But let's stop for a little confession: I haven't really ever done any decorating in my home.
I mean, I've made some bad paint choices (that I'm living with), and I've hung a few pictures (not very straight). But the only curtains are those that my mom made for Laura's room before she was born. The only furniture I have bought is one (massive) desk, the dining room table, a kitchen island, and a TV stand. Everything else in our house is a hand-me-down - some welcome, and most other less so.
So choosing fabric for these chairs was a really big deal for me. Such a big deal, I completely choked when I got to the store and saw all the choices. Colors! And patterns! And textures! OH MY. I sent several options to my mom. And got a quick NO!NO!NO! response from her. She guided me away from prints, and towards mossy green - to match my beloved Constance china.
Here's what we found (a cotton-poly blend moire in "Medici Leaf"):
The next challenge was deciding how much fabric I needed to buy. I had six chairs and had read somewhere to get a yard per chair. But my fabric was really wide, and wouldn't need a pattern to be lined up anywhere (bonus!). I quickly texted Nate to see how wide our chairs were, to see if I could double up the fabric. Response: Four phones across. How scientific! But the measurement was enough to assure me I only needed three yards.
Laura and I returned home, our precious roll of fabric tucked under my arm. I broke out the screwdrivers and staple gun, tore off the old fabric (seriously - my parents lovingly put that on in 1993! It held up, got the job done, and was ready to retire), and discovered my next challenge: my staple gun was broken. Off to the store for a new one, and we were ready!
This was seriously such an easy and gratifying experience. I LOVE the fabric I chose (thanks, Mom!), and am so happy with how quickly and easily I was able to transform these chairs. I also only used two yards of fabric in the end, so now I'm thinking of using the extra yard (plus maybe I'll buy some more) to make some sort of window treatment to tie things together. Who knows.
Fabric: $32.40 ($10/yard)
Staple gun: $13.00
Total: $45.40 (plus a little time watching TV while I worked)
Since I had some nice little side scraps, I thought I'd recover one extra little chair as a surprise for my Chief Decorator, Laura:
For this little chair, I used a few lines of hot glue, and just cut around the arms and back of the chair. It took me about ten minutes. Laura (and the mouse she stole from Gavin) love it!
If I can do this home decor project, there's hope for the world! What should I decorate next?
