Weekend Rehab

This weekend we celebrated my brother's 21st Birthday. When I asked him what he wanted, he said he needs stuff for his house. There is honestly so much that he needs, I was trying to keep things simple and get some real necessities, instead of fun decor stuff. You can always add the details later, but staples, like chairs and rugs, are what he needed most.

A few weeks ago, while my husband was working outside, our neighbors across the alley put out a bunch of furniture they wanted to get rid of with a large FREE sign. So I went over there to check out the goods crap. I did come upon an old swivel chair that had brown vinyl upholstery, wood armrests, and chrome frame. While it was in pretty poor condition, it had good bones that I thought I could clean up. I rolled it across the alley and put it in my garage until true inspiration kicked in.

My brother needed a desk chair for his new kitchen, one that had wheels so that it could move easily on the new wood floor. At a trip to Joann's one Saturday, I found some great blue woven fabric on clearance for $3 a yard (I bought 1.5 yards), and decided to make over the old office chair. The photo on the left shows the true color, but the one on the right shows the weave of the material.

Next, I stripped off the old vinyl off the cushions, and surprisingly, the foam underneath was in great condition. No smells or major stains, and I think this is because of the stain resistance of the vinyl covering. I liked the brown armrests, but due to some scrapes and damage to them, sanding them way down and staining was not really an option to get them to look good. And I was limited on time, so I gave them a quick sanding and wipe down, and primed them with Kilz Latex Primer. 

While the primer was drying, I took the back cushion inside and began to recover it. I used a staple gun to secure the fabric around the old foam, as the staples would be disguised by the mounting of the cushion back on the frame. No need to sew when you don't see the seams anyway! I had plenty of material to cover both cushions.




Next, I took the frame out into the grass  to spray paint the arms (we my husband had a little issue with spray paint overdraft on our his patio pavers last time, so I have been banished to the grass for all spray painting projects) with a glossy white Rustoleum paint I already had in my garage. I used some Frog Tape, also already owned, to take off the chrome as to prevent any residual spray on that too. 


And just to show you the condition of the chrome, it was not in terrible shape, but definitely had some pitting and rust spots. So, after the arm rests were really dry, as to not screw them up like I do my nail polish, I proceeded to clean up the chrome frame.

For this, I used one of my most favorite products that I already had on hand, Brasso. I use it to clean up my vintage brass pieces, anything chrome, and sometimes even silver. It can be found at most major home improvement stores. I dab it on with steel wool, let sit for a few minutes, and then rub in circles with the steel wool. Then get a clean rag or paper towel and wipe off the excess. It took off about 98% of the rust, with the exception of two small amounts in the corners, and made the chrome look shiny and new! It gleamed almost as bright as the new white arm rests!

The bottom cushion was originally covered with the vinyl stapled directly to the bottom of the frame, so I used the same technique with the new blue fabric. I just stretched the fabric over the foam, and stapled the fabric tightly to the underneath. I them trimmed any excess fabric off of the bottom.

And here it is!!! The finished chair, looking bright, shiny, and new! When we first got it to his house, the chair was a little too tall for the new desk, but thanks to it being a vintage chair, it could be swiveled down to the right height. Who knew?! Here it is as the perfect fit in his new desk, and the entire project cost me a whopping $4.50 in material, since all other items were already owned! And check out the new rugs we got for the kitchen from HomeGoods for $20 a piece. I love them because they are sisal, but have the rubber backing on the back for a no-slip grip!

 

We also got my brother some plants for his house, to warm up the space a bit. He still needs a few more, but we need to start small to see if he can keep them alive. The one in the gray pot (also from HomeGoods $3) is an air purifying plant from Home Depot, that I thought would be not only good for the desk/kitchen, but also his allergies. The other plant is a tropical plant that loves sun and requires little water. The pot was also from HomeGoods for $5, and both plants were under $10 each. And finally, his last gift was a large sisal rug for the living room. While it is not my favorite rug, he needed something in there to break up all the brown from the wood floor and leather couches, until we can find a larger rug with more color.

So there's the rundown of the weekend rehab project! I guess it was really two projects in one, since I not only rehabed a chair, but brought some more life to my brother's house. Check back soon for a few more rehab projects this summer!

Bathroom Before & After

My brother's house is finally complete... well almost. There is ALWAYS tweaking and furnishing to be done. However, all the major renovations have been completed. Today, we have the gray, dingy bathroom before:

And the crisp, white AFTER:

Forgive the ivory glow.... this photo was taken at night, so it doesn't look as white as usual. The tub and toilet are both Kohler. Since this is the main bathroom in his house, he really wanted nice fixtures. In most bathrooms, I would go with a standard, cheaper white tub and toilet, but since he found a Kohler vanity he loved, we decided to use other fixtures of the same brand. We used a local contractor for all the tile work, and picked white glazed subway tiles for the walls, and a non-glazed mosaic tile (similar to the one Bryn used from Home Depot) for the flooring, both with white grout. We used a non-glazed tile on the floor for safety reasons, as to prevent slippage. The shower curtain is a white waffle weave for $7 from TJMaxx, rings were $5 from TJMaxx, and the curtain rod was $15 from WalMart. The basket above the toilet was $8 from HomeGoods.

