Seeing as today (August 8th) is International Cat Day, we figured that many cat owners might want to get their cat companions a gift to show them that they’re loved. Now, you could get them a mouse toy or a can of salmon pate, but the right piece of cat furniture can make for a meaningful and lasting pet gift. Designed by: Because We CanMy love for thrift store shopping all started when we first moved into our house three years ago, and I realized I couldn't afford to decorate our entire home with brand new furniture. I began searching for inexpensive ways to furnish our house, and soon learned just how many treasures were waiting to be unearthed at nearby thrift stores. I've transformed a lot of junk in the past few years....old dressers, tables...but my favorite is the chair. Having zero prior experience in using paint or reupholstering furniture, I slowly taught myself (through trial and error) how to take a junky old chair and turn it into something worthy of using in my home.
Today, I'll show you my 10 best chair makeovers, and hopefully leave you with a few ideas on how you can update any old chairs you may have laying around. This is my favorite and most recent upholstery project. I took an old $5 Goodwill piano bench transformed it into a lookalike of my favorite Ballard Designs bench. All it took was a little paint, some striped fabric, and about an hour of my time. See the full story here.The Rocking Chair Makeover A friend of mine found an old rocker at a local estate sale and enlisted my help in painting and reupholstering it. The before and after is pretty drastic. Take a look here.The Striped Chair Makeover: This little blue striped chair was one of my favorite projects to date. My mom picked this up at a local thrift store and gave it to me to reupholster. I absolutely loved the way this chair turned out. You won't believe what it looked like before.The Stenciled Vanity Stool Project: For this project, I took an old, outdated, wooden stool and upgraded it with some pretty fabric and fringe trim.
(I also stenciled and painted the vanity table!). See that story here. I found this little chair for $5 at Goodwill and totally transformed it using light blue paint (on the wood) and reupholstering the cushion with a tablecloth!! It turned out to be a great, really cheap alternative to upholstery fabric. I finished it off with silver nailheads. I love this little chair. Months after I reupholstered it the first time, I decided to play with it again. But this time, I did something really different.....I took plain white fabric and painted blue stripes on it. Sanding the fabric (after the paint dried) with fine grit sandpaper was all it took to make this chair soft and comfy. See the full tutorial here.Green & White Trellis Chair This little chair is one of my favorite chair projects. The Ballard Designs Knock Off Chair: I was ecstatic to find this chair at a thrift store for just a few bucks. Especially when I came home and saw the exact same chair in a Ballard Designs catalog for $400!
I gave this chair the same upholstery treatment as I did the last one, only this time paired with a cute striped pillow! The Drop Cloth Chair Basically, I decided to follow the massive trend of dropcloth upholstery on this chair. And I fell in love. Soon See the full story of this chair here. Okay, so this one isn't a chair. But, I love it so much that I'm including it anyways. To see how I upholstered my headboard with a dropcloth, visit this post. Follow my blog with Follow my blog on Subscribe to LiveLoveDIY with email! editors spend a fair amount of time at our desks. And as we’re blogging away, it’s important that our workspaces inspire us. Whether you’re clocking in from 9-5 like us or burning the midnight oil studying for midterms, having a chic and tidy workspace will insure that your creativity and productivity are at optimum levels. (Plus, a cluttered desk is no way to impress if you’re gunning for that promotion.) Here are a few of our favorite tricks for decorating your workspace…
1. Clear the Clutter Weekly. Don’t wait for springtime to do all of your desktop cleaning. To keep your desk tidy year-round, spend a few minutes every Friday tossing or filing old papers and putting loose objects where they belong. 2. Find storage solutions that don’t make you cringe. Desk storage is a necessity, but it doesn’t have to be an eyesore. From file cabinets to bookshelves, look for pieces with both form and function to foster your creative instincts. 3. Keep cords out of sight. Nothing will taint your beautiful workspace like a tangle of cords. To keep loose cords at bay, take this tip from Martha Stewart: Feed cords though a hole drilled in your desk, and mount a surge protector on the underside. Or, if you’d rather manage cords sans any permanent damage to your furniture, use Velcro strips or zip ties to secure them into an organized cluster. 4. Pick pretty stationary. Call us old-fashioned, but we’re nothing without our notepads. If you still like to jot things down with good old pens and paper too, invest in chic post-its and other pretty paper goods.
Investing in desk accessories that you actually like is as important as finishing off your outfit with that chic statement necklace or perfect pair of earrings. So if you’ve had your eye on a Lucite paper tray or printed pushpins for a while now, go ahead and indulge in your desktop cravings. Coordinating containers not only look pretty, they’ll help keep you organized, too. 6. Make an inspiration board. Instead of letting loose papers flutter around your space, keep a board of all the odds and ends that inspire you. A bulletin board is also a great place to pin small details you might otherwise lose like photographs and business cards. And while virtual boards are nice, nothing beats seeing it all in front of you while you work. Do you have any of your own tips when it comes to organizing your workspace? When we’re in need of a little extra of desktop inspiration, fresh flowers usually do the trick!Stationery NatstatweekMonday StationeryAdorable StationerySimple StationeryDesk DecorsDecor Desks9 DesksRoom DecorsPaperchase FrompaperchaseForwardIt's fine to have stuff on your desk, just line it up, yeah?