Just About Home » living room

Club Chair Before and After

justabouthome — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 07:36:13 +0000

After our little family trip to wine country last week my mom stayed a few extra days in California to help me with a little project called upholstery 101. My mom has upholstered numerous couches and chairs, and when she was my age she even had her own futon making business. So I was thrilled when she volunteered herself to help me out with reupholstering my found club chair. I’ve done a few seats before, but nothing this large scale, so it was nice to have a guide. Remember what it looked like before? It was in a neighbor’s yard, all ready to be thrown out. And boy, was that brown faux leather gross. It was sticky and dirty and ready to go.

And now it is gone! I didn’t even tell you which fabric I really picked after going back and forth and back and forth. I finally ordered Annie Selke Links in Taupe. I ordered 7 yards from joann.com and it was plenty. I think I have about 2 yards left (any takers for the extra?), and joann.com ships much faster than ordering custom fabric from the brick and mortar Joann.

We put the pattern on sideways so it would have a vertical effect on the low chair. I sanded and re-stained the legs so they would look nice and clean, like the new fabric. It’s all new and shiny and I just want to sit in it all of the time. Do you see all the cording? I think that may be my favorite part. That, and the sexy, sexy legs.I took Monday and Tuesday off work so I could learn about the process and help my mom as she worked. She mostly told me what to do and it took us both full days of working 8am to 5 or 6pm to finish it. Not a quick process.

I am proud of us, and proud that it looks really good. My grandma even told me it looks ‘professional’ on facebook. And she has definitely worked on her fair share of sewing and upholstery!

I am also proud that I only needed to take one trip to Joann in the two days of work. I had anticipated about 3 or 4, but we dealt with using thread that wasn’t meant for my sewing machine, and I was able to buy most of my supplies online beforehand. (I used onlinefabricstore.net, and despite a few bad reviews online I received all the correct supplies very quickly since I expedited shipping for 3 business days).

I’ll share some in progress photos and more about the upholstery process in a later post. Meanwhile, you can imagine me sitting curled up in this chair drinking a big cup of coffee (very careful not to spill any on the new fabric!).

-Liz

Want to know more about the process and how to recover an old chair? Check out my tutorial!

Thrifty Karma

justabouthome — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:57:41 +0000

My friend, Sarah, texted me this photo last night. It’s a picture of her living room with some new curtains installed.
The curtains are made from old bedsheets that I found at an estate sale about 6 months ago. I was going to make curtains with them, but couldn’t find a good place in my house for them. So when I saw Sarah on Saturday I gave them to her. She quickly whipped up some no-sew curtains! The sheets were already the perfect shape and size for her large living room window.
I love thrifting karma and the fact that something that isn’t right in my house can look so good in someone else’s!
-Liz

Club Chair Fabric

justabouthome — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 09:00:39 +0000

Hi friends! Remember this brown club chair that I found for free in my neighborhood many months ago? Well, I haven’t made much progress on it, but I did find some fabric possibilities. Since this is the first real thing I will attempt to reupholster I didn’t want to have to match patterns or stripes, but I did pick out two fabrics that have more random patterns.

The green fabric on the right is basic Braemore canvas in Apple. It is so simple and I love the color. It’s pretty close to the green in my kitchen which could relate really well into the living room.

The second fabric is a wild Crocosil Home Indoor/Outdoor fabric Chicopee in Citrus. The boldness of this is dramatic and would be a statement in the living room.

The third fabric that you can’t see very well in the picture so references the 60′s and might be a bit polarizing. It’s Robert Allen Home Halmstead in Graphite. I love the grey and grellow, and the vintage pattern references the vintage chair. Maybe too much.

So which fabric did I pick?

I’m going with the green canvas! It’s basic, and will be the easiest to reupholster with and I realized if I bought a chair in the store, I’d probably pick a solid fabric. So wish me luck! Luckily, my mom is going to spend some time with me to help me do it!

-Liz

Pictures that didn’t make the Small/Cool cut

justabouthome — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 05:30:15 +0000

I took a few other pictures last week in preparation for Apartment Therapy’s Small/Cool contest (thank you thank you if you voted! and if not, click here), and thought I’d share them. First off, Daphne being chill (for once) on her new doggie bed.