Due to the size of the bathroom, my brother still wanted a small sink, but with storage, since the previous pedestal provides none.This vanity and sink from Kohler was the perfect addition, since it has two drawers to hide stuff, plus an open area to store toilet paper, tissues, and a little artwork too.

 

Vintage wood and bamboo tray (on left) was $0.99 at Salvation Army Thrift Store, bamboo frame was also $0.99 from Salvation Army, and the surf print I already owned (similar here). Tissue box (hidden), garbage can (hidden), soap dispenser, and toothbrush holder are all from Crate and Barrel. Teak towel rods for $9 each are from West Elm, but have since been discontinued.

 

 
And as you can remember from this post, I chose the "Sur La Vague" print for the bathroom. I purchased a white washed frame and white mat from Michaels so that the colors of the print really stand out.

We have also since purchased these towels to bring a little more color into the bathroom:

We also used this $32 outdoor light from Home Depot above the vanity mirror, and this cool can light exhaust fan was a great addition to the bathroom.

So there you have the bathroom before and after. And the best part... everything is white, so a little bleach will keep everything fresh and clean all the time! He really loves the new bathroom, and I hope you all do too! Check in this week for more home before and afters!

Condo Project

This past weekend, we nearly completed my brother-in-law's condo styling, as last seen here. He lives in a condo that was probably last redone sometime in the 1980's, only because everything is beige and the dining area has lots of mirrors. Since he is renting this condo, we can't paint or take down the mirrors, but we could rearrange the place a bit to make it more modern. Lets check out the before:

A few highlights in the living room: a nice entertainment center with tv, but beige carpet, beige walls, pink couches with denim slipcovers. Need I say more?

Here is the dining room. Aside from the mess, you can see the mirrors on the wall, and there are actually mirrors on the wall to my right as well. The fabric on the dining room chairs is also a little dated.

After the couches came, we decided to use some of the furniture we had in different places. To combat the mirrors, I ended up moving the bookcase from the living room wall to the middle of the wall in the dining room.

I also recovered the chairs with a blueish gray fabric that I bought at Joanns for $3 (clearance bin) that matches a color in the couch accent pillows. I brought a small triangular antique table from my in-laws house and put it in the corner with a tropical potted plant on top to warm the space.

The tropical plant was on sale at Home Depot for $7, and the pot was something I already had in my garage. I really like the height that this gives to the corner and  with the mirrors, it looks bigger than it really is. 

Where the bookshelf used to be, on the main living room wall, we added an antique bar set from his great grandfather, and some framed artwork.

The bar itself still needs to have the legs put on, but I needed some more time for extra engineering to make sure it is sturdy enough on the carpet.

All of the glassware is original to the bar, with the exception of the two glass Bourbon and Vodka bottles I found at a garage sale for $1. The small ceramic blue-gray tray was $5 from HomeGoods and the vintage BAR sign was another garage sale find for $2. 

The living room already got a little spruce up from the addition of new couches. Unfortunately, the couches are a little damaged, and some wrong pillows came, so that is why there are still tags on everything.... it has to go back once the new set comes. The more muted pillows will be a dark brown, and the striped multi-colored pillows will remain. Check out the blue lamp in the corner.

We added a leather recliner that was passed down from some friends of ours. Its not the best color for the room, but until we find one in a different color, it provides extra seating. The coffee table is a little small, and we still need a rug, but the room is much better with the pink/denim slip covered couches gone. We still need an end table to the left as well for the other blue lamp, but for now, I have put another tropical plant there (also $7 from Home Depot) to warm up the space.

 

And finally, between the entertainment center and window, a larger plant to fill the space and bring some green into the room:

This plant is about 4'-5' tall, and was a steal at $19, especially since the pot was also something I had in the garage.

The space itself is much more open and lively. Like I said before, there are a few more minor elements that we need, but it is a HUGE improvement from what we had originally. The real plants bring in green and warmth to the space, and the bar and updated dining room make it a place to entertain. Art on the walls makes the room look a lot less beige. Using a few inexpensive accessories and plants, and antique furniture we already had, the place is much more inviting and styled.

Hope you enjoyed this makeover. Stay tuned for the big renovation reveal from my brother's house next week!

Kitchen Reveal

At last, the kitchen reveal. It has been a lot of blood + sweat + tears, but it is done! I'll let the photos speak for themselves:



Left side of the kitchen, looking in from the door to the garage:

View AFTER:

Now here is the right side BEFORE:

And the AFTER:

And more of the right side, since we added the desk and extra storage cabinets that extend all the way to the wall:

And some more photos:

RIP dome ceiling!

It is truly AMAZING how a 10' by 10' kitchen can be extended and more functional by simply taking out its small half walls. And I am obsessed with the eat in island between the living room and kitchen.... it really opens up the space, and provides extra counters too!

More details about the elements to come.... How did we do???