Making It Work with a Bit of Paint

I've been needing something new to put above my accent table in the kitchen that I purchased at Pier 1 a couple of months ago. I recently had a canvas painting of some fruit, but I'm really trying to phase out that theme in my kitchen (it's a little outdated!).



During a recent trip to HomeGoods with my sister-in-law, I noticed this cool metal leaf motif in the clearance aisle. Only $8! The problem: it's a rusty red color. The wall I wanted to hang it on is red as well and wouldn't really pop the way I wanted it to. So, what to do? Paint it of course!



I purchased a can of Rustoleum flat white spray paint and put one coat on the entire metal motif.

When it was all dry, I decided to take some sand paper and give it a rustic feel. I lightly sanded sporadically over the  entire wall hanging, heavier in some spots to really expose the original rust color. I absolutely love the final look!





Final costs: $8 for the metal leaf wall decor and $4 for the Rustoleum white spray paint. $12 for decor that fits my style!

Back to Black: Reupholstered Chair for Great Room

Yes, I know. I've been on a bit of a revamped chair kick recently! While at St. Vincent De Paul last week, I spotted this lovely chair. It caught my eye with the cool bevels in the wood...and the ugly fabric of course! I decided to purchase the chair to refurbish for my Great Room. Thought it would be a lovely piece to add next to my fireplace and at only $10 it was hard to pass up!

So here's the before and after! Here's how I transformed this chair for less:

First stop, Hancock Fabrics. I love to check out the remnants section. At $4 a yard, you can't go wrong! So my Great Room features deep colors that can be found in most rooms of my house: deep reds, tans, olive green, and black. My match the decor, I opted for a traditional and posh pattern with those colors. I purchased one yard knowing that would be more than enough!

Next, I took apart the chair seat from the base. Just 4 screws held the chair together.



I washed the chair to get rid of all dust and grime. Then I primed with Zinsser 123 Bull's Eye white paint. I did two coats, allowing dry time in between each coat.



While waiting for the paint to dry, I decided to work on the seat cover. I first removed the old seat cover and all staples. I reused the padding underneath, just straightened out and made sure it was in good enough condition.



I measured, making sure the pattern was completely centered on the seat. I stapled into place, and often flipped the chair seat over to make sure everything was staying aligned and perfectly in place.



When the primer had set, I painted the chair base in Krylon's flat black spray paint. Normally I really don't like using Krylon. Yes, it's cheap, but I feel like I have to do more coats than Rustoleum which actually costs more in the long run. I finished  with a thin coat of Minwax polyurethane.

So again, here's the before and after!

Final costs for this project: $10 for the chair from St. Vincent De Paul, $4 for the yard of fabric from Hancock Fabrics, $4.50 for the Zinsser primer, $7 for the two cans of Krylon flat black spray paint. I had some Minwax already on hand so final cost was right around $25!

Accent Table for my Red Kitchen Wall

One thing that has always bugged me about our house is that the kitchen is somewhat small. Yeah, I know... it’s our first home, but the kitchen always seems to be the gathering place when you have company over.

We used to have a larger oak buffet that rested along our red accent wall. I’ve had this piece for years that floats from room to room, depending on where I need storage. It was really too large for our kitchen; we had to walk the opposite way around our kitchen table to get to the fridge. So I’ve been keeping my eye out for something that would match my kitchen colors and have that eclectic feel.

Then I found her! It was on sale at Pier 1 Imports for $149 and matched the color scheme I want for my kitchen transformation. It had orange to bring out the oak in my cabinets, red to match my accent wall, gray to match my countertops and black to go with my dining set and appliances. Really, absolutely perfect!



Normally I don’t like to spend money on new furniture (especially when I have an old piece that I can paint and style to fit the space I need to fill), but I this was the perfect size/coloration for my kitchen and I couldn’t pass it up.