Furniture Makeovers Archives | Page 27 of 110

Furniture Makeovers

Before and Afters

tufted sofa reveal

After much deconstructing, button-making, tuft-tying, fabric-stapling, trim-gluing, tack-hammering and cushion-sewing, the tufted sofa is finally done!! I feel like some confetti should’ve fallen from the sky when Kriste and I put the final cushion in place. It didn’t, but it should have. This sofa has been the most challenging and high-maintenance piece of upholstery I have taken on to date, but it is done and I finally get to show it off. There it is, all styled and pretty. And here it is without any pillows or props… Kriste and I were “oohing” as we were proofing the pictures. It’s just such a pretty sofa! Here is how it looked when it came into my possession. It was given to me last year after the Lucketts Spring Market for free. Eddie, a photographer and fellow vendor, didn’t sell it, but really wanted to get rid of it, so she gave it to me.

February 12, 2016 101 Comments

All Things Home

braided jute & tack trim

The body of the tufted sofa is finally finished! This has definitely been the most challenging upholstery project I’ve taken on, but it’s shaping up nicely and now it’s all smooth sailing with the cushions. (I feel like I need to knock on some wood or something now!) Here’s a peek at how the body turned out… Did you notice anything? Well, if you’re very observant, you may have noticed that there are two different trims. Hopefully, you didn’t and my plan worked! You see, I had this beautiful jute trim… ..but I only had two spools of it and I couldn’t find more that was exactly like it. I really wanted to use it, but I was about six feet short of having enough for the entire sofa. I decided to use the trim, anyway, and figure out how to make up that extra six feet. That stretch would be

February 12, 2016 42 Comments

All Things Home

there is a time & a place for burlap

Remember when we were all collectively wooed by burlap? It’s cheap. It’s neutral. It brings lots of texture to the space. And, did I mention that it’s cheap? So, burlap was everywhere. EVERYWHERE. Curtains, wreaths, dust ruffles, pillows, upholstery, table linens… burlap wasn’t off limits for anything home decor. It still isn’t, really. If you run a search for burlap on Pinterest, the ideas are ample. I must admit that my curiosity was piqued, but I could never bring myself to fully hop on the bandwagon. I put my toe in with some burlap ribbon and a cousin to burlap, upholstery webbing, but that’s about as far as I would go. I may have been a bit unfair to burlap, because all burlaps are not equal, but my mind was already fixed. Before I started working on the tufted sofa, I had a vision for it. Hemp sheets on the front, so

February 9, 2016 52 Comments

All Things Home

the awl that quite possibly saved my life

Remember my struggles with the tufted sofa? I’m not usually paranoid about inanimate objects, but I felt like I needed to keep an eye on that one. It silently threatened to “do me in” with its seemingly bulletproof batting and ridiculous amount of tufts. I finally learned how to speak a language this sofa would understand… Let’s just say that the sofa got the point. It understood the awl perfectly. (Jeff thinks I should’ve said it understood “awl-fully well”, but I just couldn’t go that far.) The wooden handle of the awl and the sharper, thicker needle allowed me to push through all of the layers and make a way for the thinner upholstery needle. (For those who asked about the needle, I was using a needle made for tufting, so it was relatively thick, sharp and six inches long, but it wasn’t enough to get through this sofa.) So, I

February 4, 2016 84 Comments

All Things Home

Kim’s coastal bedroom | non-chippy milk paint

I love the look of paint that has been worn with time. Chips, flakes, rubbed areas that reveal the warm patina of the wood underneath. It just speaks to me. But, I know some people look at those pieces and wonder when you’re going to repaint or refinish them. It’s just not a look that is up everyone’s alley. My mom is one of those people who doesn’t like the “chippy look.” I know! Where in the world did I come from, right?! She does still ask her chippy-loving daughter to paint furniture for her, though. It’s always a good challenge for me and forces me out of my comfort zone. For her bedroom makeover, that large oak cabinet was begging to be painted. It felt massive and orange and a little dated as it was. I suggested painting it in Marzipan, to keep it light and fresh, but my

February 2, 2016 53 Comments

All Things Home

creating a chippy finish

One of the reasons I love milk paint is because it can chip and flake in a way that makes a freshly painted finish look authentically old. This chipping can be a bit random, though. I’ve tested out a lot of different products and techniques to consistently force chipping to happen and, while I’ve achieved some great finishes, the consistent, authentic-looking chipping has been illusive. Until now. Last week, I had several of my milk paint retailers in the studio for some refresher training and we played with some products and techniques to see what we came up with. On of the favorite teachniques was painting a coat of milk paint, followed by some 100% Beeswax Finish in select places, then another coat of paint, another coat of Beeswax Finish, and so on. I think I did five coats altogether, using a heat gun to help dry time. The result was

February 1, 2016 32 Comments

Before and Afters

ticking slipcover for an industrial stool

I had a full, productive day in the studio on Thursday and it was glorious. I worked on the tufted sofa and I made a slipcover out of some antique ticking for the white industrial stool I bought at the Raleigh Flea Market over Thanksgiving. I love how sweet and simple the skirt turned out. Yeah, it’s a little crooked, but that’s okay. I don’t do perfect well at all! Here’s how the stool looked before. The black pleather seat cover lent the stool a decidedly more clinical feel than I was going for. I started out by cutting a band of fabric off the scrap of antique mattress ticking I had in my stash. I used the portion of it that had a hand stitched initial and year (1913). I wrapped the piece around the stool, inside-out and pinned the ends together where they meet, right sides together, raw edges facing

January 30, 2016 38 Comments

All Things Home

furniture in waiting…

I know it’s only January, but I’m already starting to think ahead to the Lucketts Spring Market in May. It’s my biggest event of the year and I work really hard to fill my booth with goodies. So, the shopping has begun. I was trolling craigslist this weekend, sending links along to my craigslist-shopping-secret-weapon (my dad.) He contacts the seller, negotiates for me, picks it up in his truck and then delivers it to the studio. He’s probably for hire, but he’s ridiculously expensive for everyone but his baby girl. Anyway, I found a couple of really great dressers and, as soon as his driveway was plowed, he went to pick them up for me. This one is an oldie with amazing details. The hardware, the keyholes, the trim…and it’s actually on little wheels and it has a white marble top. (It was just too heavy for me to lift on

January 28, 2016 44 Comments

I’m Marian, a painter, writer, and lover of all things creative. From art and antiques to home projects and everyday life, I share my journey in hopes of inspiring you to embrace your own creativity and make beauty in the spaces you live.

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