Reupholster a Chair ||Wrapping Up the 2016 Flip List||

January 2, 2017 Cate | StyleMutt Home

Happy New Year StyleMutts! Well, this may be a day (or two) late and an item short, but I'm wrapping up my 2016 Furniture Flip Bucket List! Huzzah! I don't know about you, but that's still a win in my book ;)

You may recall that I've been tackling these 7 items in no particular order:

Well my friends, I still have No.1 and No.2 to go and may-or-may-not-have completed one and a half of them. Much like in 2015, the Baker's Rack has proved... problematic... But fear not! I still have some proof that I at least attempted it this year (that counts right?!?). You'll have to decided whether or not a good ole' college try is admissible in New Year Resolutions court, but in the mean time there's still a fresh-faced new chair on the docket!

I have ALWAYS been interested in upholstery. Primarily because I can't tell you how many times I see pieces with "good bones" but terrifying tapestry. It seems so simple "just switch out the fabric and viola!" but there's nothing simple about reupholstery let me tell you. To get it done right, you either need to pay an arm and a leg plus a foot and a toe or have a fairy fabric-mother. And seeing as I have neither, I decided to challenge myself to try something a little more complicated than my Serape accent chair. And it's no surprise that a project as intimidating as this one has been marinating on my Flip List for 12 months.

I was very selective when choosing my test subject. I wasn't ready for a "whale" of a project like a sofa or a chaise and a wingback armchair with it's flourishing angles would surely be a hot mess with my sewing skills. So I cherry-picked a forgotten chair with clean lines (that's Cate for relatively fool proof) complete with frumpy maroon fabric straight out a dorm room.

Ok so this reveal is gonna go down a little like Project Runway: the opening silhouette may be simple but it's a classic color pallet.

Now strike a pose...

And then turn on the runway so we can see the back...

Boom. There it is!

The leather strap was actually was a Target belt in a former life. For such a simple chair, I wanted it to have a little somethin' somethin'.

The chair disassembled into easy-to-recover panels. I even left the two side pieces off so the chair could "breathe" (and also, let's be real, not trap as many crumbs).

The fabric I chose was a heavy textured linen. Also it's from a painter's dropcloth.

I simply wrapped each panel like a Christmas present complete with snuggly tucked in corners.

Now that I have a more complex reupholstery under my belt (pun so intended), maybe I'll have the courage to try (dare I say it)... piping.

Linen & Leather Chair
Now Available for Sale
Price $95

If you are interested in this piece, or a custom refinish like it, please email mcate@stylemutthome.com

Now, I know what you're thinking: Wait Cate! What about the last item on your 2016 list?

Ahh yes, the very same delinquent baker's rack from 2015 that rolled over to 2016 with the caveat that I would attempted to build it out of reclaimed wood. Well... let's just say I saved the best for last...

Or should I say the operative word was attempted...

Ha! Ok so what I may have in amateur upholstery skills I certainly LACK in carpentry skills. (Insert shameful grin emoji here) But at least this way we can go out with a bang (up job) and a laugh ;)

Here's to a complete(ish) 2016 and to posting a new 2017 Flip List in the coming weeks. Stay classy friends.

Let's Recap The Year:

Reader Design: Lejla's Light & Bright Atlanta Apartment

July 29, 2016 McKenna Begin

Hello, StyleMutt World! I'm McKenna, the newest addition to the team. I'll be sharing my humble abode with you all in a couple of days - just waiting on one tardy package to arrive. But FIRST, I'm going to introduce you to Lejla and her light & bright apartment in Atlanta, GA.

Lejla and I actually went to high school together in Richmond, VA - Go Rebels! - back in the day and have reconnected over Instagram. I'm continually both inspired and intimidated by the ability of everyone's favorite app to keep us connected.

Now, on to the good stuff...
From Lejla:

“This is the first apartment my husband and I moved into since moving down to the city. It has large windows and very high ceilings; in fact, at first I thought ‘how am I going to fill up those walls?’, but now I have learned to embrace them.”

Okay, I think we can all agree that Lejla nailed this year's pineapple trend - all while staying true to what she describes as her "rustic glam" style. It's a look that Restoration Hardware has perfected to a T. And in my opinion, so has Lejla!

“I love weathered wood and shimmery objects. Whites, grays, and hints of gold make for a great color palette without going out of style.”

And now this... this motto is something I can get behind. And I bet my local florist would agree!

“Fresh flowers are a weekly binge; they are my favorite grocery run and bring so much life to a room! My motto is, ‘splurge on great furniture and enhance it with chic accessories such as pillows, books, candles, or flowers!’”

“My favorite room to unwind and relax in is my bedroom. It’s bright, calm, and relaxing, and after a long day, there is nothing better than plopping down on that comfy bed!”

Lejla's husband Arnel is a photographer, so most of the art in the apartment is actually his work. If only we were all so lucky! I'll have to remember to tactfully recommend a new hobby to my boyfriend...

Lejla, we're so excited to celebrate your beautiful home! Thank you for inviting us along. Follow Lejla at @lejla_oh523 to see more!

And remember, StyleMutts: we'd love to celebrate your style too on our Spaces page. Just shoot me an email at mckenna@stylemutthome.com.

Till next time,

Modern or Coastal ||Flip List Item No.2||

November 9, 2015 Cate | StyleMutt Home

So I'm trolling craigslist [like I've been known to do] and I found a modern dresser in need of some TLC. Now normally, I would pass right by a laminate dresser but this piece was... special.

It's hard to tell in this pic, but this "white monster" as I've affectionately nicknamed it, had a weird cream/white two tone thing going on. But it was still a modern dresser with glossy-fronted drawers that slide like butter. It the perfect candidate for Furniture Flip Bucket List item No.2: wrap a piece in a wood shim treatment.

wood shims taper off to one end so that you can wedge them in to help level something. I could have used flat wood and gotten more of a butcher-block look, but I wanted to use shims to recreate this uneven affect in my inspiration photo:

Source:  The Rycotewood Furniture Centre at OCVC — Source: The Rycotewood Furniture Centre at OCVC

So I went about covering the bright-white yucky laminate portions of the dresser with the wood shims: the top, sides, and toe-kick. I started out with the intention of creating a polished modern look like the photo above but as I worked on it, it began to steer me in a different direction.

I liked how raw and rustic the cedar shims looked untreated (and not to mention the cedar smelled AH-MAH-ZING). So I just went with it and ended up with a piece that's both modern and coastal:

To play off the unfinished wood's beachy vibes, I styled it with some tropical leaves [that I may or may not have harvested from a decorative potted plant in a parking lot. I kinda felt like Chelsea did when "smuggling" home some paint sticks for this DIY project].

I then added a couple seaside touches like this piece of coral.

To play up the dresser's more modern side, I added vintage candle sticks with clean lines. Despite the uneven surface, the shims are narrow enough that items large and small can find a flat surface to rest on anywhere across the top.