Rocking Chair Redo...Gogo would be so happy!!!

Tim's grandmother, aka Gogo, gave us a beautiful antique rocker several years before she passed away. She has been gone at least 5 years, and I just been to cheap, and recently to poor to pay several hundred $$$$ for a 'professional' to recover it. Sooo....in my late night blogging several months ago, I found a tutorial on The Cut Cloth. But when I found that one of my blogger idols, Sarah at Thrify Decor Chick, had recovered her dining rooms chairs, I thought...'Hey, I can do this!!!'

So here are the BEFORE photos. I actually had a pillow on the seat because as you can see, there was a BIG hole where you put your tush! I think the black stuff is actually horse hair so it was also very messy!

Friday night became my 'get er done" night. I popped in my Redbox video (LOVE those machines), pulled out the fabric that I bought at Joanne's many moons ago (with a 50% off coupon of course) and got busy. I used a flat head screw driver to pop out the upholstery tacks.
I also got a pair of wire cutters (only because I couldn't find my needle nosed pliers. Those darn boys of mine use my tools for pimping their scooters!!! That's a whole nuther blog post!!!
I took photos of each step, mainly because I was a little nervous about putting everything back the same way! I do have to say, it was not as bad as I imagined. After removing all the staples...which took 3 hours...I took the old fabric and used it as a pattern for the new fabric.

Turns out the wood was in pretty good shape, other than a few good nicks I made with my tools! I just took some Old English scratch filler...which I use on my laminate floors that aren't supposed to scratch!!!.. and polished it all with lemon oil. Good as new!!!




Next I started reassmbling everything using my handy dandy staple gun.
I started pulling and stapling and stapling and pulling the new fabric back onto the wood frame.
The padding was pretty comfy, so I decided to salvage what I could. For the big hole, all I did was add a few layers of fiberfill (that I got for 10 cents a bag at Big Lot's after Christmas last year). SCORE!!!

I learned to sew from my mom and in 6th Grade Home Ec (thanks mom & Mrs. Grace) so decided to include trim...like the orginal. I just used some of the new fabric and that's what you see at the very bottom of the seat.

Kept pulling and stapling, stapling and pulling!

Bonus Room Decorating...Rocker Redo!

We all have those comfy rockers that we used when we had babies in the house. They are comfy, but not to pretty on the eyes. One of my friends gave me her rocker, and I just haven't parted with it because we use it in the game room to play Wii. Oh look...there it is with the red floral cover. It was actually a hideous pink and blue early 80's color, so I sewed new slipcovers for it was Jake was born 10 years ago!

I finally could take the white walls NO MORE. The game room HAD TO BE DECORATED!!! So, with some design suggestions from Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick...and a few ideas I've had brewing in my mind from looking endlessly at other blogs, I decided it was time to get busy. I'm using chocolate brown and blue accents and bought some dark brown paint for the walls. I bought the paint years ago. However, I had painted so many rooms in the house when we moved in that my motivation ran out long ago! I was 3 rooms shy of completion. When the color finally made it on the wall, it was a bit more deep olive green than chocolate brown but hey, re-painting...NO THANKS!!! Plus, I don't have the funding for another couple gallons of paint. See color behind the chair. It's actually growing on me.

So I was shopping at Joanne's and found some awesome chocolate brown and blue fabric that would be PERFECT for the slipcovers. Only problem, it was a remnant. GOOD because it was on sale. Bad because there wasn't enough for the chair. So I've been searching high and low to find something that matched. I finally found something at Home Fabrics...and it was on sale for $3/yd and I only needed 1 yard...just enought to cover the underside of the chair pad, which nobody will see anyways. I also using it for the piping because it's a itsy bitsy greyish blue checkers which will be the perfect contrast.

I just took off the cushions and used them as a pattern to cut out the new cushions. And that's where I'm at. I was going to finish it tonight, but instead I've been blogging since 5pm. Hello!!! Can you say addiction. Now what I want to do is spray paint the frame a walnut brown and finish the cushions this weekend. We have a LOVELY holiday in Nevada called 'Nevada Day'. It's our states bday and we always get Halloween off because it's a state holiday. YIPPEE! I promise, finishing the chair will be my Nevada Day project.

Master Bedroom

Update to the master. Didn't like what was going on above my headboard so took some wall hangings form my wall going up the stairs. Looks better...at least to me. They look smaller in the photo than in "real" life!!

