Bonk-Friendly Wall Art (Autumn 2014)

Ugly blank wall

Recently I moved my furniture around and shoved both of our kitchen benches along one wall. When I built the benches (previous post) I made sure they could go from an l-formation to a straight line. Moving them was my husband's suggestion, and that created much more seating around the long table we had just inherited from my downsizing mother in law. (If you read the previous post, you'll remember that the benches had feet. I had to remove them so people seated around the table didn't lose their knee caps).

Previous wall covering had frames with glass (detailed in another blog post)

Now the benches backed up against the frames I hung on that wall to fill a big void (see previous post). I did not think anything of that, until the next time I had people over. I noticed my father in law doing strange contortions and piling up pillows behind him to avoid bumping his head into the glass. I needed to do something! I really liked the colors, pattern and size of the wall covering... but I couldn't risk hurting someone.

I wanted to get something on this wall fast. What could heads safely bump into? I browsed through various tapestries and fabrics online, thinking I could hang one over that area... but they were either too expensive, too college dorm-ish, or just too much fabric (the bench already incorporates several loud motifs). Should I try to paint a small mural, either right on the wall or maybe on a spare piece of luan that I had lying around? Nah, I still haven't completed the large mural on the abutting wall. I thought of the decoupage project, but wasn't inspired. I had leftover tiles from the mud room wall project (see previous post) but did not feel like affixing something permanently in that area. A painting would not work, because a head would dent the stretched canvas.

So I grabbed the luan (this is a thin type of plywood/veneer) and held it up. Not perfect, but large enough to fill the space. No way was I going to bother cutting it - it had square edges already, which is more than I could achieve with my tools. I had to find something to cover it with, and then I could affix it to the wall as a temporary solution.

Scrap book paper and luan board that I had lying around

Next I dug up a sheaf of scrap book paper that I bought on clearance at Michael's awhile back (used in a previous post to cover the back of my medicine cabinet). I had chevrons in my head, a pattern that's probably almost past its peak but that I had not used yet. So I pulled together a cutting board, a metal ruler and a kitchen knife (I could not find my exacto... BTW I did eye the pizza cutter, but it was useless on the thick paper). Next I started to slice the scrap board paper into strips. If you attempt this, be very careful with your blade! I pulled it towards me while putting pressure on the straight edge, and a few times came close to jabbing my leg.

Laying out a pattern with the scrap paper strips

When I had enough strips, I started to assemble them along the edge of the board. There were plenty of colors and patterns to choose from, and I threw them together fairly haphazardly. I just wanted something on my wall, it didn't have to be a permanent piece!

Glue + paper = curling, so I grabbed whatever was handy to weigh the edges down

Now that I had a plan, I had to figure out how to adhere the strips of paper. Elmer's glue was handy, and it's pretty much the same as mod podge as far as I could tell - at least, I knew it would dry clear if I made any mistakes. I did not want a huge smear of glue under the paper, causing it to buckle, so I just dotted the edges. Still, the paper started to bend and warp, so I weighed it down.

Around this time my kids came upstairs and asked what I was doing. They wanted to help, of course, so I asked them to feed me the strips of paper that they thought I should glue down next. That made the process less tedious and much faster.

Strips of paper overlap the edges so they can be bent over and cover all of the wood backing

The kids got bored after the whole surface was covered and ran outside, which was good, because the glue needed to dry and this was taking up our walking area in the kitchen. A neighbor stopped by, so we had a glass of wine while I turned under the corner strips of paper to make a neat edge, then waited for everything to be dry.

Finally came the moment of truth: hanging this on the wall. Our walls are plaster with metal mesh behind it, which is a real nightmare when we want to attach anything. I opted for screws this time, in case the wood buckled, and thankfully they seemed to grip pretty well. I didn't know where our level was so father in law and husband eyeballed the placement and helped hold it up while I drilled.

When I finally stepped back I was... underwhelmed. For one thing, the dimensions are pretty awkward... There is a strange gap between the cushions and the bottom of the hanging, and it overlaps the light switch slightly. The other thing that bothered me was the colors - too pastel-y for the space. Everything else has rich colors, but this scheme was more seashore than hacienda.

Old wall hanging, arranged differently, now brightens one of the dark family room walls.

