a "before," - no actually an after picture of our old couch.  AFTER years of use and abuse; AFTER dogs; AFTER naps; AFTER food .... you get the idea. It had a LOT of afters. Lucky for me and you I was just ready to get it out of the house. The finish on the "leather" had worn off in places, the cushions were a little flat (and smelly), and the fabric was snagged and worn. It was a sad-looking piece, but it served its purpose.

My Problem!

I know myself. I know how I am. I get a style in my head, it travels to my heart, and nothing else will suffice for the space and feel of the room.  I was in trouble because, I knew what I wanted as a replacement. No more heavy, dark, Tuscany-style furniture. Unlike the old farmhouse, this new house lends itself to a more modern, easy-living vibe.

What I had in mind was something more modern: low back, fabric, clean lines. I wanted nailhead trim, gray. I wanted something like this:

I had been shopping for a replacement in a few furniture stores. While the prices weren't too bad, I wasn't sure we wanted to lay out the money for a new couch. 

The search was on!

I pored over CL, furniture store sales, websites and came up empty. Finally after a month of searching a post came up on my Facebook feed. It was for an older couch, but the color and the shape were right. It was just a little frumpy looking. But for a final cost of $60, the price was right. 

We brought it home. It was in great shape, no tears, worn spots, or snags! There were two things that didn't fit my vision:  the skirt, which made the couch look a little frumpy and the lack of the bling of the nailhead trim. For $60 I felt I could take the leap and do some surgery on our new lackluster friend. (Why would you cover up that beautiful arm?)

The Challenge

When we lifted up the skirts we found beautiful tapered legs. Hmmm...if only the skirt could be shortened to show them off. The nailhead trim seemed to be an easy fix. I purchased some pewter nailheads off of Amazon, found here -   http://amzn.to/1rC0HeY   I probably could have found them cheaper, but I was excited to get started.

After a little trimming around the legs, we were able to staple the skirt up under the edge of the couch. It already looked more modern and streamlined. I trusted the nailhead trim to my daughter who did an amazing job of hammering all those little nails in just the right spots. She outlined the piping on the arms and along the bottom, where the skirt was attached. 

The Result

Here are some inspiration couches that I liked: 

This is what our little find ended up looking like

For less than $100 and with a little patience and persistence, we ended up with a sleek, updated, beauty. If we can do it, so can you!

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to do so.

To see more updates to our new home follow this link:  http://bit.ly/1o9uQyl

To see more fab ideas for updates, etc, go to  Not Just a Housewife at http://bit.ly/UzVc5E

Lessons Learned - Trends, Likes and Seashells

Every once in a while, do you have a question that seems to have no answers? I'm in one of those places right now, in more than one area of my life. One of those areas has to do with the repainted and updated furniture we do.

Have you ever finished a piece, sat back, admired it and then.....sat back and scratched your head when something so gorgeous just doesn't go out the door? I have had this happen more than I like to admit lately; a Seize the Day Table that we revamped with a chalkboard-looking top and also with a periwinkle butterfly stand.

Why do some pieces fly out the door so quickly, while other sit around like the wallflower at your junior high dance?  Is it color, shape, design? Who knows? Maybe it's all of those - or none. What's not to like? Chalkboard, butterflies, periwinkle blue.  

Maybe it's just a fact of a DIYer's life: there are just some pieces that have a hard time finding a new home! I just don't get it. 

Maybe it's just MY emotional attachment to the colors and pieces. Or the time invested.

Remember opening a new box of 64 crayons? Yep, the big one! That periwinkle blue was one of my favs! That's why it didn't make sense to me that the butterfly stand wasn't selling.

Finally coming to grips with the fact that the pieces weren't going to sell as is, and putting our faves aside, we repainted. UGH!! The Carpe Diem table hasn't gone live yet, but the butterfly stand sold within 24 hours of repainting the periwinkle a soft black.

I think the hardest redo of a redo was a pair of cabinet doors that we repurposed for wall art. I thought it was a great idea. I spent hours learning the transfer technique for the shells. I loved the soft arch at the top of the door. That, coupled with one of my favorite colors, sea-glass green, LOVE!

