How Riveting ||Flip List Item No.3||

As of today, I'm officially down to the last two items of my Furniture Flip Bucket List - with only two months left in the year to complete.  Huzzah!

Not sure why I ended up working backwards on this list, but since January 2015, I've crossed off items:
No.6
No.5
No.7
No.4
and now No.3: Rivet Something!

So to recap, a Riv·et (noun) is a short metal pin or bolt beaten or pressed down used for holding together two plates of metal [or other material] together.  I got my first rivet gun for Christmas and am ashamed to say I only JUST freed it from it's clam shell packaging for this project.  I claimed I was waiting for "the perfect occasion to break it in."  But the truth is I was scared.

Now there's really no reason to be intimidated by a rivet gun.  In fact, just about the only intimidating thing about this tool is the word gun in the title haha - it's not even a power tool and only costs $10 bucks!  But I confess breaking out a new tool I've never used before can make me second guess my skills.  But when I finally got an idea on how to use it, I sat down and watched a couple youtube videos to bolster my confidence and was ready to [timidly] roll.

The "worthy project" was an 80's style patio cart I acquired in early October.  It was a white powder-coated steel that almost looked like PVC pipe instead of metal.  It was tragic.

Plain Jane no?

My first instinct was to go gold using our beloved faux gold finish technique.  But when I  finished painting it, it felt flat to me.  I wanted to add something special to make it feel more... finished.

 
 

This is when I realized I already had just the tool for the job: my riveter.

Supplies needed:

Metal bar cart
Leather
Rivet Gun/ Riveter
Pop Rivets
Power Drill (not pictured)

Step 1: drill a pilot hole in the center of the handle.

Step 2: Line up the center of edge of the leather strip on the hole in the metal and drill a matching pilot hole in the leather.

Step 3: Load your rivet gun with a pop rivet (watch this video if you needed help like me) and thread the pop rivet tip through your pilot holes, pressing the tip of the rivet gun up against the cart.

Step 4. Squeeze the handles of your rivet gun until you hear the rivet "pop" (hence the name pop rivet).  When you pull the gun away, you should see the flattened tip of the rivet, securely fastening your leather to the metal. 

Step 5: using the center rivet as an anchor, wrap the leather around the handle - pulling it tight as you go. I cut my leather long enough to cover the center rivet and end almost at the underside of the handle so the seam will be hidden when I'm finished.  Then working from the outside in, repeat steps 1-4 all along the seam until the leather is completely riveted in place.

In retrospect, it would have been easier to do this  treatment with wide leather cording and wrap around the handle several times - you would only need a rivet to anchor at the  beginning and one to finish at the end.  Maybe I'll try that next time ;)

I also added leather cuffs to the feet of the cart to give it a bit more... masculinity.  I'm hoping it'll attract a buyer like Marshall's leather cuff did Lily (How I Met Your Mother fans...?).

I love the two tiers of textured glass.

Leather Wrapped Bar Cart
$160
SOLD

And hey friends!  We are looking for fellow leather-lovers to share more leather decor crafts on StyleMutt Home.  If you have a project to share, tag your pics with #stylemuttsloveleather and let's get this party started!

 

Navy Campaign Dresser ||Flip List Item No.4||

Woohoo!  It's fall and I've got another item to cross off my Furniture Flip Bucket List!  I know I shouldn't celebrate too much because I've only got 3 months left to finish the last 3 items, but I'm still gonna take moment to pat myself on the back.  

 
 

Since debuting my list of new year's resolutions back in January, I've crossed off items No.6, No.5, and No. 7 and now No.4: Refinish a dresser in a velvety navy with gold hardware.  (I know, I'm going in a weird order.  If you're OCD-prone, then my apologies.)  I really should have added refinish a campaign dresser to the list too because that's been a dream of mine too - so I'm crossing this one off as 2 personal wins:

Inspiration Photo Source: Wife in Progress

Inspiration Photo Source: Wife in Progress

So if you are so kind as to follow me on instagram, then you may recognize the original piece from this post:

 
 

I was lucky to nab it indeed!  Although it wasn't a true campaign piece with flush recessed pulls and corner braces, I felt like it could still become one.  I decided the best route to go would be adding my own braces but first I would have to remove the brass plates and over-sized stuck-on faux bolts. Prying up the brass strips was easy, but shortly after I got them off my project stalled out: I didn't realize that the brass was recessed so deeply into the wood piece between the drawers and  I needed that piece to be flush in order to add T braces.  

