Sunday, August 21, 2011

Upholstery 101, possibly 99

A couple weeks ago, my beautiful mama visited for a couple days to help me tackle some projects around the house. At the top of my list was creating an upholstered headboard for our master bedroom. It was actually the only project we tackled, because it ended up being a bear. It wasn't crazy difficult, it just took a little more time than I expected.

{step one}
The day before my Mom arrived, Nate and I headed to the hardware store and purchased a sheet of particle board. He used a jig saw to create the curves, and some other saw to cut it down to King head board size. It ended up being about 6'2" long and we kept it's original height of 4'.

 

{step two}
After much debate at the fabric store about whether to stick with the beautiful fabric I originally bought from fabric.com or to go with a simple linen look without a print, we decided to go the more complicated route and stick with the original. Isn't it pretty? We also bought some batting and foam rubber for padding.


{step three}
Next we created a pattern to help us cut the foam rubber to the shape of the particle board. We taped some craft paper to the headboard and trimmed the excess off.


{step four}
I didn't want a lot of bulk around the curves of the board, so we traced the pattern for the foam rubber about 2 inches in from the edge.


so the new pattern looks like this!


{step five}
Next, we placed our new pattern on top of the foam rubber, traced it with a sharpie, and cut it with scissors. We then sprayed the wood down with adhesive and placed the foam rubber on top and let it dry for 30 minutes.


{step six...and seven and eight}
After letting the adhesive dry, we decided to take another look at the fabric. We realized that in order to make the fabric long enough for the pattern to make it across the length of the board, we would need to cut 6 inches off the bottom of the board, then cut the fabric in half (vertically) and sew three panels together. This meant we had to match the pattern back up after cutting. This would be the step that put the other projects on the back burner. It was a doozie.

{step nine-ish}
Once the panels were sewn together (which probably deserves it's own separate post), we brought the board in and placed it foam side down on top of the batting. Then we pulled the batting tight around the edges, stapled it all around, and trimmed off the excess. The staple gun is my new favorite toy.


{step ten}
There was no time (or patience, to be honest) left to take pictures during the next step, which was stapling our newly reconstructed fabric to the headboard. Since our fabric was patterned, it was important to keep it centered while stapling. So instead of laying the board down on top of the fabric on the floor, my Mom propped it up and kept the fabric in place while I stapled.

First we found the top center of the board and the fabric and started stapling there on the back of the board. We did most of the top, then found the centers on the bottom and stapled there while pulling very, VERY tight on the fabric to prevent any sagging. We worked our way around and had to do some strategic cutting and pulling around the curves. Between the tugging, heavy duty stapling, and tripping over the dog into a pile of sewing pins, we definitely burned a few calories during this step. By the end we were very pleased with the final product.
Master bedroom pre-headboard:


and the after!

 


It's still propped up on the mattress, but the plan is to add some brackets to the back, lower it about 6 inches, and hang it on the wall. I really like the headboard, but I'm not sure I love it with our bedding. It feels like the tufting on the duvet/shams is competing with the pattern on the headboard. Maybe we just need more pillows. Suggestions are welcome!

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

While the cat is away, the mice will...

install hardwood floors! While I was on my European vaca, Nate was installing hardwood throughout our main floor. Let me tell you, next to his handsome face, that was quite possibly the best thing to come home to! Since we moved in over a year ago, we have been dreaming of this installation. The carpet was by no means awful, but next to our Bleeker Beige {Benjamin Moore} walls, it left the main area of our home feeling, well, like a big beige box. And the light color wasn't exactly great at camouflaging dirty little puppy paw prints.

Our first step was to find some inspiration, so I did some browsing on Pinterest and a few of my favorite blogs. Here are a couple we loved the most.

{pinterest, originally from countryliving.com}


After we figured out what we were looking for {dark, rustic, and a little "knotty") we headed up to Lumber Liquidators in Spokane and decided on a handscraped, engineered birch:


We loved it's handscraped finish and random imperfections, and lucky for us they had enough in stock to take it home that day!

Now for the before and afters. Before I left for my trip, our living/dining room area looked like this:

 
Well, not exactly like this. This was actually the day we moved in. So no furniture or bleeker beige yet.