I still like them, but they just wouldn't move. Well, the other pieces moved after a redo of a redo. Maybe these would, too. (Insert sad face here)

I took the leap. I mixed up some chalkboard paint. Don't hate....I did try some spray paint chalkboard, but it came out shiny and the chalk wouldn't work on it. So I mixed up my own. (Insert happy face here)

We all are aware that chevron is so trending. The charcoal, coral and white desk we revamped soled almost immediately. You can read about it here:  http://bit.ly/1hI8O3H  It was worth trying.

I also found a chevron painter's tape, made by Frogtape. It's not cheap, and it's not easy to find, but it's so easy to use. It comes in three different shapes. I will definitely be using it again!  

(I pulled this image from their website.)

The centers of the doors were repainted with the chalkboard paint. The chevron tape went over the sea-glass green and was painted with a dark teal.  They looked so different!

And, guess what? They were gone within 5 minutes!! No kidding?!

Sometimes it pays to put your emotions and likes to the side, and take an objective look at things. Hmmmm....that sounds like more than a painting lesson; that's a life lesson!  Lesson learned!

Mirror, Mirror

With the holidays approaching I'm seeing a lot of white, shimmer and glitter. Here's our contribution. A white, shimmery, lux-looking, but affordable piece. This entire project cost was around $15. I love projects like that!!

if you're like me, sometimes, you just need to do something a little different now and then. If you DIY long enough, eventually, you'll find yourself branching out to try new things. This was one of those projects. Ready for a break from detail painting such as our Count Your Blessings Cabinet - http://bit.ly/GC3TFg

This is one of the projects where the idea was great, but the actual process made us break a sweat. It was a LOT of work. I have to admit that we did do another project very similar to this not too long after. Some of us just don't learn very easily.

That was the case with this vintage round coffee table. We found it in a local antique shop in the clearance section. As you can see, the top was leather, but had seen much better days. It was ripped up and had burn holes through it.

Updated Cabinet into Acorn Wreath Storage Cabinet

This cooler weather already has me thinking fall. Football, apple cider, and falling leaves.

I found this cabinet in a local used furniture shop. This little vintage 1940's piece was beat up, unloved, and stuffed into a corner. Despite that, it was priced at $14.95 It had a maple top, vintage shabby chic style and a great shape. I figured we could do something with it. We were so excited to get started that we forgot to take the "before" picture.  (Sigh...once again excitement overrides know-how!)

An acorn wreath graphic from The Graphics Fairy was our inspiration for this piece. http://thegraphicsfairy.com/search/  Her site has amazing vintage style free graphics. If you haven't visited her site, you should!  I used one of her bee graphics for my Dutch Back Bee Chair. You can see it here -   http://tinyurl.com/qbbrg9k

The first thing on our list was to give it a good cleaning. The bottom of the cabinet was given two coats of cream color paint, the knobs were painted a light sage green. Both were then sanded back to bring out the details and to give the new paint a shabby chic finish.

Two of the most interesting updates to this piece were the top and the insides of the storage area. We wanted to do something special in the back of the storage area. We cut a piece of foam core to the size of the back.  We wrapped the foam core with fabric, hot gluing the excess fabric on the back of the foam core. The wrapped foam core was then hot glued into the back of the cabinet.

The baskets were purchased at a local department store. They matched the fabric perfectly!

The other area that we wanted to bring attention to was the maple top. That's where the graphic came it. 

I wanted to allow the wood top to become the highlights in the acorns and wreath.Using a chocolate brown craft paint, I sideloaded the brush and went to work, painting the shadows. I was a little overly ambitious. This only took about 4 hours!!! But it turned out so gorgeous!

When it was all finished, this is what it looked like - before it found a new home 

So, although I hate to think of what November brings, blechhh!  I love the way this cabinet turned out!

LABOR Day DIYs!

I hope you all had a wonderful Labor Day!

Mine was definitely a LABOR day. We're taking a small break from the vintage furniture painting that Sow's Ear usually does, and we're making some updates around the house. This weekend was a crazy-busy one. We did manage to squeeze in a family picnic in between all the projects.  

Stephanie, over at By Stephanie Lynn @ http://www.bystephanielynn.com/2013/09/sunday-showcase-party-210.html is hosting a linky party, asking her readers to share their recent projects. I'm going to her party!

Ready to take a peek at what we accomplished? It might not seem like a lot, but it was labor and time intensive. I have the blisters to prove it!

