Transformation Tuesday: DIY Projects

From now on, Transformation Tuesdays don't have to happen on Tuesdays.  Transformation Sunday just doesn't roll off the tongue the same way.  Get over it.


I am OFFICIALLY FINISHED with all of my DIY projects!  It only took me like...the entire summer.

If you need to refresh your memory, I wrote a post back in July about all of the projects I took on.  You can read that here.

I finished a few simple projects to incorporate more of the coral color into my room.  I bought these metal desk organizers that were originally white, and decided to spray paint them coral since my lamp was turquoise.  I also bought this awesome rotating earring stand from amazon that was originally copper, but I primed and then spray painted coral as well.  In the process I managed to also paint the back porch coral, but such is life.  I also went to Home Depot and bought a sample size of coral wall paint, and used that to make those three stenciled canvases.  They're on display above my bed, and it filled the empty space above my bed that was desperate for some wall art.

These are the finished bedside tables!  I'm really pleased with the way they turned out.  I bought a sample size of turquoise/aqua paint from Home Depot and used that for the turquoise drawer and the stenciling on the white drawer.  I didn't want either drawer to be too overwhelmed with their new colors, so I figured stenciling would diffuse the colors a bit.  I also got to use the stencil from the canvas.  To make the stencil fit the drawer, I just taped off a couple of sections.  Overall I think they balance out the white and the turquoise, and have a nice touch of symmetry.

Also, I think there is a lot to be said about what the simple change of a knob can do to the overall effect of a piece of furniture.  Seriously.  I can't stop changing the knobs on things.  I THINK I HAVE A PROBLEM.

The biggest pain-in-my-ass project that I took on was this chair that I got from Goodwill for $3.99.  I saw a lot of potential in this chair, and was really into the fact that it was a coat of paint away from vintage.  I just forgot about the fact that chairs don't magically go from crappy-thrift-store to vintage-makeover in one day.  This was a long and tedious process.

The first thing I did was remove the cushion, tighten up some of the screws to make the frame sturdier, and then sand it down.  I didn't get any of this process, but trust me...you're not missing anything glamorous.  I spent a couple of days priming, painting, and clear-coating the chair to get it to look like an intentional piece of furniture instead of just a makeshift desk chair.  I really love how the white turned out.  I think it suits the frame!

Counter-clocwise from the top right: Ew, ew, ew, FINALLY.

The next step was to prep the seat for some new upholstery.  This part was even less glamorous than the lest, yet somehow I managed to remember to take pictures.  As you can see, the yellow faux-crushed-velvet was quickly disposed of only to reveal...EVEN UGLIER FABRIC.  After I removed the final layer of dirty old upholstery (accompanied by a sad, flat, paper-thin layer of cushioning), I used the base of the seat to trace a new cushion out of this RANDOM FOAM LYING AROUND IN OUR ATTIC.  My dad somehow snagged this from some kind of furniture supply warehouse or something.  I don't know.  But it is super dense and supports my lil' tush and is much much MUCH better than the old cushion.

I'm sure my mom appreciated me using her very nice serrated knife to slice an inedible cushion for upholstery.

Since the block of foam was a little too thick and needed to be cut to size, I hacked away at it using a serrated bread knife.  I hear that carving knives work well, too.  

I probably could have skipped the step where I thinned out the cushion if I had bought a block of high-density foam that was the right size from Joann Fabrics, since it was only like $6.99  But $6.99 is still more expensive than free, so I went ahead and put in the extra effort.

Not pictured: my sweat and tears and anxiety.

The next thing I did was attempt to upholster the chair.  Unfortunately, I am a wimp and did not have the strength to use the staple gun while stretching the fabric out enough to tightly cover the chair.

My dad is a bit of a perfectionist.

So my dad stepped in and did the job waaaay better than I could.

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I forgot to take a picture of the finished cushion all by itself, but here is a picture of it in the frame of the chair.  I think it looks awesome!  I am super in love with this coral damask fabric, which my mom ordered on fabric.com.  We're also going to use it for window treatments, but I'm not worrying about that right now!  I tried to use a part of the pattern that was less obvious, mostly because I couldn't cut too far into the fabric because we need it for curtains.  But I can't believe how good it looks!

It took me kind of a while to get the ball rolling, but the transformation is pretty amazing.  And I'm sitting on it right now as I'm writing this entry, and LET ME TELL YOU HOW HAPPY MY BUTT IS.  That old cushion was pretty sad.

Expect a room tour soon!  I'm FINALLY FINISHED with my room.  FINALLY.