Ottoman reupholstery..

Okay, just to clarify, I have absolutely no intention of reupholstering anything by myself.  Whew.  Having said that, I have an ottoman that is covered in some sort of chenille fabric. I put my feet on it practically everyday, sometimes for more hours than I care to admit.  I was never very fond of the fabric to begin with, I have to admit, so it does not pain me terribly to be reupholstering it.

What did pain me was to learn at a local design shop that I would have to purchase two hides at $200 each to reupholster this ottoman in a nice buttery leather.  Then they told me that it would cost me about $400 to actually have the work done.  Standing there with my mouth open, I said "thank you but, errr. No."  I mean I could easily find a new otttoman of some description for $800.  I have no memory of what I paid for the one I have, but I know it is of decent quality.  Here it is, somewhat worse for wear. See what I mean?

On my recent trip to the flea market here in Raleigh I went to visit the leather lady.  She has dozens of hides in all colors- dark brown, dark green, deep red, and the tobacco/caramel color I was looking for... Several of the hides she had were very LARGE. Now, I don't want to think about this too much, in fact I don't even really relish using the term "hide".  I like to think of it instead as "irregular yardage".  I hope the PETA people don't picket me.. ahhhh my readership is not large enough to extend that far undoubtedly.

I picked up the caramel colored "piece" and it is buttery soft, smooth, mostly regular in tone and color.  It is perfect.  It is very large.  So I called an upholsterer and they said to send them a photo to make sure we could make do with ONE errrr "piece" instead of the two "pieces" the design shop had recommended for my 33 inch square, tufted ottoman.  Apparently tufting requires more material.  So, I have done that and am waiting to hear back from them that the one piece will do.

The cost of my flea market find?  $70.  Tax included.

So here is the photo of the leather draped over the ottoman that I sent to the upholsterer.  I hope they say yes, you have enough leather and in a week or so I can show you a photo of the reupholstered ottoman!!

By the Roadside...

I have passed by stuff left for the trash man a 1000 times, but inspired by Evie in her quest to reuse, recyle, and refresh found objects, I decided to pick up this chair two doors down from me.  It was a speedy, fervent event. Me: hoping not to be seen.  I'll get over it.  The chair is far from amazing, but since I am in shabby chic apartment decorating mode, I thought I would run it by A, my daughter and occupant of her first college apartment and see what she thinks.  Since she has some black and cream stuff going on in her room (and who knows if this will even fit..) I thought I would paint it black.  I will probably try to go the lazy way and spray paint it, although from past experience I know this can be messy and drippy.  You will see in the second photo that one of the spindles is broken. I asked P, Mr. Reluctant Fixer, if he thought the spindle could be replaced.  He sort of shrugged and said why not just saw it off and no one will notice. Besides, it's just for a college apartment.  I am not convinced it cannot be fixed, but for the sake of expediency, we can just go that way.. So here is the chair with its boo-boo...

Accessories on the Cheap..

Bowls from Anthropologie

Well, these were not originally "cheap" but we found them half price.  At the time we thought they had a lot of the Fiestaware colors we would use with the bowls.  As it turns out, the colors are close enough for country music... not an exact match. In any event, they may be too nice for cereal and put to better use in a decorative capacity. Each one is different.

Little straw suitcases. Total investment: $3

These little munchkin suitcases reminded me of the cases I used to carry around my Muffy dolls in. The largest is about a foot wide.  I found them at the flea market for $1 and $2.  I'm thinking since Muffies are no longer in anyone's picture, that maybe they could be put to use on a desk for writing utensils, spare check books, assorted desky kinds of things. Or, maybe in a bathroom to stow cosmetics.  Or maybe to keep pieces of jewelry in on a shelf.  Dunno.  Ideas?

from Michael's.. in the half-price aisle.. 

About the size of slim shoeboxes, I was attracted to the way these boxes open and close.  They have a lid that sort of folds over and clamps the box.  These were around $4 each- one is smaller then the other two.

Utility?  again, maybe desktop, maybe stowing jewelry, odds and ends of stuff, feminine hygiene products (who actually says that) in the bathroom...

     Frame from Pier 1

  Thought perhaps this would be interesting with the cream/black ticking thing we have going on in the bedroom of the college apartment.

We shall see.  I am already hearing complaints that everything looks like it "goes together" too well.. Ahhh we shall see...