I'm very frugal when it comes to anything! Honestly, unless it's something that I fall absolutely in love with, I'm always looking for a way to do it myself...CHEAPER!

First, there was the stairway/hallway wallpaper project

I don't have any "before" pictures, but believe me the 1980's wallpaper that graced this space was not graceful in any way. It had a cornflower blue, mauve and beige color palette. Not horrible, but the crayon, pencil and tears were not helping matters.  I had the strange blue/green Berber carpet that had to stay. At our local Habitat Restore I found a paisley wallpaper with the same strange teal color, along with tan, bronze and gold. The best part ---- ONLY $1 per double roll!!  Yep!  LOVE it!

Although this seemed like a straight forward project, there were angles, cut ins, railing brackets. It was really time intensive, but I think it turned out very nice.

By the way, see those nice teal knobs on the dresser? They used to be white! I colored the white glass with a teal sharpie, let them dry overnight, baked them in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, and VOILA!! New, updated, color-matched knobs!

Second up -- the Dreaded Deck

It was painted 2 years ago and definitely needed a new coat of makeup! I repainted the floor; UGH!! Drudgery! Then came the fun part!  Putting the eyeshadow, liner and blush on the foundation.

I purchased a 6 by 8 foot outdoor rug at Home Depot for just over $17  http://tinyurl.com/kun6fbf .  I made a stencil and with a couple of cans of paprika and white spay paint, created a one-of-a-kind outdoor rug.  More updates included the pillow covers for the reading area. Fabric Guru ( http://tinyurl.com/l3nwwre ) has become my online go-to for fabric. Even with the $4.99 shipping cost, I can find current patterns at affordable prices. The antique headboard potting bench was a project that my brother completed for me as a Christmas present. He's a good guy!  Another project FINI!

Third up...bedroom curtain tie backs and DIY easy Roman shades

Kind of following the directions from 365 Days to Simplicity (http://tinyurl.com/mbbuh2r ) and some $1/yard fabric that I picked up at Wally World, I made three Roman shades that replaced the worn out, gross mini blinds in my bedroom. The directions for the custom tie backs are found here: http://sowsear2.blogspot.com/2013/09/one-of-kind-curtain-tie-backs.html What d'ya think?

And, Fourth, but not last (sigh) Upcycled Burlap Covered Boxes

Using office paper boxes I recreated the burlap storage boxes found at One Kings Lane for a fraction of the price. The original price for this set of three boxes was $69; and the largest box was 8"H x 15.75"W x 12"L http://tinyurl.com/kr7dzx3    With my trustly glue gun, scissors, and some paitence, I was able to reproduce a much larger box for $.25 a piece. The boxes were free and I found the burlap coffee bags at a local greenhouse supply warehouse for 25 cents a piece!! You can't get much more frugal than that!

Well, I think that's enough for one weekend, don't you? Phew! I'm going to go take a nap!

One of a Kind Curtain Tie Backs!

Time for a break from repainting vintage furniture. 

Although that's my passion right now. You can see some samples here -    http://tinyurl.com/nj7d38f . I had another DIY project that I didn't want to put off any longer.

I don't know what it is that kicks me into the redecorating gear; new trends that I love, boredom, a need to stay crazy busy.  It's like a nesting instinct kicks in and there's a DRIVE to redo, redo, redo.  Over that last few weeks I've wallpapered and redecorated my stairway, landing and hallway, repainted a deck, painted an outdoor rug, etc.  One of my fun repurpose projects was a trio of one-of-a-kind curtain tie backs.  

Every time I looked at new tie backs, I couldn't bring myself to dish out the dough. Why are they so expensive?

Like most girls, I LOVE a touch of bling and sparkle. In my "looking," I ran across some antique crystal doorknobs. I knew these would work. Needing a base, I also purchased some antique, shabby chic, chippy doorknob backplates.

Here are my basic supplies. I found the threaded steel rod at Lowe's and it screwed right into the bottom of the doorknobs. Besides the doorknobs and backplates, some 3/8" diameter threaded steel rod (from Lowe's), wood screws, 1/2" copper pipe (left over from another project), and nuts to fit the threaded rod. 

I decided that a 3" projection from the window trim to the bottom of the doorknob was a good length for the tie back. My hubby pitched in and welded the wood screws to the ends of the threaded rod after it was cut to a 3" length.

