Summer Mantel

I wanted to do something a little different

this year for the summer mantel.

 Instead of the usual "cottage garden chic",

I thought I would go the beach!

 I dug out some shells and this cool picture that

belonged to my dad.

This was my inspiration, blue and white, the ocean...

 Filled a glass vase with shells gathered when we lived

near the ocean in Washington,

 Stacked some sand dollars in a bell jar.

 Moved some shutters in front of the fireplace opening.

I even changed out the wing chairs for the navy striped ones.

Bring on the Summer!

Blue and White Slipcovered Chair

Between a couple weeks of computer problems and getting ready for Roses and Rust, I haven't had much time to post lately. But with a new computer and most of the pieces ready or near ready, I will be sharing some of the projects that have kept me so busy lately!


I think this chair is my favorite! In fact, I may have trouble letting it go!

Here it is "before": good lines but a little dated and the wool fabric was itchy!

I absolutely loved this fabric when I saw it last fall.

I didn't know what I would do with it, but I had to have it!

 

I just laid it over the chair and began cutting it to size.

 

Then I started pinning.

I pinned along the the top.

I pinned along the sides,

I pinned the corners.

I folded everything so I could just top sew along side my pins

and not have to turn the fabric. 

This ensures that you have a good fit.

I added white piping to the bottom only.

The fabric is a little busy, so I didn't want to add to it with too much piping

 I added velcro to the sides so the cover could be taken off,

then some cute white buttons.
 

Love it from all angles!

linking this week to:






http://www.commonground-do.com/2014/03/be-inspired-182.html

http://thestylesisters.blogspot.com/2014/03/centerpiece-wednesday-spring-ideas.html

New Spring Mantel for the New Living Room

Since the whole living room got a new look, I couldn't leave out the mantel.

Some of my favorite things ended up here. The window was a gift from a dear friend, I moved it from my craft room.

This piece of tin came out of an old building in Sacramento. This is my favorite color and one of my very favorite things! And I always love fleur de lis.

The large birdhouse needed a new home.

Candles replace the "logs" for spring/summer.
My granddaughter calls this chair her "Goldilocks chair"!

Fits very well with the new look!

 http://www.commonground-do.com/2013/05/be-inspired-139-finding-french.html

Slipcovers are the Answer to Just About Everything

 For 25 years, we have mostly bought thrift store or clearance furniture which I would paint and slipcover. My husband was sometimes not a fan; they weren't always the most comfortable or stable pieces of furniture. So, when we received a tax refund a few years ago, we decided we would buy a new couch; a brand-spanking new one, never before owned by anyone else!

We set out to visit the furniture stores. I thought it would be easy to find something amongst all the shiny, beautiful sets. A year and half later, we settled on a big, dark leather couch. Problem was, I didn't care that much for it, but I was tired of looking and I thought my husband really liked it; he didn't care for it that much, but he was tired of looking and thought I really liked it. We didn't realize this until it was too late.

You know, those furniture stores are huge, and the couch looked much smaller than it did when it got to our normal sized living room. It was also so dark, it sucked the light right out of the room. What had I been thinking?

I tried many different ways to make it more to my liking.

Quilts

  Pillows

 Really big pillows

Finally I knew I had to slipcover it. I knew this all along, but I was trying anything I could think of to avoid it, thus the variety of quilts and pillows. It's really big and an awkward shape for a slipcover, but I could put it off no longer.

So here it is

I used $6 a yard natural cotton duck fabric from Walmart. It took about 8 yards plus a couple yards of muslin that I already had. And it wasn't all that difficult once I got started.

It totally changed the look of the whole room, making it much lighter and brighter.

I'll talk about the pillows another day.

 
I think I might even love this couch now!