Oh well, it's done, and it didn't cost me anything, and nothing went to waste. Most importantly, people can sit against this without fear. I'll find a more permanent solution in the future.

Update Nov. 2015:

I couldn't live with the pastel chevrons for very long. I decided to go for fabric instead. I headed to the Calico Corners up the street and looked at the sale scraps (I only needed a few yards). None of the remnants would have looked cohesive. I spoke to a sales lady and described the problem, and the colors I was working with. She suggested a few fabrics and this seemed like it had the right scale and color scheme to cover that wall behind the bench:

Strip of fabric with similar colors but a different scale to add depth to blah area

Still not perfect but better than nothing. And no one is worried about leaning back when they sit on the bench.

Decoupaged Furniture for Auction

My first grader's school was having an auction and needed a classroom project. I was due to teach an art appreciation class on Rene Magritte with another mom volunteer. This seemed like a good opportunity to have the kids create something that could possibly be sold.

If you're not familiar with Magritte's work, he's a surrealist that rendered people and objects sharply - but arranged his images in unexpected ways. You've probably seen the man with an apple or dove in front of his face.

When I think Magritte, immediately blue skies with white clouds spring to mind. That's the backdrop in many of his surrealist scenes. I thought I could paint a sky like that, then have the kids découpage on images that the artist liked to use.

We reached out to other parents and received two donated pieces of furniture. My co-teacher hit thrift shops and found a little side table that could work. She also printed lots of images and painstakingly cut out their shapes so they were ready to be applied.

 

Tip: magazines usually have print on both sides, which can bleed through. We googled images and used a laser printer. Don't use an inkjet because that just sprays ink onto the page, which will bleed if it gets wet - which is necessary for découpage.

I painted the donated items with chalk paint (leftover from the mud room wall project, covered in an earlier post). Because that type of paint goes on fast, does not require primer, and doesn't generate  fumes, I could take care of this step inside on a cold winter day while my kids napped (or pretended to). Now I had the basic blue background for the sky.

Next I started with the smaller table, adding clouds. It took much longer than I thought it would; I was adding other blues into the sky and fussing around a bit. The larger piece, the desk, was still waiting for its clouds - and suddenly this seemed like a daunting task. I had to simplify. 

Using a gel medium, I thinned out the white paint and started on the desk. I got the shapes of clouds in, and they were smeary... but as each layer of paint dried I could come back in and brighten areas with white. That gave the low-lights and brighter areas I wanted, all with just white paint, so the background did not need to be touched again.

I repeated this on the round tabletop that was found at a thrift store. The strange thing about that was, it's 3 legs were slightly different lengths. That, or the hardware they screwed into was faulty. Ether way, the other mother and I tried sawing them, to no avail. So I thought - lazy susan! They are round and just require the spinning turntable. A quick search on Amazon yielded an inexpensive but decently rated option. When it was delivered, I used Liquid Nails to adhere it. The top was particle board so I was a bit nervous, but it seemed to hold on tight. 

Now the furniture was ready for the kids. The other mom and I met at school, taught the first graders a little about Magritte, then lined them up. Each chose an image, grabbed a sponge brush, and swabbed an area with mod podge. We helped them smooth the printouts and clean up extra dribbles and blobs. As creative as kids are, most mimicked the person before them, so we had several clusters of the same image. After each first grader got at least two tries at attaching images onto the furniture, we called it a day. It looked a little messy but we knew the mod podge would dry clear.

When I got home I attached a few more images to break up some of the monotony. You can only have  so many green apples in a row and keep the composition interesting!

Next I pulled out the spar urethane. I swabbed his on with extra foam brushes, starting with areas that were somewhat out of sight, just in case something unexpected happened. Good thing - something unexpected did happen. Some of the images were getting a "soaked" look on the edges - something that hadn't happened with the mod podge. I guess the extra chemicals in the varnish were seeping in and impacting the paper or printed color.

Tip: go back over all of the decoupaged images with mod podge, making sure each edge is covered so no moisture can seep in later. In the butterfly image above, note how there is a rim of white mod podge caught on each edge - that's what you want.

After that, the varnish went on seamlessly. The pieces were ready to go. Now I have to wait and see if they fetch anything at the auction.

