Around the Web

Even though this winter hasn't been drastically cold or snowy, it's still been winter and hibernation is hard to fight.  While my to-do list continues to grow, so does my inspiration list, so I figured I would share some things that have caught my attention around the web recently. *Please practice responsible pinning and sourcing by visiting the original sources that I have linked, and pin directly from their pages.  Thanks!!**

White kitchens are EVERYWHERE these days.  I'm guilty of a few myself, but there are so many more options than just replacing or painting cabinets when it comes to modernizing and freshening up a dark, dated kitchen.  Jen Stagg took her client's space from dark and gloomy to bright and airy.  Check out the befores and more juicy afters on her blog, With Heart.

As a self-proclaimed crazy cat lady, I'm always drawn to cat furniture that doesn't look it.  This gorgeous piece from the Korean pet furniture company, Stay Stay would look just as chic displaying a record collection and turntable as it does as a cat bunkbed.

image via A.Park.C.

If you haven't seen Target's new kids home collection, Pillowfort by now, you might be living under a rock, but I'd be happy to help you see the light.  I swear every time I turn around, Target is stepping up their style game.  While all together, the items create adorable kid spaces, many of the items could mix amazingly in with almost any decor to add a whimsical touch.  I mean, come on.... there's a stuffed unicorn head to mount on your wall.  10 year old me wants one.  Next friend to have a baby is getting the octopus (because it's probably not socially acceptable for a 31 year old with no kids to buy herself one...)

And if you're just itching for Spring, like I am, an easy switch-up to brighten your space is artwork.  Over the weekend, I came across this post of a very simply DIY macrame wall hanging on Brit+Co.  Normally textile wall hangings are a bit too boho for my particular tastes, but this one's just simple and graphic.  I dig it.

Speaking of simple and graphic, fresh off the blog presses this morning: Everything is Awesome.  Chelsea at Lovely Indeed whipped up this printable artwork that's sure to get the Lego Movie song stuck in your head, which I consider a bonus- that song always boosts my energy by about 75%!

What's caught your attention in recent days?  Are you adding DIYs to your spring to do list like I am?

DIY TV Cabinet Complete

I'm all done leading you on and ready to reveal my final DIY TV cabinet!  Before we get to the reveal, take a peek back at the building process. Now that I'm working primarily out of my home office/den I wanted to put more emphasis on the home office part instead of the den part.  This meant making the TV less of a focus.  I can't exactly hide the ugly elliptical that also sits in the room, but considering it's behind me while I'm at my desk I can pretend that it's not there.  There was no ignoring the big black box in front of me.

So like any crazy normal person, I decided to build a solution.  It still needs some minor tweaking to allow the doors to slide better, but HELLO!

To mount it, I screwed the back directly into studs.  I wouldn't hang on it, but it's not going anywhere.

So during Copper Dot hours, the room is all business...

...and when work time is over, the room becomes the den once again and the frames slide open to reveal the TV.

With the frames being the star (and currently sporting temporary DIY art) I wanted to keep the styling as simple as possible on the sides.

Don't be surprised to see some of this art evolve by the time I get to the final completion of the space.  For now, the 4 frames are filled with art from a $3 Target calendar that I couldn't resist.  It was from "The Spot" so it's not on their site.  That little corner of Target is dangerous....

Embrace the mess.  Amen!  It's killing me, but I can't find the source of this awesome print.  Even Pinterest and Google Images failed me.  It was a free download ages ago that I've just been waiting to incorporate somewhere.  If you know where it originated, please share- I want to give credit where it's due and share the source with you guys!

Seeing this part of the room come together just make me eager for the rest of the pieces to come together.  A roman shade, finishing my chair, and refacing the cubbie fronts will put the cherry on top of this make-over.

So what do you think??  Was my DIY TV cabinet worth the wait?

Franken-Chair Reupholstery Update

Reupholstery can be a very daunting project.  I was lucky enough last time around to be in a class where a professional helped to walk me through the steps with epic results, but making a go of it on my own had me hesitant and procrastinating a bit.  Since announcing my Franken-Chair plans to you almost 3 months ago, the disassembled pieces of my beloved chair have been floating around my house, hiding in corners and shoved in closets until I was ready to take on the reupholstery.

The key tip if you plan to tackle a reupholstery project?

• Take LOTS of pictures.  Especially before you disassemble and while you disassemble.  Especially WHILE you disassemble.  Every.  Little.  Step.  You'll need to remember exactly how the pieces went together/were stapled/etc so you can put the puzzle back together.  That's the best way to look at it- a puzzle.  The pieces need to fit back in a certain way and if you forget that you need to attach tab A before tab B, you'll find yourself undoing and redoing the task repeatedly or trying to rack your brain what piece what supposed to go where.  Unless you're a pro and you have it all filed away in your memory, your camera is your upholstery bff.

Since I intended on marrying the chair above with the antique base below, I did have to modify the bottom just a bit.

Some of the fiberglass on the bottom would need to be cut back to allow the base to sit flat on the chair.  Handy dad lent me a hand in making sure this plan was viable and that cutting back the fiberglass wouldn't compromise the structure in any way.  *NOTE* I made sure before modifying the chair that I wasn't working with a priceless antique.  Luckily, my chair is a very close replica of the expensive version, so my modifications aren't blasphemous.

This is a view from underneath the chair and you can see the pencil line where we were cutting the fiberglass.  If I ever want to reattach the old legs, I may need to replace the piece that we removed, so it's not finding it's way into the trash yet.

All it took was a hack saw and a bit of muscle to cut the fiberglass, although I would recommend this ALWAYS be done outside.

Once the structure was ready for it's pairing, I needed to get the upper portion ready.  This is where all the pictures come in.  I carefully unstapled all the upholstery from the frame and the main, visible upholstery came off in 2 parts, almost like a slipcover.

I very carefully ripped apart all the seams on the old upholstery so that I could use the pieces as a pattern for my new upholstery.  If you're working with a printed fabric like I am, you need to pay attention to how the pattern lines up with the print.

Then came the sewing.  Sewing piping out of the fabric, then using the 'pattern' to recreate the slipcover that I removed from the chair.  If you've sewn before and can follow a pattern, that's basically what this was.

Before I could replace my 'slipcover' I needed to address the seat cushion.  The back cushion was still in good shape, amazingly, but the seat foam not so much.  No one wants to be sitting on this.  It was like the Mohave desert.  The fluffy stuff around the edges is just cotton, not something growing, but getting this foam off the wood seat was not a clean, or pleasant process.

Luckily, once the desert was removed, cutting a new seat out of super high density foam was simple.  I used a dollar store bread knife and traced the seat.  I wasn't worried about perfection because I'll be wrapping the seat with extra cotton and batting to fill out the seat and give it a bit of extra cush.

So that's where the chair currently stands.  Upholstery is sewn, the seat foam has been replaced and the structure has been modified to allow for it's new base.  Before I can staple the 'slipcover' onto the chair and make it look finished instead of like a kid wearing his big brother's clothes, I'll be adding a a bit more cotton and batting to give this old chair a cushy, squishy, and polished new appearance.

I'm so eager to get this chair finished so I can use it in my office!  The dining chair that I've been working in for the past few months just isn't cutting it.

Do you have any daunting projects that you've been inching away at?  It's like eating an elephant...