Still need to put something different above the headboard. Any ideas anyone????
After almost 5 years in our house, I FINALLY finished painting the walls in my master bedroom. I didn't have enought of the paint I had already used (which was a blotched color match) so used the other blotched can that was a little lighter. It worked out just fine and I think I'm the only one that'll notice the walls are 2 different colors...although now all you know because it's pretty noticible in the photos!

Good thing I bought the bedroom furniture before I decided to quit my high paying corporate job to teach school! All I can afford now is refinished garage sale finds!!!
My next project has got to be reupholstering the beautiful rocker we inherited from Mr. T's Italian grandmother. It has a big hole in the seat...hence the ugly pillow covering it up. It's actually horse hair stuffing and I've found some fabric to recover it at Joanne's. Now all I need is some extra cash to buy the fabric (with a 4o% coupon of course) and some more money for almost 100 upholstery tacks and trim.

Big J's Skate Room

The boys wanted me to paint an Element sign on the wall. I wasn't quite sure how to do it but remembered my mom had made posters when I was little with an overhead projector. And funny that I just happened across an overhead projector that had been thrown in the trash...but still worked. I just copied an element logo on an overhead transparency then put the image on the wall with the projector. I used red acrylic paint that I had from many moons ago and just painted with a small flat brush. Turned out pretty good, but next time I will do it on canvas (like the volcom sign) so we can move it to the next room or house!!!




Looks like it's snowing in the room...I have no idea why! And the drawers still need to be painted to match the rest of the furniture!!

Big J's Skate Room

The boys wanted me to paint an Element sign on the wall. I wasn't quite sure how to do it but remembered my mom had made posters when I was little with an overhead projector. And funny that I just happened across an overhead projector that had been thrown in the trash...but still worked. I just copied an element logo on an overhead transparency then put the image on the wall with the projector. I used red acrylic paint that I had from many moons ago and just painted with a small flat brush. Turned out pretty good, but next time I will do it on canvas (like the volcom sign) so we can move it to the next room or house!!!




Looks like it's snowing in the room...I have no idea why! And the drawers still need to be painted to match the rest of the furniture!!

My Craft Room!!!

This is before my paint job. I painted the walls with Behr "Buffalo Grass" which was the color I had in the kitchen and family room in the Bear Creek Home. Love the furniture and it's all Pottery Barn Knockoffs. Office Drawers are from the JC Penny Outlet...I think they were maybe $50 for all 4. The desk chair and cool oil canvas artwork are also JC Penny Outlet. I recovered the chair pad with some fabric that matched perfectly with the sage green and red colors. The desk and carpet are from Target.


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Hmmm...any ideas for curtains? I put up a mistreatments that looked like a roman shade but it was PITY-FUL!!!<
I put up these shelves in the closet all by my lonesome!! Like I say, Mr T does NOT like to be a handyman!!!
And I want to use some red toile fabric I have to curtain off this area. It's handy, but not so pretty on the eyes!
See, I've even have the bolt of toile that's been leaning in the corner since we moved in!

Piano Room (My FAVORITE room in the house)

Before I quit my job (not that teaching isn't a job), I decided I needed to buy a piano. Plus, it just happened to be my 40th bday and I thought to myself, "I deserve a piano"!!! Anyways, after LOT'S of looking, I found the mose divine baby grand piano on Ebay. Yes, I bought a piano on Ebay. It arrived from San Diego and I had an idea in my mind that the room needed to be gold to contrast with the beautiful mahogony finish on the piano. So I got to work painting, and it turned out better than I could have imagined. I also bought some "faux" crown molding that has been sitting in my garage for about 2 years. I want to put it up before I go back to school in August, but if we sell the house, I would rather keep the crown and use it in my new house!

And notice the custom pleated drapes that are a FORTUNE to buy. (and the walls are really not as yellow as they look in the curtain photo!) We have a JCPenny Catalog Outlet in town and they always have custom drapes that were returned. These set me back about $20! Whew Hoo!!


(Eeekkk....Here are the before photos (notice the HORRIBLE white walls). This is when it was a dining room that we NEVER used with the country table that didn't look quite right in the new house)!!!

Piano Room (My FAVORITE room in the house)

Before I quit my job (not that teaching isn't a job), I decided I needed to buy a piano. Plus, it just happened to be my 40th bday and I thought to myself, "I deserve a piano"!!! Anyways, after LOT'S of looking, I found the mose divine baby grand piano on Ebay. Yes, I bought a piano on Ebay. It arrived from San Diego and I had an idea in my mind that the room needed to be gold to contrast with the beautiful mahogony finish on the piano. So I got to work painting, and it turned out better than I could have imagined. I also bought some "faux" crown molding that has been sitting in my garage for about 2 years. I want to put it up before I go back to school in August, but if we sell the house, I would rather keep the crown and use it in my new house!

