accountable. I was dragging my feet on these last few projects and it feels
so good to finally have them done. It makes my house feel even happier.
This is the chair I started with. I forgot to take a before picture so
you'll have to close your eyes and pretend that the wood on the chair
looks all worn out and sad. You can see in this photo that small bits of
the back had become broken over time. Since it was still a strong and
sturdy chair that had a great shape, I went ahead and bought it for $12
and painted it heirloom white. I figured I would just cover those little
broken bits with a pillow.
I recovered the tattered cushion that had come with the chair using a curtain
panel I had saved. Again, my cover job isn't perfect, but I'm not going for
perfection around here. The cushion is really padded which makes it really
comfortable to sit on, but gave me some issues when it came to applying the
new fabric. In the end, the cushion suits the chair perfectly and is the
perfect pop of color I needed against my red chalkboard wall.
I made the pillow out of a dish towel from Cost Plus. To add more
texture I added a doily from the Dollar Tree; you know the ones, they
look like they are made out of stiff thread and seem pretty cheesy.
Well, I'm happy to report that after one washing they turn into a soft
and lovely crocheted piece. (Side note: after this discovery I went
back to the Dollar Tree and bought a bunch more so I could add them
to my crafting stash.) I decided my pillow needed a little more color,
so I added a scrappy flower to the center of the doily. The flower
originally came from a pillow sham I had bought on clearance at
Anthropologie. Since we weren't using the pillow shams anymore I
decided to cut off the sweet hand sewn flowers and save them for
crafting.
I think the pop of mustard is just what my new pillow and chair were in
need of. And I really love the way the colors stand out against the red
chalkboard wall. I used Rustoleum's tintable chalkboard paint from Home
Depot and chose Fresco Red as my color. There are about 16 different
colors you can choose from and I think the price is really reasonable at
only $12 a can.
The butterflies are from Target. I'd been pining over them for a while and
felt that the chalkboard wall would be the perfect place to finally use them.
They had a shiny silver finish when I bought them and since that doesn't
really match with my home I gave them a matte finish by spraying them
with a little clear matte finish spray paint. The tree drawing was inspired
by the one Joye did in her baby's nursery. I love the colorful leaves and
birds she put on her tree and think I might add a few to my tree, too.
I told Henry that momma's tree should be left alone, but he could draw all
over the rest of the wall. He decided he wanted to draw his own tree and
then thought it needed a couple of swings for he and Piper to play on.
He also thought that all those butterflies needed to come from somewhere
so he added a few cocoons to his tree branches.
I think that the red wall helps to diminish the presence of the television
by turning the whole wall behind it into a conversation piece. Plus, I
think it's fun. Plain and simple.
Since we don't have a front entry I try to incorporate front entry like
things into our family/living room. The blue and white piece of china
that sits on the dresser is where I drop my keys and sunglasses. The
new chair is now a spot to sit and put your shoes on, as well as a spot
to store Henry's backpack basket which sits right underneath it. And,
since the chair is conveniently located near our coat rack and hallway
it reinforces the front entry utility of it, while still acting as a
transitional piece that can do double duty as additional seating
for the room.
What about you? What do you do in small spaces to make the most of your
rooms? What do you have that's pulling double duty at your home?
I hope your day is a happy one!
+Heather