This was a pretty easy project. Tedious at times, but not difficult. Minimal supplies are required. Try it yourself!

Homemade trundle bed attempt (winter 2013)

"Finished" product - unfortunately not successful

My son's bed had just enough space underneath it for a spare mattress. But pulling it out without some sort of handle was impossible. I could barely pinch the corner or yank by the fitted sheet, if there was one, and I bend back a few fingernails that way. An idea rattled around in my head for a while and finally I went out and bought a piece of plywood that would serve as a platform. Then I found some wheels online that were small enough to allow the whole thing to clear the underside of the bed. I had considered some sort of runners instead of wheels (maybe a few 1x4 strips) but wasn't sure how to get the edges smooth enough to glide in and out.

Pilot holes for the wheels

Unfortunately I had to trim the plywood down to size. For some reason when I bought it, I was sure it would fit under the bed as-is but no, it was too long by an inch or so. When I discovered that I was so deflated, I left the wood propped against the wall... where it stayed for a good month. Then one day, I had a free hour or two after work and decided to search for a power saw. Thank goodness for sales reps - the man at Lowe's gave me the pros and cons of jigsaws, circular saws and miter saws. The miter saw was tempting but could not make long cuts, plus it was bulky and expensive... if I need to cut trim I'll use my handsaw and miter box. The circular saw brought out a primal fear of tools that can easily maim me. I walked out with a jigsaw for about $30.

Actually making the cuts was interesting. It went really fast but WOW it's tough to keep a jigsaw straight. The guy at Lowe's warned me but of course I plowed ahead without buying a guide or anything. It turned out well enough, though.

In progress with a lot o' little wheels!

I figured I needed to attach quite a few wheels to distribute the weight. The finished result was a bit weird. But no one was apt to see the bottom so I crossed my fingers and kept going.

This boat cleat was lying around and I thought it could work as a handle

I thought I would finish the edges off with some trim eventually, and stain this, but I never got that far. This project was a big FAIL.

So... unattractive and impractical!

Where did I go wrong?

1. The wheels. They were cheap to buy but still not worth the cost because they started shedding ball bearings the first time they rolled. That's probably my fault for thinking they could work on carpet, under a heavy weight. 
2. The cleat. For one thing, the edge of plywood can't possibly have the "teeth" required to hold screws. For another, that thing is a toe-crusher. It sticks out exactly where your feet are while tucking a kid into bed.
3. It's ugly. I knew it was going to be under a bed and a mattress and not particularly visible, but still... I would rather not add something that's practical but unattractive to my house. I'm not in college anymore (haven't been for many, many years).

Flopping a mattress on top doesn't help

 I won't even bother trying to sum up the cost. It'll just depress me.

Ottoman slipcover (spring 2013)

Slipcover camouflages the war-torn ottoman

This ottoman has been with me for years. It's practical: it has storage and matches a "chair and a half" with a fold-out bed. It's been tough to ditch them for newer furniture because (a) I have kids who are still young and therefore destructive, (b) I hate to get rid of something so functional, and (c) I'm not sure what else would fit in that space.

"Before" shot of the beaten-down ottoman

I figured it might make sense to try to make a slipcover. But I don't have a sewing machine and anyway, I've always messed up the bobbin when I've used one in the past. So I decided to drape the fabric and sew as little as possible. Anything would be better than the existing marker-stained, tattered fabric and plastic wheels. I hit the Calico Corners up the street again, the back discount section of course, and found this neutral remnant. Stripes are the only pattern I've avoided for some reason so I gave them a whirl.

Tucked corners with stitches from the inside

After figuring out which direction the stripes looked best, I tucked in the corners and made a few stitches on each. I am not sure if they will eventually rip through because there is nothing behind the fabric to reinforce them, but it seemed like a pretty decent gamble. If the stitches don't hold, I can redo them. If they tear through the fabric, I could probably tuck a little more and hide the damage.

Midway through attaching the bottom border

The corners had a lot of extra fabric that would have dragged on the floor. So I pulled it taut while trimming along the floor line with a pair of scissors. I tried to make the cuts in a smooth arc. Rather than trying to hem it the normal way, which I was afraid would be crooked or flimsy, I decided to sew a band of webbing around the bottom edge. It seemed like a good way to keep the slipcover in place, as there is some heft to it.