And notice the custom pleated drapes that are a FORTUNE to buy. (and the walls are really not as yellow as they look in the curtain photo!) We have a JCPenny Catalog Outlet in town and they always have custom drapes that were returned. These set me back about $20! Whew Hoo!!


(Eeekkk....Here are the before photos (notice the HORRIBLE white walls). This is when it was a dining room that we NEVER used with the country table that didn't look quite right in the new house)!!!

My Bonus Room needs HELP!!

Ok, my next project has got to be my bonus room! It is the room we spend LOT's of time in, but I have done much as far as decorating. The walls are slowly getting paint. One wall has huge cutouts that look out over the vaulted ceiling in our family room. I just painted that room a dark color because I needed some contrast, and the room gets quite a bit of light (althought I took the photos at night so they didn't turn out well.

A look from the entry way....I would like to put the treadmill in our extra bedroom and get rid of the rocker that I used when the kids were babies. Just don't have the money to replace it.
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And the couch is the biggest eyesore EVER. I've hated it from day 1 but it was my husbands bachelor buy! If I would have met him just a couple months earlier, I would have helped him pick it out, and I NEVER would have chosen this one. 3 recliners, and drink holder, curled arms...can you say no slipcovers can be found to cover the monster? I sew, but recovering would be the end of me. I've also thought of selling on Craig's List and using the proceeds to buy something else.

A photo of the painted wall with the good for nothing cutouts! I tried to get the builder to drywall them because I thought my boys would jump out of them. Big J did jump off the landing and has never tried it again because his ankles hurt for weeks. Lucky they are flexible and didn't break in tiny pieces! Anyways, I found the armoire at JCPenny Outlet for $100 bucks and that's the only piece of furniture that I really want to keep. Just don't have the dinero to replace anything else so that's why I haven't done much to the room.


I love the functionality of our computer desk...but it is REALLY outdated. It has a place for the CPU, printer, pull out keyboard tray, and plenty of shelves to put junk on. I bought it when Mr T and I got married and that was almost 14 years ago. I'm thinking of putting the computer down in the kitchen computer nook (see photo below) so I can keep an eye on what the boys are doing. However, there isn't much room for the CPU and printer. They would have to sit on the floor. And notice the hockey table...aka desk! It normally has all my paperwork and the boys moan when they want to play air hockey (which is about 2x/year). I'm thinking of selling it on Craigs list and would like to make one of those cool door tables I see on all those blogs out there!

My Bonus Room needs HELP!!

Ok, my next project has got to be my bonus room! It is the room we spend LOT's of time in, but I have done much as far as decorating. The walls are slowly getting paint. One wall has huge cutouts that look out over the vaulted ceiling in our family room. I just painted that room a dark color because I needed some contrast, and the room gets quite a bit of light (althought I took the photos at night so they didn't turn out well.

A look from the entry way....I would like to put the treadmill in our extra bedroom and get rid of the rocker that I used when the kids were babies. Just don't have the money to replace it.

And the couch is the biggest eyesore EVER. I've hated it from day 1 but it was my husbands bachelor buy! If I would have met him just a couple months earlier, I would have helped him pick it out, and I NEVER would have chosen this one. 3 recliners, and drink holder, curled arms...can you say no slipcovers can be found to cover the monster? I sew, but recovering would be the end of me. I've also thought of selling on Craig's List and using the proceeds to buy something else.

A photo of the painted wall with the good for nothing cutouts! I tried to get the builder to drywall them because I thought my boys would jump out of them. Big J did jump off the landing and has never tried it again because his ankles hurt for weeks. Lucky they are flexible and didn't break in tiny pieces! Anyways, I found the armoire at JCPenny Outlet for $100 bucks and that's the only piece of furniture that I really want to keep. Just don't have the dinero to replace anything else so that's why I haven't done much to the room.


I love the functionality of our computer desk...but it is REALLY outdated. It has a place for the CPU, printer, pull out keyboard tray, and plenty of shelves to put junk on. I bought it when Mr T and I got married and that was almost 14 years ago. I'm thinking of putting the computer down in the kitchen computer nook (see photo below) so I can keep an eye on what the boys are doing. However, there isn't much room for the CPU and printer. They would have to sit on the floor. And notice the hockey table...aka desk! It normally has all my paperwork and the boys moan when they want to play air hockey (which is about 2x/year). I'm thinking of selling it on Craigs list and would like to make one of those cool door tables I see on all those blogs out there!