A Cottage Makeover : Painting The Roof

I left off with the cottage makeover with most of the exterior finished. It took a couple weeks before I had a chance to work on the playhouse some more. I mixed up some of our door paint with a bunch of water and started with a wash on the roof. I worked my way around the whole house and did two coats over 30 minutes.

With most DIYs, my kids are nearby either helping out or working on something themselves. I set them up with some outdoor chalk paint (affiliate link) for them to play with. They spent more time putting it all over their bodies instead of on the patio, but it kept them distracted so I could get some work done. I love this picture of my messy kids creating in front of my half-done DIY... It is such a great representation the season of life we're in right now. Always making!

Unfortunately, I didn't know it was going to rain that day and it rained a couple hours after I finished up the roof. The roof still looks darker/grayer than the before, but I'm a little disappointed it isn't quite as black as it was right after painting. 

We still need to paint the back red, but we're getting there. Cora has also been asking if we can paint the inside, so I'm thinking that could be pretty fun for the girls to work on that together.

Sometimes, it feels a little silly putting so much time into making over this little playhouse when the to-do list for our own house is so long... but then I get a peek at the cottage from my kitchen window or while we're playing in the backyard and it brings a smile to my face. 

PS. Remember what this looked like before the makeover?!

Toddler Rocking Chair

About 6 months ago, we went garage sale-ing and told Cora she had $2 spend.  She found this great little rocking chair that is just her size. It fits together like a puzzle with no screws or anything. I think they were asking like $3 and Cora negotiated to $2. A couple of days later, we got to work on it.  We sanded everything down and concentrated on the places with stamp designs.

Cora wanted to paint it pink, so I pulled out the pink paint I used for my patio table many many years ago. Cora helped with some of the painting before she got tired and went to play with Ida and Clovey. I finished all the painting. The color is pretty bright on this piece, so we may distress it or put a wash on it eventually. 

It currently lives outside in her little playhouse. She loves having a little chair her size and it is perfect for her to lounge on when we're hanging out on the patio.

DIY Upholstered Headboard and Slipcover

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This project intimidated me a little bit because of the size of the headboard and the cost of the materials, but it ended up being a lot less daunting when I actually was in the midst of this DIY. I was pleasantly surprised at how much easier upholstering my own headboard was than I thought it would be.  This took me probably 3-5 hours to make a queen and two twin sized headboards while watching two kids and taking lunch and water breaks.

SUPPLIES

+ Staple gun and staples (I have a cheap one like this, but my hand was killing my by the end of the project)

+ Plywood

+ Egg carton foam

+ Batting

+ Fabric (I used April Rhodes Indigo Window Crystal for the queen and Two Daughters floral for the twins)

+ French cleat 

1. Cut the plywood to size.  I taped off the headboard size on the bedroom wall to make sure it was the size I wanted. I measured the taped off area and got it cut at the store. The queen is about 5'x3'. I used some of the extra pieces of that plywood for the twin headboards.

2. Lay out the egg carton on the board (I did most of my work with the board leaning on a chair and moving it around so I could go back and forth between the front and the back)

3. Lay out the batting over top of the egg carton.  I added a couple of extra layers of batting around the edge so it was a little more padded.  On the twin beds I was able to wrap the egg carton around it and that would be my preference on my next piece.

4. Staple a couple of times on each side to make sure it's secure and then staple every inch or so all the way around to make sure it's really taught and secure.

5. Lay the fabric down on the ground and put the headboard on top.  Staple a couple of pieces on each side and check the front to make sure it's wrinkle free before going back around and stapling ever half inch or more.

If you chose your final fabric to use on the last step, then you're all ready to hang.  I like to make life a little complicated sometimes, so I wanted to make a slipcover for this.  I have messy kids and we sometimes like to have dinner and movies in bed.  I knew that making a slipcover would make my life easier in the long run.  I originally was thinking of doing something that was kind of like a fitted sheet, but finally came up with this little idea.

6. Put fabric wrong side out on the headboard and pin at the corners and mark where you're going to sew.

7. Sew the corner.  I have no official training and not exactly sure how other people would do this.  I just folded and sewed in a straight line. It looks great so winging it is okay.

8. Sew the velcro strips in various spots around the bottom three sides of the fabric. On the queen, I put a velcro in the middle section, but it isn't really necessary.

9. Attach the remaining velcro strips to the plywood and voila, you're finished with the slip cover.

10. Fold the bottom corners and safety pin it together (this will allow you to take it off easily)

11. Hang using french cleat.

Toy Box Makeover

We've been working on a lot of stuff since we moved into our new house, so I have lots to share in the coming weeks.  On Thanksgiving, I wanted a small project that I could work on with Cora, so I figured we would do something for her room. Before she woke up I grabbed her toy box from the garage (where we stored all our stuff while we slowly unpack) and sanded it down.  She 'helped' me prime then we took some inspiration from our cardboard house and got to painting. 

We started with some of our darker colors (blacks, gray, dark blue) and we each took a side to put a layer all over the whole thing.  Ben even got in on the action.  When we finished with this layer we just thought "what have we done?!" because it looks like a complete mess.  There is always that point in the project where I completely hate what we've done... and this was that point.  We stepped away to enjoy the rest of our Thanksgiving and have an amazing family dinner.

The following morning, I snuck upstairs with Ida while Cora was sleeping.  I put a layer or two of some whites and blues all over the box to even it out.  It's hard to get a good picture because of the coloring, but it really turned out pretty cute and a fun/funky piece.

Cora loved the surprise of waking up and seeing it all finished and we both love the reminder of a piece we worked on together.  We moved it around her room and found the perfect spot at the end of her bed so it's near her other toys and she can use it to climb in her bed.  Since we incorporated the same blue we used on her trim, it coordinates well with her room without being matchy-matchy.

I joined Thrift Diving's 30 day room makeover challenge with Cora's room.  You can see Cora's room pictures and the other makeovers here.  I'm still working on a couple other projects for her room for it to really be finished (as finished as a room can be), but I'll share those as I work on them and get pictures.

Reupholstering The Painted Chair :: Part One

Remember this painted chair I painted two years ago?!
It looks beautiful in the after picture, but the fabric is a little 'crunchy', the dog gnawed on one of the legs, and it is in desperate need of a makeover.  In hindsight, I probably should have watered down the paint mix and painted thinner layers, but I also think some of the crackling texture is from constant use.  As a result of the chair being less than pleasing to the eye, I've decided to tackle my first reupholstery project (yikes!).  I probably should be picking something a little smaller... and without tufts.

Step One: Order most of the supplies so there is no backing out (i.e. fabric, piping, etc)

Step Two: Remove piping or gimp

Step Three: Start removing the staples (best when done during Netflix binge)

I left some staples in so the fabric stays put until we're ready for the next step.  I peeked underneath the fabric to make sure that most of the foam and batting can be reused, but also bought some extra batting for good measure.  Here are some pictures where I left off:

I will be sharing some blog post updates with all of the big steps, but you can also follow along on Instagram at #ReupholsteringThePaintedChair