Finished project... the wrinkles eventually sorted themselves out

The most time-consuming - and tedious - part of this project was sewing the bottom edge. It probably took 2 hours; I spent the time on speaker phone, catching up with my Dad. I'm not a phone person so multi-tasking like this is perfect. Music is also a good distraction, and often when I look at a finished project I can flash back to the Pandora station I had on.

Finished project

Was this a success? I'm not sure. It's not awesome but it's not awful either. My daughter likes it, and it didn't cost too much, so I don't cringe when I look at it.

Time to complete: approx. 3 hours

Cost: approx. $15 for 2 yards of fabric, plus some leftover webbing (can't recall the cost)

Side table rehab with upholstery (spring 2013)

Poor neglected table

My idea was to upholster this table to cover the ruined wood veneer, and to make it more kid-friendly for my 5 year old's bedroom. So one day when my daughter and I were running errands, we stopped into the Calico Corners up the street. They have a discount section in the back that is suitable for my haphazard projects. I asked my daughter to pick out something and she grabbed some purple & gold fabric that was on clearance for $7/yard. There was less than 2 yards left but I figured we could work with that, so I bought it.

We then headed to a local sewing hub, G Street Fabrics, where we got a wad of batting. I also picked up some brass tacks. (I always loved when my Mom, an accomplished upholsterer, finished a piece of furniture with a neat line of brass tacks and hoped I could work them in).

When I got home I cleaned off this poor table. It had been outside for 2 years and kicked around quite a bit before that, following my husband to various apartments and storage centers. Its veneer was shot but it was still solid and an interesting shape. And I can't stand to throw things out. This particular piece was by Lane, the cedar chest folks.

I unrolled some batting and flipped the table over top of it. This gave me an idea where to cut the first piece of batting. I stapled as I went.

Getting started with the batting

I started with the top, thinking that I might run out of fabric so why waste the effort on the other areas. Then partway through, I figured why not do it all at once? I hate repetitive tasks, and if I ran out of fabric I could always get another piece with a color and pattern that worked with it - or just rip off the batting and stain the rest. The top was my primary concern, as it was going to be the most-seen part of this table.

Top and bottom batting stapled on

The legs were an issue. I wasn't sure what to do about them. I covered them at first, and thought it might work. With fabric, however, they looked like unflattering 80s legwarmers (anyone who remembers that weird turn Woody Woodpecker took during their childhood can get the right visual). So I tore off the batting and fabric and left the legs bare. I need to oil them up and stain them.

Covering the legs turned out to be a bad idea... too puffy & unflattering

Using a staple gun, this whole process went quickly. I figured there was no great need for precision with batting. The fabric was another story: I had so little to work with, I had to maximize it. Of course, I'm not a very precise person so I still winged it! Just more slowly.

On the bottom surface, I reversed the fabric. It was really nice from both sides so I thought it might make an interesting contrast. And the lower area was certain to get less light, so more of the gold could help brighten it.

The vision in my head starts to become a reality... quickly, thankfully

Finally I was ready to finish off the edges. I tucked and pulled and then quickly hammered some brass tacks around the edges. It's amazing how often a small touch becomes the part of something that I love the most. My husband hauled this inside and up to my daughter's room before it started raining... just in the nick of time. That night, she must have decided that this could be a "bunk bed" because we found her tucked into the bottom area, with her pillow and blanket, in the morning.

More or less a finished piece!

Time to complete: 3 hours
Supplies: approx. $40 - specifically:
              $14 for fabric
              $5 for brass tacks
              $20 for batting
              $0 pre-existing table, existing staple gun and staples

Kitchen chair reupholstering (autumn 2012)

Before, fabric is dingy and padding is wimpy

After, fresh fabric and a lot more padding

I've been bothered by our dining room chairs for years. At first, it was the sea foam fabric with grape leaves... but I have no experience recovering chairs so we lived with it. But now they are stained, after years with little goopy kids. And my Mom tightened up the joints on a recent visit, so it seemed like a good time to give them a face lift.

Marker, oatmeal, grape juice - you name it - plus there is a very hard edge 

I started by flipping over the chairs. Only 4 screws kept the seats in place; one on each corner. 