I stayed stumped for a good long while.  I thought about replacing the two pieces of wood or filling the grove with a piece of wood veneer, but then I realized if I just flipped it around then I would have a flat surface to work with and wouldn't need to hunt down the perfectly sized replacement piece!

As you can see the recesses for the brass plates were quite pronounced.  But the other side was as smooth as a baby's bottom so I flipped them over and wood-glued them back in place. 

Then, I temporarily employed my T braces for some extra support while the glue dried for a few days.

I sanded the piece down and primed the flipped wood pieces to prep for paint.  I chose a quart of Compass Blue by Behr Marquee and was DELIGHTED with the quality.  The wet paint settled well without any paint strokes and the eggshell finish was just the right buttery texture I had wanted from my inspiration photo. I hardly need two coats so I have lots of paint left over to play with.

The flat corner and T braces I found in the hardware aisle at Home Depot but their zinc finish did not match the original aged brass pulls.  Cue my next challenge. 

I was going to have to refinish the hardware and still get an rich antiqued finish.  First I primed the braces with flat black spray paint. This will 1) help the next layer of paint adhere to the metal and 2) create the first layer of dimension to the gold finish.  Once the black dried, I applied the second layer of dimension: the gold.  But since the shade of gold wasn't quite "brassy" enough to match the original pulls, I had to give the original pulls a fresh coat of gold so all the hardware would have the same shade.

Then I lightly sprayed both braces and pull again with a little bit of black for the third layer of dimension.  The faint black over-spray gives more of an aged finish and is the third layer of dimension.  The fourth and final layer is to rub each piece down with some dark wax. Then using some aged brass upholstery tacks, I nailed the freshly painted braces into place.

Voila!  A match made in hardware heaven!

This bad boy is now in the garage shop!

Navy Campaign Dresser
32"W x 18"D x 44.5"H
$345 SOLD

If you are interested in this piece or a custom order like it, please contact cate@stylemutthome.com.

A Pair of Bar Stools, A Pair of Options

I know, I know.  It's Friday and this isn't a #stylemuttspaces Reader Design post.  But that's because Chelsea and I are working on a joint furniture venture and we need your help.  Last summer while we were prepping for our first joint sale, some of Chelsea's neighbors decided to get in on the fun and set up their own MONDO sale across the street.

There we spotted a pair of camel leather bar stools and our wheels started turning...   It was those stools, in fact, that were the inspiration for the "turn a barstool or swivel seat into a modern accent chair" item on my furniture flip bucket list.

 
 

But we were busy manning our own sale that when we finally went across the street all ready to buy, they had tragically closed up shop.  But LO and BEHOLD, a year goes by and the same family drags out their surplus for their second annual sale and guess who makes a reappearance...

These Guys

||You handsome devils||

Huzzah!  So naturally we snapped them up this time around - after all second chances don't come by that often.  Now that these bad boys were finally ours, Chelsea and I started scheming on a joint project.  Upon closer inspection we realized they were a little too petite for our original ideas.

Then we had the idea to combining their forces and make them into a single bench.  Playing off their mid century lines, we though of making them into a retro-esque telephone table.  But this left us with two options:

Keep Back Rests

Go Backless

So this is where you come in.  Chelsea and I LOVE reader input and we want to know what you think.  We've put together some renderings to help you picture both options in a digital room.  We're not sure if our idea(s) are even feasible yet, but we'd love to get your raw thoughts on the direction we're going in!

So what do you think, are you feelin' our vintage vibes?  Would you vote #teambackrest, #teambackless, or in a completely different direction?  Let us know in the comments below mis amis! 

Joint Signature.png