This is part of the bedroom. I need some more art.

That chair is never that empty. There are always clothes on it.Another bedroom pic. Love love love that lamp and the fuzzy pillow! Please note my Martha Stewart business book on the side table.

Another picture of the living room with my Alameda Antiques Fair lamp and and candle holder, handmade pillow, and etsy GG Bridge print.

-Liz

Korin’s Bold, Modern, and Geometric Living Room Ideas

justabouthome — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 20:07:58 +0000

I mentioned that I was helping Korin decorate her open living room in her new SF apartment, and I thought I’d share what I put together for her living room. Remember what her living room looks like now?

Ideas for her bedroom and den still to come. Here’s the scheme for the living area:

Korin’s Bold, Modern, and Geometric Living Room Ideas

Colors: Gray, mustard yellow, tomato red, and silver finishes

With the use of shades of gray as a neutral base, the living room will be comfortable and cozy, without the stark white of a new apartment. Accessorized with shades of tomato red and mustard yellow (which already exist in pillows on the current couch!), and geometric shapes as accents (a well placed cb2 cubist sculpture on the TV console to mimic the current geometric side tables) the room will have a fun, playful atmosphere, while still feeling grown up. The window wall can be covered with gray wall-to-wall floor-to-ceiling curtains on a track to soften the room’s geometrical shapes. New art (from 20×200) framed in silver above the couch match the colors of the room and the geometrical theme, and a red comfy chair can replace the ikea lounger.

Two bookshelves (like this or this or this) flank the TV to add depth and interest to that wall. Accessorize with silver vases, red and yellow flowers, and books (free up space in the den!). Storage baskets on the bottom of the shelves can hide TV accessories and other living room staples (games, blankets, etc).

Modern Geometrical Mood Board:

Sources for Mood Board:

CB2 Parlour Chair $699

West Elm Geo side tables (already owns)

Art from 20×200 $50

West Elm gray sofa (already owns)

West Elm Bello Shag Rug $849 for a 9×12

Yellow chevron pillow from etsy $26

What do you think? Would you decorate using a plan like this?

-Liz

Designing for Korin’s SF Sunny Modern Apartment

justabouthome — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 05:39:16 +0000

I’m helping out Korin, who just bought a fabulous new condo in downtown San Francisco, decorate her new place. She already has a few fantastic pieces (check out those geometrical side tables!), but wants a little help with wall color and tying everything together.

Here are a few pictures of her living and dining area. I’m putting together some ideas, and will share them once they’re together.

I love her big window, it lets in so much light. And her wood floors are pretty, and it’s just a big, wide open space. Which makes it a bit harder to try to make the area cozy, comfy, and modern, which is what she’s going for. Well, it’s well on it’s way to being modern, but I think some nice textured wall to wall gray curtains on that window wall will make things feel cozy and comfy. Korin and I both like the feel of this room, so I think I’ll suggest a few similar elements.

What would you add to make this room fun and comfortable?

-Liz

What 15 Minutes Can Do

justabouthome — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 01:11:29 +0000

I saw this amazing before and after from The Intertidal Years–which only uses a little staging and a better photographer, no new things–on a few blogs over the last few days. The results are pretty staggering:

Living Room Before

Living Room After

The blogger staged her house so she could sell it easier, and I thought, hey, why are we all living in so much crap? Why don’t we live in the “after” world all the time?

Well it’s hard to clean, and know what looks good. But I thought I could give it a try with my living room. I gave myself 15 minutes, as just an appetizer of what a good cleanup all over the house can do. And so, my room went from this:

Living room before

To this:

Living Room After

While my living room isn’t perfect, it looks so much better without clutter.

As a sidenote, I watched a few episodes of Hoarders last night, and it just makes me feel good about how I live– always trying to make my house more homey (as well as sad and depressed about these people with a serious mental illness).

So how else can I make my room homey and welcoming? How would have you staged it? More accessories? Less? Better photography (that’s a given!)?

-Liz