Screws were easy to find and remove

All of the seats have a hard piece of wood holding up the cushion, although the old strap supports are still visible underneath some.

Wooden support that someone used to replace the original straps

Next, I stripped all of the existing layers off of the seats. A pair of pliers was all I needed - I tugged onto the old fabric, not caring if it ripped, and the old staples gave way. Note: gloves would have been wise, as I got scratched by staples a few times.

All of the pieces are ready to go: fabric, foam, batting, seat

Next, I cut out 1" thick foam from a roll I bought at a local fabric store (www.gstreetfabrics.com). I used the seat as a guide and hoped the foam would soften the wooden ledge created by the supporting pieces. I traced a seat over and over with a sharpie pen. Then I used a pair of scissors to cut out the shapes.

Seat shape traced onto foam, exactly the size of the seat

Next I laid out the fabric. I had this leftover from last year, when I thought I could use it for curtains. It was way too heavy and ripped the curtain rods brackets out of the wall! I liked the pattern but the neutral colors and thick texture made it sort of blah for any large expanse. Recently, I started looking at chevrons and other geometric patterns for the kitchen chairs... and after burning several hours online, noticed how much color I already have in the kitchen. Anything more would be overkill. Thankfully I remembered this fabric before hunting down anything new. In small doses, within each chair's frame, it is perfect! Just enough pattern.

I added roughly 2" of buffer for the fabric, so I'd have enough to secure around the seat

I was not too careful with the sharpie pen or with my cutting. All edges would be hidden beneath the chair. That was a relief, as this is a tedious project. Not too hard, but lots of repetition. (My hands are sore!)

Batting is a critical step the last chair owners skipped

I then used the fabric pieces as a guide for the batting. I wanted about an inch less than the fabric, so I could staple just the fabric and not a big blob of material. Again, a quick preliminary trace and some quick cutting sufficed.

A seat cushion has many layers... I'm hoping this onion ends up more like a parfait

Next I started stacking the pieces and grabbed my staple gun. I had 3/8" staples, which worked fine. I had to hammer some down but they were long enough to hold the bigger folds of fabric on the seat corners.

Luckily I had experience stretching canvases for painting, when I was a broke art student. The concept is the same: staple the midpoint of one side of the fabric, then the opposite side, pulling so the fabric is reasonably taut. Repeat on the remaining 2 sides. Inspect your work - is anything askew? If so, rip out the staples and try again. If not, continue by adding another staple on opposing sides again. Doing this piecemeal ensures that you do not yank the fabric too far to one side, which could cause buckling or a cockeyed pattern - or worse yet, you might find you did not leave enough fabric to cover the last side.

Stapling alternating sides is key

The hardest part of the stapling was squeezing the staple gun's trigger. I'm not a tiny person and I am strong, but my hands took a beating and are currently throbbing a bit. If you have a helper, you can use both of your hands to squeeze - but the person holding the fabric needs to be very trusting when you come near!

Corners have way too much bulk and need to be trimmed

After the first chair or two, I got a sense for how much fabric I could remove on the corners so they would fold over neatly. Or neatly enough - corners are tough. The fabric needs to be pulled, tucked and stapled simultaneously. Of course, any failed attempts can be easily re-tried.

When all the stapling is done, the underside may not be perfect but it'll be hidden

It was so satisfying to see something that looked like real cushion emerge.

With new foam and batting, this cushion is much more robust than before

Next I put this cushion face down on the dining room table and flipped the chair over on top of it. I wanted to finish one chair completely before moving on to the others.

I suddenly wondered how to screw the cushion back on. Will the screws line up? Do I screw them right through the fabric? Not having a better idea, I tried to line up the cushion to the frame, then started with the first screw. It went right in, through the fabric and grabbed. This was actually the easiest step. Finding a replacement for a missing screw wasn't fun, but I found something workable.

Last step was to scotchgaurd the fabric, a must for people with kids or pets. I hauled all 6 chairs outside and sprayed them down, then left them for awhile.

Now that the chairs are back in I can finally see how they look in action, around the table.

Love the chairs... now I've got to do something about the worn finish on our table

Costs:
$50 for roll of foam
$15 for batting
Fabric might have been $8/yard on sale? (It's been a long time).

Time to complete: approximately 3 hours