Monthly Archives: May 2014

Marrying Together Unusual Items!

How about putting an Antique Shoe Display Table together with a 70’s Slab Wood Clock, so that it is a new piece of furniture? Well, we did just that. Now, we have a side table that includes a plant stand!

I picked up the gilded, cast aluminum(?) table-ish piece at an estate sale. The resident of the house told me it was salvaged from on old shoe store that closed and was eventually torn down in town decades ago. The same weekend, I bought a piece of slab wood that has a high gloss finish. It had a hole drilled in the center and an area routed in the back indicating it had once been used as a large clock. 1970’s style?

The pieces had both been sitting in the garage for a few weeks, awaiting inspiration, when while looking at one of my favorite interior design books, it suddenly came to me that I should put the two pieces together, forming a side table with plant stand! It took a little work to get the pieces together…husband had to wrestle some old bolts and chisel a bit more wood out of the way in order to get them to fit together, but “TaDa!” Here it is:

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So, what do you think of our funky little creation?
If you like this project, you may also like my belt chair, collage of frames, room tours, and more, if you click around my blog/website!
I LOVE comments; please do, while you’re here!
Thanks for visiting!

~Amber Hamilton Henson

PS
I’m linking with some great blog parties! Check them out! (I’m updating this post as I link each day this week!)
FromMyFrontPorchToYours ~ Treasure Hunt Thursday #158
TwiggStudios ~ Our Sunday Best Showcase
Nifty Thrifty Things ~ Sunday #158
My1929Charmer ~ Sunday’s Best Par-Tay
ArkansasWomenBloggers ~ Sunday Link
IShouldBeMoppingTheFloor ~ Inspiration Monday
ModVintageLife ~ Mod Mix Monday #155
ElizabethAndCo ~ Be Inspired #121
SavvySouthernStyle ~ Wow Us Wednesday #172
HandyManCraftyWoman ~ Wicked Awesome Wednesday #163
ReDouxInteriors ~ Best DIY Linky
My Repurposed Life ~ Catch as Catch Can
MissMustardSeed ~ Furniture Feature Friday
ShabbyNest ~ Frugal Friday
The36thAvenue ~ Best DIY projects and recipes
ChicOnAShoestringDecorating ~ Flaunt it Friday
TrulyLovelyBlog ~ Fancy This #179
HomeStoriesAtoZ~ Tutorials Tips #161
HouseByHoff ~ Enchanting Inspiration
FunkyJunkInteriors ~ #242
Funky Junk Interiors ~ Upcycled Side Tables

Posted in Uncategorized

7 Comments

Tags: design, houseplant, table, upcycle

ReUpholstering Chairs!

May 27

Posted by www.WhatAmberLoves.com

So here’s the deal. I’m re-upholstering a pair of chairs in this post. See, I bought the pair of chairs at an estate sale for $40 bucks, measured and bought clearance fabric, then took a bunch of photos while my husband re-upholstered them for me! Voila! I re-upholstered chairs, right? All kidding aside, my husband is an aircraft upholsterer by day and at night he’ll upholster things for me from time to time. So, I’m giving you in-depth, up-close look at how he re-upholstered a pair of chairs for me in the garage. You may pick up a few tips, so you can try it yourself!

I’m a very VISUAL person, so first I’m showing you several collaged photos, then text will follow with more detail. Refer back to photos as you read the text at the end. Click on any photo to enlarge it into a new window to read captions! Ready? Let’s upholster:

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Have a Plan: I used multiple fabrics, so we measured individual components of the chair.

Tools: Gather your tools! A few hand tools, a pneumatic staple gun, and an industrial sewing machine with an optional double welt cord foot.

Tear it apart: Only after you’ve taken all of your measurements, made any necessary patterns*, and taken plenty of “before” photos, should you begin tearing apart the upholstery. Now, have fun tearing it apart! Be sure to remove all old staples, too!

(If you’re only using one fabric, you may find the fabric estimating photo helpful.)

Staple, Staple, Staple: assuming you paid attention to the order you removed the previous upholstery, staple your new upholstery in reverse order, adding polyester as needed. For these chairs, the seat was first, then the bottom boxing, then the arms, then…

Channels: Make a pattern for the channels (tubes.) Trace the pattern onto front fabric and a backing fabric. Cut fabrics for the channels (tubes.) Sew front fabrics to backing fabrics, creating channels (tubes.) Sew the channels together. Staple to chair.

Wrap the Back: more stapling, using cardboard tack strip for folds and edges as needed. Don’t trim to short, because you need to be able to fold the fabric under to go around the legs neatly.

Repeat: second chair. Everyone likes a matched pair of chairs, right? When working with patterned fabric(s), be sure to pay particular attention to alignment!

Finish with Welt Chord: cut strips of fabric, sew double welt cord, trim excess fabric, and attach to chairs via glue or staples (between cords) to finish all edges!

Photograph your finished chairs! 🙂

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Please, leave a comment so that I know you’ve visited, (I LOVE comments), feel free to share it on social media, or if you have specific Questions for your project, just email me! My email address is on my ABOUT page. Feel free to click around all of the blog while you’re here visiting WhatAmberLoves! You might like my Decor and Crafts page with the room tours and other tutorials, too! 🙂

Your Friend,
~Amber Hamilton Henson

Guess what? This post is featured and linked another blog! I linked to a blog party and was chosen as a feature! Click on the square button below this text to be re-directed to her blog!