Wednesday 19 October 2011

Take a seat....

OK, so what started as a revamp of the studio, has snowballed into a revamp of the entire house!  While deliberating on the best colour scheme for the studio, I have somehow become distracted by other decor-related projects, most of which are lying in various stages of completion throughout the house.  Here's one I have actually finished.  I thought I'd share it.

We have these chairs which had started to look a bit sad and grotty.  They had been relegated to the front verandah since they were no longer fit to be seen indoors.

sad and grotty chair
The first step was to remove the seat from the metal frame.  This was easy enough to do as there were four screws holding it in place.

The next step was to sand the metal frame.  I used 150-grit sandpaper and a couple of DIY minions assistants.  (yay for school holidays!)  I then wiped the frames with a damp cloth.

I sprayed the frames with black spray paint, and while each coat dried, I worked on the seat cover.  I removed the fabric from the seat by taking out the staples.

I dug out a piece of brown suede from my fabric stash and, using the wooden seat as a template, cut a circle slightly bigger than the wood.

I used my staple gun to secure the fabric to the wood. (man, I enjoyed this bit!) 
Once the paint had dried, I reassembled all the pieces and am quite pleased with the result.

The chairs have now been brought inside and look quite nice in the dining room. 

What do you think?  Do you have any old chairs that could use a makeover?  We'd love to hear about your DIY exploits!

Sunday 16 October 2011

Colour me green....

It's official.  I have a severe case of cupboard envy.

One of the problems with blog-reading is that you see things.  Wonderful things.  Things that inspire and delight you.  Things that can never be unseen.

Take cupboards for example.

During my online foraging, I have come across these fine examples of organisation.

In the Kitchen
   

the Bedroom


and the Office
and I have a feeling that I won't be happy until my cupboards look just like this. (well, something similar anyway)

How about you?  Do you have any tricks to keeping your cupboards neat and tidy? Do you think this level of organisation is achievable and maintainable?  I'd love to her from you...