Chevron Pillow

Before I get started here’s my “before” bed picture with my FreeCycle bed I picked up (actually I think my roommate picked it up for me) right out of college.I’ve been trying to knock some projects out this year and here’s one of them I finally finished last month. My inspiration was this pillow I found on Amazon. I’d purchased a body pillow from Target, but I didn’t really love any of the covers they had to offer. I found some awesome grey chevron (canvas) fabric at Hobby Lobby, so I got it instead.

I really intended for this to be a simple no brainer project, but I ran into several problems. The zig zags went the width of the fabric rather than the length of the fabric and of course the fabric width was several inches shorter than the pillow, so I’d have to piece it together and match the chevrons.

I enlisted some help from my grandma and when we went to start measuring and cutting we discovered that the fabric was printed crooked! We finally got everything laid out and I said, so how am I going to put the pillow in and out? Turns out she assumed I was sewing the pillow in the case and I assumed I’d be able to take it out of the case for washing! So one end has a few snaps that I can now open and close.

Overall I’m really happy with how it turned out. My one complaint is that the case is a little saggy, but that’s not a huge deal.

When I was making my bed up to take these pictures I realized I’m really happy with how this area of my apartment has turned out! I of course could get a fancier or nicer looking alarm clock and a more adult looking throw, but I think it’s pretty perfect for now. So this is the “After.”

I also got a new set of sheets which I like. I’ve been drooling over this set from West Elm, which also comes in yellow, for a couple of years. I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $70 on a set of sheets. Target finally came out with some striped sheets, and while I very much love the width of the stripes on West Elm’s, Target’s on clearance for $8 will do me just fine!

Fireplace Mirror

I’ve got several mirrors in my apartment, but the one over my fireplace is a bit unique. When I first moved in my Grandma and I went shopping at a little antique store in Blair, OK to find some decorations. I ended up with this medicine cabinet. I was hoping to take the mirror off of its cabinet, but it ended up being too hard, so it’s still got a cabinet behind the mirror. If I wanted I could hide things in it! So here’s the before:

I’ve been wanting to paint the frame black for AGES and finally got around to it last month. I’m wishing now that there was some way to make the frame have a little more oomph. Maybe a frame on top of the current frame to make it wider? Do you have any ideas? I printed out my heart diagram the other day to decorate for Valentine’s Day. It might be a little on the weird side, but I’m liking it!

Re-finishing the Kitchen Table

When I first moved into my current apartment nearly two years ago I moved in with basically the furniture I’d used to furnish my bedroom in the three residences I’d lived in since graduating. I think I only had two chairs. My little brother got married about a week after I moved and my extended family, who were in town for the wedding, all came over for dinner one evening. While I had acquired a kitchen table by then it was in pieces. Thankfully everyone was sweet and didn’t mind sitting in my camping chairs or on the floor.

I got this table from the sister of my boss. She had painted the legs and sides red (which you’ll see I chose to stick with), and I believe intended to decoupage the top. I guess the project never happened and the table ended up in here garage sale, and when it didn’t sell she very generously gave it to me!

After all the time and money (nothing outrageous but probably $50+) I spent on it I would have to agree with what my mom told me when I called her to tell her about my free table. “It would be easier and cheaper to buy one.” Moms are always right aren’t they? Even though I would’ve had a table months sooner I’m glad I made my own unique one.

I’m always nervous about messing my projects up, but felt a bit better about things after finding these two posts about painting furniture and painting laminate: http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2011/04/how-to-paint-furniture/ and http://livingwithlindsay.com/2009/05/how-to-paint-laminate-furniture.html

I won’t bore you with my step by step process, but I did learn a few things about painting furniture.
-If you prime it and plan to paint over the primer with a fairly dark or transparent (red) color, tint your primer! I had to paint so many coats of red to get the white primer not to show.
-I did primer, paint, and a top coat. The guy at the hardware store told me that I needed to use all acrylic based or all oil based paint. No mixing and matching.
-This can all be done in an apartment. I worried that I really needed a garage or backyard, but drop cloths and low VOC paint made everything work out!

So after nine months my finished table! My only complaint was that the paint didn’t harden like I thought it should. Even now if I set down a warm bowl or my sewing machine on the table it leaves a mark. I was upset at first, but I’ve moved on now.

I’m definitely no expert furniture painter, but if you have questions about what I did feel free to ask!