Nesting = 'New' Dining Room Chairs

I took on an impromptu project this weekend - reupholstering the dining rooms chairs.


Yes, it was one of the items on my baby countdown to-do list, but I had pretty much accepted the fact that I wasn't going to get the dining room tackled before she came. I'm chalking it up to that whole nesting thing. With two weeks to go as of Saturday, I still have this urge to complete and perfect any project I can find the time to take on. 

Saturday morning came and I had errands to run anyway so I stopped at JoAnn Fabrics to take a peek at fabric. It must have been fate or just my lucky day because not only did I find gorgeous fabric, but it was the end of the bolster and just happened to be exactly how much fabric I needed to purchase. Weird, right? I took apart one of our old chairs and  brought the fabric in so I could measure the right amount for four chairs. 

Here is a close up of the fabric:

Isn't it beautiful? I fell in love immediately.

That's not even the best part. How much did it cost to buy fabric for 4 dining room chairs? 

Just under $7.00... TOTAL. I'm so proud of myself. 

The fabric was in the clearance section (I went straight there because I refuse to pay full price for almost anything). It only cost $6.00 per yard. It was the end of the bolster so I was able to get 1 yard and ten inches which happened to be exactly what I needed (actually a little bit more as I trimmed a few inches off). JoAnn gives you 50% off the end of the bolster after you take the last full yard so those 10 inches only cost $.83. 

$6.83 to reupholster 4 dining room chairs. Can't beat it.

For the past three years the dining room chairs have looked like this. 

 

The furniture set was given to us by my in-laws and my FIL volunteered to reupholster them once I chose a fabric. Our dining room walls were originally a bright green (painted by the previous homeowners) and I chose this fabric to match. See this post for a picture of how the dining room used to look.

I really loved the fabric for a while, but after I painted the dining room walls, the fabric seemed too dark for my lighter, brighter dining room.

$6.83 and about an hour's worth of work later, I now have this:

A side-by-side comparison of the old and new fabric.

I love it :)

I didn't take a picture of the full dining set because the other half of the room looks like this:

Believe it or not, this is after cleaning out the dining room so this looks ten times better than the room has looked for the past few months. So technically I can cross two items off my to-do list: reupholstering the chairs and de-cluttering the dining room. 


As for the bench, I removed the cushion with the paisley green fabric and plan to purchase some comfy, pretty pillows to dress it up. I snagged this IKEA blanket that used to be in the living room and just happens to match the new fabric. The pillow purchase will wait until we have the baby stuff out of the dining room once she is born.

I'm pretty proud of myself since this was my first time ever reupholstering a chair. I relied on a few tutorials I found online and followed what my FIL had done on the chairs before.


I will post a tutorial later this week for any of you who want to try. It was a lot easier than I thought. 

Bummer

The mirror for the nursery was delivered today.

And it's broken.

Talk about a bummer. 

I've already sent an email with the pictures to the company so hopefully we can get a replacement asap. 

Baby Countdown To-Do List Updated

Two weeks and 4 days until Lucy is due. Here's is where I stand with my Baby Countdown To-Do List:

Work on guest room for potential post-baby overnight guests

Organize decor on new living room shelves

Bonus points if I can do the above without purchasing anything new (ok, I bought ONE thing...)

Finishing touches in nursery (paint touch-up, fix window treatments, etc)

Ceiling fan for nursery

Blinds for skylight in nursery - still trying to figure how to tackle this one out without spending $200 on a custom blind

Find a mirror for nursery 

Clean and spruce up outside (front and back upstairs and down) - clean, yes. spruce, no.

Hang family wedding photos in upstairs hallway

Decide on a spot and hang Jordan's anniversary gift

Reupholster dining room chairs

FInd pillows for dining room bench

De-clutter dining room -  the dining room has become baby storage so none of these items have even been touched.

Purchase final frame for wedding wall collage in living room 

Re-organize linen closet - we actually plan to do this one this week... or so we say :)

Nursery Window Treatments

My latest nursery project is finding curtains. As you can see in the old picture below I've had blinds in the nursery for quite some time now. I've been going back and forth whether I'm happy with the birch finish as opposed to a white blind finish. But at this point in the game, it may be too late to change my mind. That and Jordan will think I'm crazy for wanting to switch them out now. 

Because some sunlight still peeks out the sides of the blinds, I want to find some curtains to hang to completely block out any light when needed. As you can see in the picture I had a curtain rod already hung from the pre-nursery days when the room was an office. I intended to keep this up and simply use it for the new window treatments. I had trouble finding ones long enough and when I did find cheap IKEA shears (which I wasn't even that crazy about), they took up so much space floor-to-ceiling that the wall looked crowded. So the curtain rod came down and the holes were spackled.

(nursery pre-glider)

I've been searching the internet for a few weeks and I've narrowed the choices down to two window treatments. 

Tadpoles Tulle 63" Curtain Panel from Toys R Us - $15.98

I love how girly these are and yet the white keeps them simple and not too busy. Plus, as I've mentioned before, I love ruffles. Since the window is small, one panel will be plenty to block the sunlight without crowding the wall. I'm just not sure how it will look when I want some sunlight in the room and I have to push the curtain to the side. Should I get a hook for one side, or just slide it over?

The other option is this one from Target:

Sailcloth Tie-up Shade from Target - $18.99

This one is an easy window cover that can be full-length or tied up to let sunlight in. I saw it in person and although I love the look of it, I'm not crazy about the fabric. It's sort of a stiff cotton, not as soft and "pretty" as I was hoping for the nursery. I searched the web for some alternative options at another store, but haven't had much luck.

I love these DIY ones from Cozy.Cottage.Cute

DIY Tie-Up Shade via cozy.cottage.cute 

but I don't have anywhere near the sewing skills to tackle this project. At least not in the 2 and a half weeks I have until her due date.

The DIY was actually inspired by this Pottery Barn version.

I'd buy them in a heartbeat, but I've searched and can't seem to find them anywhere. 

So back to reality. Here are my two options:

(Please excuse my limited photoshop skills, but you get the idea.)

I plan to make my choice soon and purchase this week!

Oh and in case you're wondering, I did order the mirror I mentioned last week. After I ordered it, the email said it would take 1-2 weeks to ship. Here's hoping it arrives before Lucy does!

Happy Father's Day!

Just want to wish a Happy Father's Day to the best dad out there - mine!

And of course to a certain daddy-to-be that is close to my heart.

Hope you all had a great weekend and Father's Day!!