Chairs for Charity - Some 'Before' some 'After'

There are a ton of chairs just hanging out in our sunroom at the moment.  It looks like this, only worse now because there are actually MORE chairs than when I originally took this picture.

 

The yellow parson's-style chairs in the photo above are especially fascinating.  I knew they were old as the women who donated them told me they had originally been a part of the Granite Club (Toronto's version of a country club). 

When I was taking apart the chairs, I knew they were old because
a) they were made of real wood,
b) they were stuffed with horse hair and
c) there was a stamp that said "Made in Holland" and a paper sticker that said "J&J Kohn and Mundus New York Toronto." 

I did a little sleuthing and found out that J&J Kohn and Mundus were European companies that merged around 1922 and had both a NY and Toronto branch.  Chairs were made in various countries in Europe, including Holland. 

These chairs are likely almost 90 years old!!  Awesome!

Now the chair is naked and waiting for some new clothes...I have just the thing!  Stay tuned for more details here. 

I collected 5 of these pink plush chairs.  Four of them came from a funeral home (think 'Six Feet Under') and one from another donor, origins unknown. 

The trick is to make these 5 chairs look unique...sort of same-same but different?

Yes?

 The first of the 5 is what I like to call the 'Rambling Rose' chair.  Please excuse the quality of the photos.  I am clearly NOT a photographer. 

I have ideas for Pink Chair makeovers #2-#5...but it takes a lot of time to remove all of the old fabric (staples galore!) so don't hold your breath for pictures this week...they're coming!

For now, check out this office chair transformation a la buttons. 

 Here's a close of up that hand stitching and button work.  Fun stuff! 

Check out the Chairs for Charity event details on our Facebook page.

Ciao!

Chairs for Charity - in support of the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign

I'm coordinating a fundraising event at the YMCA with proceeds supporting the Strong Kids Campaign which helps to send children, who would otherwise be unable to afford it, to summer camp and other  other YMCA programs free of charge. 

The event will take place in early December (actual date TBA) at the YMCA.  A number of old, worn out chairs have been donated to the YMCA and require a facelift.  These chairs will be transformed by a team of talented individuals and then auctioned off to raise money. 

If you live in the Peterborough area, and are interested in refurbising a chair for this event, get in touch with me!  I'd love to have you as part of the team. 

Interested in being a chair 'sponsor?'  For a donation of $30, a chair will be created to represent your business or corporate image and you will receive publicity at the Chairs for Charity event.  Your chair will be displayed in your business during the last week of November and at the YMCA the first week of December.  Join us as a community partner! 

 

The first chair to undergo a Chairs for Charity transformation! 

 

You'll have to come and check out this chair in person at the event in December to fully appreciate all of the fantastic details! Stay tuned for more information (and more sneak peeks!). 

A little bit of this, a little bit of that.

I must apologize for my long absence from the blogsphere...I've got a lot on the go!

Most recently (read: about 20 mins ago), I finished up another 'French' coffee table for a client in Brampton, ON.  She loved the original table I had made in the summer so I more-or-less reproduced it for her. 

 The top photo is of the tables I just sold.  The bottom photo are the tables which sold in the summer.  I had to make a few modifications with the graphics, as the new table was a bit longer.  All grphics are from The Graphics Fairy whose site I highly recommend you check out!  Tons of vintage and retro images available for free download!

I decided to coordinate a charity event for the YMCA called 'Chairs for Charity' and inspired by a similar initiative in Langley, BC.  More on that later!

Finally, I've been working on reviving this amazing retro wardrobe which I got for a steal at a local auction.  It's come a long way since this photo, but still has much farther to travel.  I'm calling it my 'Fifty Shades of Grey' armoire.  Lots more juicy photos and details to come.  Ha!

Homemade Harvest Table

In our new place, we have a large room at the back of the house that has two banks of picture windows. It's a bright room and perfect for a large table - but I wasn't willing to pay $1,000+ for an 8 foot harvest table! One day...

 

Until then, I found a blog post (which I also pinned to my "I'd Make This" board on Pinterest) where Loraine had made her own table out of pine boards and recycled table legs.   I thought it was fantastic and sounded straightforward - which is key since I'm not a total whiz with power tools (yet!). 