Since the screws didin't have to be all the way into the window trim, I actually eyeballed the length of the copper pipe.  (I'm not always the most detailed in my projects. SOMETIMES an eyeballing works.)

I screwed the copper tube clad rod into the trim through the hole in the backplate and VOILA!  My own, bling -y, crystal, shabby chic, mod, curtain tie-backs.

They turned out gorgeous, and for a lot less price than 3 new tie backs. Just the right price for a frugal DIY - er!!

The Lady and the Gentleman - in RED

Lady and Gentleman in Red

Darn it!! I have this terrible habit of getting too excited about new projects. I forgot to make absolutely sure I had before pics of both of these chairs. Oh well, I'm not gonna take them apart and start over! Here's the before of The Gentlman (he's called that because he's just a little bigger than The Lady).

Both members of this couple had seen better days: the cane was brittle and coming apart; the veneer was worn through in a few places; joints were loose.  But, they have wonderful "bones."

On a side note: don't ever, ever try to make red chalk paint with high definition paint. It makes the paint thin and watery. Also, ALWAYS use tinted primer when using very pigmented colors. Please don't ask me how I know this. :)

Anyway, this homeless couple was brought in, clean up, sanded, primed and ready to dress up.  After all the prep work, they needed to be really dressed up. So they were given a couple of coats of a bright red, like lipstick red. Then all the edges were distressed. After all of that the red was still too bright. It was like putting a pair of knee-high Chucks on a 70 year old woman. Some of them can carry it off, but this pair still needed to have age-appropriate garb.  

To take care of that, a dark wax was applied. What a difference! The red was still really red, but the wax brough out all the little details and gave the paint just a little more depth. 

Now that the paint was done, it was time to tackle the seats. My handy hubby came up with a solutions. He cut out plywood bases to replace the cane bottoms. Using 1/2 inch plywood, he routered the bottoms, creating a lip that extended on top of the seat. He made sure to leave a little give in the size to accommodate the batting and fabric. 4 little blocks were glued to the bottom to give us something to screw through once the seats were put in place. I know, it's a little technical, but we thought and thought about a solution. It's always exciting when you see it and are able to come up with a plan to carry it out!

The plywood was covered with a thin foam, batting and finally the upholstery fabric. It's "stuffy" enough to be dressy, but can still be country, primitive, modern or traditional. I fell in love with it the first time I saw it. Yo cover up some "outstanding" cane holes, I added a wide, black, braided trim. That was the final touch!

It was like putting that beloved brooch on you coat! They looked completely new! 

 Although this pair doesn't match, they are definitely are a couple. After all, clones can be boring. I think they will look great in an entryway, at the foot of a bed, or any corner that needs brightened up. And now presenting the Happy Couple - The Lady and Gentleman in Red!

The Genleman - larger and manlier

The Lady - because she's smaller, daintier

New Life for a Curb Dweller

Here's a sweet little find. A friend of mine keeps here eyes open for any "freebies" sitting alongside the edge of the road that are crying out for a new purpose. Here is one of her finds.

This little guy had definitely seen better days. No glass on top, kind of wobbly, beat up, and kicked to the curb, literally.  After brainstorming for a couple of days, I came up with a plan: it was about the right size for a little bench or footstool for an entryway or living room.  Hmmmm.... coming up with the plan is always the easy part; carrying it out always proves a little more challenging.

Plan: a new painted surface, a piece of thin plywood that would sit inside the "frame" where the glass used to be, something for over the plywood for a cushion. Finally, a cool, trendy cover of some kind.

The piece was sanded and given a fresh coat of satin black paint. After cutting the plywood to size, I stapled a pillow (ripped open and about 1/2 the stuffing removed) to the top of the plywood. The plywood was then covered with a burlap coffee bag that I had left over from some other crafts. Thin trim was then stained a honey gold and glued to the edges of the plywood to cover the edges and clean up any gaps between the frame and the plywood.  The last step was to distress the edges of the bench.

This is the result of a little ingenuity, some sawdust and elbow grease:

Add caption

 His new home?  A new friend's entry way; a place to sit while removing boots, etc.  A new life for a discarded piece. Ahh....

You can see a slew of transformations, great ideas and crafty things at The Shabby Creek Cottage at this link:
http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/2013/01/transformation-thursday-no-186.html#more