Another view...

And a pic of the lovely linoleum in the kitchen.


I have definitely seen worse linoleum, but I was still pretty excited to get rid of it.

Now for the afters (taken at my friend's baby shower, hence the extra decor and seating)...




No more beige box, I'm loving the contrast! The dark gray fireplace wall adds some depth to the room too. Things are coming together :)



Monday, August 15, 2011

Europe lovelies

Finally! A little sample of my trip across the pond.

lovely London town


view of Neuschwanstein Castle from our hike in the German Alps

The Duomo in Florence

Fira on Santorini, Greece

For my first trip to Europe, I am so glad I got a little sample of four different parts of the continent. However, I must say that Italy was my hands-down favorite spot. You can't go wrong with that combo of sun, beach, gorgeous design, pasta, fish, oh...and the wine.

Next up, a peek into what the Mr. was up to while I was away. Hint: he got some serious good husband points :)

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Design Sponge at Home

Have you pre-ordered your copy yet?


It will be on my doorstep September 12th. While I was at it, I added this one to my shopping cart too.


How could I not? It was suggested after all, so I pretty much had to comply. It's like shoe shopping at Nordstrom. You ask to try on one pair, and the handsome salesman brings you 3 more "because he thought you might like them too". I usually do. Tricky bastards.

While we're on the subject of books, I just picked this one up for some beach reading on my vaca.


I've heard it's pee-your-pants funny. Can't wait to start reading!



Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Wood you rather...

hardwood or carpet? While I'm away taking in the sights across the pond, Mr. W will be hard at work installing our new hardwood floors...something I've been dreaming of doing since we moved in. Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have a man who enjoys a good DIY project, and is good with power tools. Love him.

While I enjoy the warmth and cush of carpet, I really prefer the rich, classic look of hardwood floors. They are incredibly versitle, working with so many different styles and time periods. I tend to lean towards darker/rustic looks. Here are a few shots from my inpsiring pinterest board...


This might actually be the exact floor we decided on...might be a little darker but that texture is spot on. The depth between the boards just does it for me.


Love the knots in these boards. That rug ain't half bad either.


Dark and gorg.


This look completely steals my heart.



Monday, June 27, 2011

And the winner is....

neither! Not long after posting the final purse contenders for my Euro-trip, I noticed a Free People ad sitting in my inbox. I'm usually quick to delete my daily advertisements but I thought I might as well check it out, and when I did, this is what I found:


She meets all of my size/cross body/color/price requirements so I snatched her up right away and she was in my mailbox 4 days later! So quick! And in a very cute paisley patterned package to boot!

This word art was recently featured on the fp blog, and it could not be more perfect for my upcoming adventure.


Oh my goodness. I can't wait. 8 days :)

Monday, June 20, 2011

Battle Royale

I started mentally packing for my Euro-trip the day after baseball season ended. My mind had been so consumed with their travel plans that I really didn't have time to get excited about my trip until I could put all of that in the books. Now it's pretty much all I can think about. My pinterest addiction is no help.

It's really unfortunate that I "need" to buy a new purse for this vaca. I've been told by many a world-wide traveler that it is important to have a cross body purse so you can keep all of your valuables as close as possible. I've narrowed my choices down to these two beauties from Urban Outfitters, which also happens to be one of my favorite decorating resources.

I love this little guy because it is simple enough to look nice with anything I might wear. I've spotted top handle bags everywhere lately and I'm loving their vintage feel.(Side-note: My packing list is still in progress, but I'm thinking there will be a lot of sundresses considering space limitations in my carry-on...did I mention we're not checking any bags for a 2+ week vaca? I pack 2 weeks worth of clothes for a weekend trip. It's gonna be interesting.)

I like that this one is a little less structured and an inch or two shorter. I'll be toting it around everywhere we go so it can't be too bulky. It's a bit slouchy too. I'm not sure why that seems like a perk, but it does. It's also less expensive ($39!) and would probably work with most outfits as well. The only downside I see here is it's color, could get a bit dirty.

Either way, I need to make a decision today since we're leaving in 15 DAYS! Holy Moses, that's fun to say/type outloud.

Any travel/packing advice would be much appreciated!