 I was pushed for time because we had guests coming for lunch, so I botched the staining-sealing-finishing step and will need to re-epoxy the top of the table, but otherwise I'm pleased with the results. Eventually I will replace the light, 1" boards with sturdier 2" boards, but for now it will serve it's purpose: an attractive, affordable, space-conscious, and functional table for our 'blue room!'









It took me a while to find the table legs I was searching for.  I finally found a table with the 'right' kind of attachments - braces rather than a full skirt - along with 4 chairs for $50.  I scooped it up and set about the new project.

Forget sanding - so messy and time-consuming! - I have been using homemade chalk paint on all my furniture since I first used it on the dresser below.

I fell in love with the recipe, it's just so cheap, so easy and virtually foolproof that I can't stop using it!

I don't bother with expensive high adhesion paints for glossy surfaces (like Zinsser BIN paint, which is great, too, but at $30-$40 a gallon, it's not a bargain).


There are many blogs online that do a fantastic job of writing tutorials for making your own chalk paint. I use the following:

1 part Plaster of Paris
3 parts latex paint (I have found that the 'Painter's Touch' high gloss paints do not work well)
Water

I mix the water and Plaster of Paris together to form a paste about the consistency of thick cream. Stir well and until smooth. I mix in the latex paint and then add more water until it is paint-like consistency - it will be a bit thicker than usual. This paint dries ubber fast which is a plus, and you can do two coats in few hours. Sometimes I like to sand after 2 coats and then add a final coat of straight latex paint overtop before I wax it.

I use fine grit wet/dry sanding sponges and lightly sand with some water (often I spritz with a spray bottle full of water as I go). You will find the chalk paint sands easily so it's great for distressing or antiquing if that's the look you're going for. If not, throw a coat of pure latex overtop and then wax without sanding. The texture of the finished coat is a bit rougher, but I'm partial to it - test it out yourself, it may not be for everyone!



  After priming the chairs and table legs, I painted them with high gloss black (because that's what I had on hand).  If I hadn't had black paint in the 'shop I would have bought a satin or matte finish and waxed overtop. 

 

I purchased 1"x10"x8' 'bookshelf' boards at Home Depot but would recommend you go with the 2" boards instead for added stability (the 1" boards were just easier to fit in my car without any extra help and in a time crunch!).  As I said, I will replace them when I get a chance. They'll do for now!

 I had brace boards cut to size at Home Depot as well, and simply screwed these into the main boards to keep everything together.  I stained the table with a MinWax stain in a colour similar to the chairs and then I sealed it with some 2-part epoxy - I use EasyCast (not it's intended purpose, it's supposed to be used for making resin jewellery or art...but whatever!).  Unfortunately, because I was rushing I didn't let the stain dry for long enough and the epoxy resisted against it - so I had to scrape it down and I'll have to re-epoxy at a later date (aka. when I buy more!).  Lesson learned!

All-in-all I'm pleased with the effect and it will give us a way to 'entertain' without taking up an entire room. 

I'm sharing this blog post at The Shabby Nest - check it out and all the other inspiring ideas and DIY projects! 

Personalized Vintage Crate

A final picture of the finished vintage crate! 

 

A close-up of the graphic I chose and edited from The Graphics Fairy a great site full of amazing vintage and antique graphics.  You should check it out!  My tricks for creating a custom graphic:

1.  Find a fairly simple graphic (or a complex one, but be prepared to spend many hours tracing the pattern and filling it in!)

2. Add text using Microsoft Word (or other word processing program).  I used MS Word and put in text boxes with the personalized names (Shedden and Jones, as well as the '&' sign placed in the sheep).  I'm sure you could also use Photoshop or some such thing...I just don't have it!

 3.  Choose "Select All' in Word and then 'Copy'.  Open MS Paint (or other basic drawing program) and 'paste' the image into Paint.  'Save As' a JPEG or PNG file (this is the important part - you need to save the image as a JPEG or PNG file so that you can do step #4). 

4.  Go to Block Posters an amazing site that allows you to upload any picture file and create a 'poster' version spanning multiple pages.  This site is great for blowing up graphics you want to include on custom pieces of furniture (like chairs, tables, dressers, boxes etc).  I've even seen it used on textiles. 

