House Tour

After living here a year, our apartment is starting to feel more and more like home. Although the mister did a great job with his bachelor pad, it was still just that: a bachelor pad. With some cleaning, rearranging, decorating, and DIY projects, we're getting closer to a place that we both love. It holds books, maps, and flags (thanks to the mister), and curtains, candles, and pretty pillows (thanks to me).

When you first come in the door, the living room is on your right. This picture is taken from the doorway.

That little loveseat/settee on the far right is one of my first significant DIY projects. I purchased the piece on Craigslist for a great deal, but wasn't completely happy with the chocolate brown and orange floral fabric. So I painted the upholstery! It turned out great, and feels like soft leather. I also painted the wood on the chair and sofa. The upholstery is in great condition, but the wood was quite orange and distracting. So antiqued white it became!

On the wall above the desk, I hung two wedding photos. The dark wood hutch on the right is from my grandmother-in-law. It holds old books and a pretty white ironstone soup tureen from my mother. The cotton on the side table is signature Southern decor. The desk, also from my mom, is my regular study place (preferably with the door open and my pumpkin soufflé candle burning!).

 As you stand in the doorway, the dining room is on the left. I'm hoping to do some work in this room still. My latest addition is the two Parsons chairs on the ends ($14 on Craigslist!). 

This photo of the kitchen is also taken from the doorway. It's plenty large enough for the two of us, and I love that I can stand at the sink and look out the living room windows. 

The mister and I are serious coffee and tea drinkers, so this little station is used every day.

The dried craspedia (billy balls) in the main bathroom are from our wedding. My mother-in-law embroidered the art in the four little frames.

Our bedroom is cozy and bright. The bed frame was handmade by the mister's grandfather. The monogrammed sheets, quilt, and decorative pillow were all wedding gifts from family.

My favorite part of the master bath is that our grey-blue shower curtain perfectly coordinates with the grey-blue in my preserved bridal crown. The bath towels are almost the same pattern and color as our bedspread.

There is one more bedroom that we currently use as a library/music room. It has seen very little of my influence, so I didn't include it. Eventually, it'll probably become a nursery which means I could do one of my favorite things: rearrange! Until then, I ought to devote a weekend to freshen it up.

So there you have it! A photo tour of our little apartment.

Painting Upholstery

After reading seemingly never-ending Pinterest tutorials, researching chalk paint versus fabric paint, looking at paint swatches, and staring at my chocolate brown and orange floral settee, I finally worked up the gumption to paint that upholstery once and for all.

My method was unscientific and determined more by my feelings and lack of patience than by sound logic or following instructions.

Nevertheless, I am quite pleased by my before and after:

This is the first layer of paint going on. As you can see, the floral pattern is still strongly visible under the paint. It did not fully cover until the fourth coat.

I decided to use chalk paint rather than acrylic paint mixed with fabric medium. This was mostly because I already had a large container of Plaster of Paris to mix up my own homemade chalk paint. 

My ratio of water to Plaster of Paris to paint was quite flexible. I filled a red solo cup about 1/4 of the way with paint, dumped on a few tablespoons of Plaster of Paris, then filled the cup the rest of the way with water. (Yes, this was an outrageously imprecise method.)

More or less, here is the recipe I used:

2-1/2 ounces flat paint

3 T. Plaster of Paris

1 c. hot water

Mix well.

I used Behr's Ethiopia, as it is a common substitute for the color Coco in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. After mixing it up, I just applied it with a plain ol' paintbrush. It went on very watery, but the cotton upholstery absorbed quickly as I worked. 

Between each of the five coats, I let the upholstery dry for 24 hours. It felt like it took forever. The settee felt quite crunchy, but I started the project so I was going to finish, by golly!

Yet another layer... and you can still see that pesky floral pattern!

After the final coat, I rubbed in two layers of Minwax Paste Finishing Wax. For this step, I just used an old cotton kitchen towel and rubbed the wax into the fabric. This made the fabric touchable, but more firm than plain cotton. It looks like leather and feels like outdoor fabric (stronger than plain cotton or a woven fabric, but quite comfortable).

The color coordinates so much better with the rest of my living room. The total cost of this project was less than $20, since each sample of paint was less than $4.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a "new" settee to cozy up in!