So here's my fun stuff for today. I bought this sto
ol a few years ago for yes, $11 from Marshall's. It should have been cheaper b/c it was UG-LY.
Last fall I addressed the unloved state of our living room. On no budget.
We started by painting the walls. Non-committal yellow is now a thought- out mushroom color that is one tone lighter than our dining room. So now it makes sense, is decorative but doesn't look too matchy with the other room.
I repurposed the furniture and bought this cute choco
late brown love seat. The low armchair was my grandmother's. She was 4'10" and I am 5'2". It is the only chair we own that my feet touch the floor. love it. had a slip cover made of an oatmeal colored heavy linen.
The armchair was found on the side of the road when we were first married. I dragged it home at 11pm from down the street. doused it with baking soda and covered it in plastic trash bags. don't ask. young and dumb. had worried about bugs or something. it was fine. silly. it was ugly blue velvet with marker doodles everywhere. I had it re-uphulstored in a cream colored cotton with a pale pattern.
Changing the orientation of the room made a big difference in the cozy factor. We love it now.
The windows had a really elaborate 5 swag cranberry and cream toile drape/jabot thing. It was there for 5 years. ugh. I think I made them because now I had the house and felt like I needed to use my sewing skills to their upmost. The only people that were impressed were the old people. That should hav
e been my first clue. he he. So, I ignored the room f
or 5 years.
I decided I wanted to do a wood valance. So out came the power tools. I think I built the whole deal for maybe $20? Wood, trim, nail gun, wood glue. girls best friends. I tried to replicate the pattern on the fireplace. I think it came out well. I did the panels underneath out of a wonderful linen that I found at a local Home Dec store. Really cute shop, totally hidden, near the old city jail. I live in the 'burbs so it's fun to go down there!
Here's the little foot stool that needed to be reli
eved of it's matching red toile. My daughter uses it alot but her belief is that it's purpose in life is to be her chair to sit on and open her birthday gifts. so cute.
Supplies -
fabric
scissors (got 'em at
a Martha Show)
pliers (Dad gave me these)
staple gun (had for years, easy to use)
Take off the legs and remove the staples
Now, center the base of the stool out onto the fabric. Be sure you have a good overlap like 3 or 4 inches. You need to be able to grab it and staple.
Choose one side to start and pull the center ov
er and give it a tug and a staple. Do this next to the opposite side - not too much tension or it wil
l pucker or too little and it will sag. Don't worry
, you'll know! Do all 4 sides with a couple staples on each side. Ignore the corners for now.
When all the sides are done starton the corners. Don't worry, it's easy.
Pull the corner in pretending you have a straight line from the corner of the fabric over over the corner of the base. Pull taught and staple. Next wrap the edges over like a present. Finesse and staple when you are happy with it. Don't fuss too much, remember that edge will be underneath so unless you have guests that lay on your floor, you are all set!
I had a spool of brown trim and wanted to use it. Start by folding the edge in about 1/2" and staple. Go all the way around and use just a few staples. You'll add more in a minute.
Next step is use another piece of the fabric and fold the edge over a little. Don't be super fussy because it's all hidden, but trim away the extra bulk. Staple this lining neatly. I used 2 staples per side and one in each corner.
Now screw the legs back on and you are ready to go!
The finished stool is shown in the room. I just need to purchase and install sconces above the fireplace. That will eliminate that bizarre lighting situation in the right corner of the room.
I can't get rid of the underlining. weird.
Eight and 1/2 months and about 100 lbs of dog food later: 