I used 'liquid chalk' pens to write on chalk boards for our wedding.

5.  Print out your image (I used 2 pages, 'portrait' orientation) and then cut out around the image.  Usually I rub the back of my image with a graphite stick (available in most art stores for about $2-$5 and lasts forever!), but since I was working with a darker background, I used a chalk pen this time.  You can find chalk pens at arts & craft stores or order some off of Ebay (like I did). 



6.  Position your image on your piece of furniture etc. and then tape it, face up, so it doesn't move - I use green painter's tape because it comes off easily when I am finished. 

7.  Use a ballpoint pen or other stylus-type tool and trace over all parts of the graphic.  I like to do this in one sitting so that I don't make any mistakes or forget any areas.  I keep my graphic afterwards in case I need to use it for reference.

8.  When you are done tracing, remove the graphic and tape.  You will see an outline of your graphic (either in graphite/pencil or in white chalk).  You can now paint/draw over this with either a small paint brush, paint pen, or even permanent marker.  I like to use a variety of permanent markers because I can get them for cheap inexpensively at the Dollar Store!  Plus, it's a lot easier to use permanent markers than it is to use a paint brush - and I even have a good eye and steady hand!  I recommend using either paint or permanent markers.  No one will know (unless you tell them in a blog!) and it speeds up the process.

 

9.  If you want to achieve a more 'aged' look to your graphic, you can sand it with fine sandpaper once it has dried.  I did this with the shabby chic French coffee tables, to the right, and then dry brushed over them with some white paint as well.  Depending on where your graphic is, you may want to wax or polyurethane over the top to give some protection.  I didn't do this step on my vintage crate because it's a more rough-and-tumble piece.

10.  Clean up and admire your handiwork (and then brag about it on a blog!)  *final step is optional*

Vintage Crate - Half Way There!

I finally took a photo of the slat crate before I painted it.  I gave it a decent sanding with 60 grit paper before painting, to try to tone down its splinter-giving capabilities.  It's a simple design, just slats nailed on to the corner pieces of wood.  I covered up the rough edges by nailing another slat on the front.  I used a multi-purpose tool to trim the wood to size and it made quick work of the slats. 

 

I painted to box with 3 different paints.  I pinkish-brown that I mixed with glaze so that some of the original wood would show through.  I 'weathered' the brown with some grey paint, hapazardly brushed on, and then used some black paint to darken and age the corners more heavily.  I was happy with the final product and now it's all ready for the fun part - adding some sort of graphic or typography! 

I've already started on another crate, this one with fewer slats, but have stalled out on the bottom (I ran out of slats, and wanted to use wood from a pallet I picked up yesterday, but removing the wood is a lot trickier than I thought it would be!). 

Here's a 'before' of the pallet.  Picked it up on the side of the road driving home from work yesterday and hoping to make one final crate out of this. 

Sure, it all doesn't look like much now...but the tranformations continue!

Double Trouble: Steamer Trunk and Vintage Crate (from scratch!)

I may have bitten off more than I can chew with this Steamer Trunk project, that's for sure!  It's both time consuming and tricky - but it does look loads better when it's refinished!

 

Here are a couple of 'Before' photos of said trunk.  You can't tell from these pictures, but the top of the trunk was badly weather-damaged and the hardboard on the lid was unsalvageable.  It was like a soggy book!  I had to replace the hardboard which meant removing all of the hardware on the lid! 

 

The inside of the trunk does look like it may have been the site of a body-haul...but I assure you, it's just some sort of pink dye.  Obviously something leaked!  I have yet to tackle the body of the trunk, but it will have to be stripped down inside...I'm now debating about whether I should take it apart entirely.  It's quite difficult to put back together!  We shall see...

After spending hours yanking out the original nails and hardware, I de-rusted them (everything, everything, everything was rusty).  Instead of using that pink chemical stuff to remove the rust, I decided to be cheap environmentally friendly and try a more natural approach.  I boiled up a brew of vinegar (my favourite - good for everything!), salt, dish soap and some water.  I boiled the hardware in this for...not long, maybe 10 mins, making sure all the hardware was under the water.  Then I used a stainless steel scrubbing pad (you know, the kind that look like silver balls - to begin with - and you can get at the Dollar Store).  I rinsed them and dried them well.  Rust be gone!  At least mostly, and good enough to be sprayed with some Rustoleum Black Semi-Gloss spraypaint. 
 

I removed the misshapen hardboard and dismantled the wooden frame of the lid so that I could strip off the old paper lining and refurbish some of the wood.  I filled in any holes I could find with wood filler and put carpenter's glue in any splits that had formed from the old nails.  When it was dry, I give it a really quick sanding (like, I practically just brushed the sanding sponge over the wood three times) and then the wood also received the same Rustoleum paint treatment. 

I had the good people at Home Depot cut my new piece of 1/4" hardboard to size and I covered the inside with a turquoise leopard print paper - no pictures of that yet.  You will just have to wait in anticipation! 

At an auction recently, I picked up 4 burlap sheets for FREE (they belonged to the auction client, who I knew personally, and she was happy to get rid of them.  I'll take your garbage anyday!).  I washed the burlap and dried it in our dyer.  FYI, check burlap frequently if you're going to dry it.  It would have been good for me to frequently change the lint tray.  Burlap is messy stuff!  I also hung it outside for days to let the wind blow off as much fluff as I could.  When I was ready to use it, it was in pretty good shape and only needed a bit of a brush down before gluing - I used an old dried out paintbrush. 

I used plain old white glue (again) mixed with a little water to glue down the burlap.  I used a lot of glue, both on the hardboard and then over top of the burlap.  I tried to be even with my application on the top and really get the glue into the weave of the burlap.  It took a while to dry, and when it did it was nice and stiff - and durable. 

I had a bit of an internal debate about whether I should have spray painted the hardware silver or gold rather than black, but in the end I stuck with the black...because I didn't have gold (or bronze) spray paint, and that's what I thought might look best.  I like the black on black. You can't see them in the pictures, but the nails I used to put the hardware back on are pewter and make a nice contrast - not too severe.  If I decide to stencil on the top of the trunk (a shipping company name or some such thing) I think the black on black is a good choice. 

The top is mostly finished except for a few places I need to add some nails (I ran out).  As I said I'm trying to decide how best to tackle the body of the trunk now...so it's just sitting in the workshop until I figure it out.

On Friday afternoon I came how with these in my trunk.  I'd been waiting to find a good reno somewhere in town and it turned out that a restuarant was gutting its insides - just for me!  A very lovely labourer pulled all of these lath and plaster slats off of their wood frames, with his bare hands no less!  Very impressive!  I loaded them up in the car and then let them sit out in the awesome rain storms we had on Saturday.  No need to wash them by hand when you can just leave them out in the rain, right?  I am soooo lazy resourceful!

The idea is to turn these slats and wood pieces into a Vintage Crate, or a series of crates, really...a la this: 

 

{In other news, I was asked to coordinate a friend's daughter's wedding on the day of the wedding as well as help pull together some of the 'artsy' details.  So let me get this straight:  I get to make things and boss people around?  And you'll pay me?  All my dreams have come true!!}

 

*ahem*

 

So, I thought, how hard can this be?  Not that hard, really.  This project was quite simple and rewarding as I was able to finish the making of the box in just a couple of goes.  I couldn't find the above picture until just now (who knows why?) and my subsequent crates will look a bit different (and use fewer slats), but it will all work out in the end.

 

First I had to knock all of the old nails out of the slats and figure out what sizes I had to work with.  I wanted to keep the cutting I would need to do to a minimum.  

I ended up using the original nails I knocked out from the slats to hammer into the pine boards I was using from the frame.  I had these boards cut to size at Home Depot, too. 

Some of the nails needed straightening out, a task easily accomplished by knocking them against the cement floor with my hammer. 

I hammered the slats onto the frames, and then cut slats for the ends and hammered those in, too.  I threw together a haphazard box in (what felt like) no time (but was actually a couple of hours...what with the nail hammering, wood sizing, cutting, and all). 

Of course, I haven't taken a picture of the completed box - that's next on the list.  Stay tuned!