I got mine for a song (15% off, plus some store credit), but a couple of people pointed out this excellent alternative yesterday. The carved pattern is a little different (though still nice), and it’s a little more affordable.

Now I really want to finish painting the trim in the living room. And if I were feeling fancy I’d stage the table with pretty decorative objects and fresh flowers, but the reality is that it will be soon have coloring books and action figures on top, no doubt.

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as The New Side Table | 21 comments

It may just be perfect next to the crazy floral chair. I still love the little table that we have there, but it’s too spindly (and tippy!), and I’ve been looking for something with more presence. I think I have some store credit too which, as we all know, is essentially free money. (Never mind that I did actually spend that money once upon a time.)

What do you think?

© 2012, published by Making it Lovely as Carved Wood Side Table | 29 comments

I got my hipster Chia pets. (Local friends, Carriage Flower Shop here in Oak Park has them.)

I sold the orange chair (fare thee well, sweet orange chair!), and I have the floral chair floor sample that I repaired in its place. I was able to almost pay for the new chair with the old, and the chair paired with a floor lamp makes a nice reading corner.

You may recognize the pillows in the room from yesterday’s post. I should point out that August gave me that red/orange pillow for my birthday last week. Didn’t he do a great job picking it out? I suspect Brandon helped him, but good job all around.

The rocking chair is upstairs (because I am lazy sometimes and don’t like to cart it upstairs and back down for August’s monthly photo), so we brought back the other Eames chair and the elephant. It is possible that I have too much of an affinity for Eames furniture, but they’re classic investment pieces that I don’t tire of. Plus they’re sentimental for us. We got the LCW when we were married, the rocking chair when we were expecting, and the elephant for our first Christmas as new parents.

There are still some things I’d like to do in the living room. I took down the silhouette quilt above the sofa. It was funny to have that many heads in one space now that the busts are on the side tables! So we need some different art. Or a mirror? Not sure.

I’d also like to switch out the side table next to the floral chair. It’s cute, but the spindle doesn’t play well with the floor lamp behind it and something chunkier would look better. Oh, and I keep putting it off but I need to paint the trim white. I’m always too busy, but I don’t think there will be a time when I’m not busy, so I really should just force myself to tackle it.

What else? Maybe one more pillow. Maybe different curtains (maybe). Not much… the room if feeling pretty good now.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Changes in the Living Room | 40 comments

I’ll take better pictures soon (these are from my phone), but yes. I found a floor lamp. A little brass, a little bronze, and a little more expensive than I would have liked, but it’s really nice.

Adding a light to that corner makes the whole room feel better! I should have done it years ago. And I took the down the print that was hanging there. I’m not sure if I’ll replace it with something else yet. The blank wall seems strange, but that could just take a little getting used to.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Living Room Floor Lamp | 18 comments

The previous chair had been great, but the crazy multi-colored floral is where my taste lies these days. I still plan to paint the trim white, it’s probably time to switch out the art, and the chair needs a pillow too. I’ve moved the dress form down to the basement, so I need something else with some height there. The living room doesn’t get enough light for a house plant (thanks to the front porch and a large tree out front), but it’s an ideal spot to add another lamp to the room. The only problem is that there is no outlet there. I think we can run a cord along the trim, maybe along the other side so it’s less noticeable, and it will be fine.

I’m thinking brass might be the way to go.

1, 2, 3

That second one above would be perfect, but it’s expensive. I’ve not had any luck in vintage/thrifted yet, and I haven’t seen anything else in the stores that’s terribly exciting. I’m kind of into this one too, but it’s still pricey. Maybe by the time I get around to finishing the trim, the right lamp will have come along? Maybe.

p.s. Interested in the orange Astrid chair from Anthropologie? It’s in great shape and it’s for sale. Email me. Sold!

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as In Search of a Brass Floor Lamp | 41 comments

I called Anthropologie to see if they could offer a better discount (no), but they did say that I could still return the chair even after attempting to fix it, so I figured I had nothing to lose by trying. Many of you recommended keeping the orange chair that we already own, and having it reupholstered for a new look. I like the shape of the new chair more though, I love the fabric, and if I sell the orange chair I can essentially swap chairs at no cost. Then if I decided to reupholster the new chair at some point, I’m not out any more money than I would be had I reupholstered the orange one.

[ 1, 2, 3 ]

I went to the fabric store for mending supplies and came home with an embroidery hoop and some fabric to practice on, various liquid stitch adhesives, Fray Check, curved needles, iron-on patches, and several types of thread and embroidery floss.

I stretched my scrap fabric on the hoop and jabbed at it with scissors to recreate the upholstery tear. I frayed the edges too for good measure. Then I got to work trying out various methods, keeping the fabric stretched tight on the hoop to simulate the conditions of the fabric stretched tight across the chair back. Here are the methods that I (a novice) used.

Method 1: Darning Upholstery with a Looped Stitch

First, I applied Fray Check, as recommended by this upholstery darning tutorial. Then I used a heavy-weight thread that matched the fabric, and started with a looped stitch. I’ll let my play-by-play Twitter updates tell the story here.

I'm getting my darning on. I have some scrap fabric stretched on an embroidery hoop to practice with before attempting to tackle the chair.

August 3, 2011 8:35 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@makingitlovely

Nicole Balch

And I am not understanding this looped stitch AT ALL. It looks like Frankenstein stitching.

August 3, 2011 8:46 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@makingitlovely

Nicole Balch

I should practice this stitch on lighter fabric. I can't tell what I'm doing! Though I kind of like the Frankenstein stitch. It's charming.

August 3, 2011 8:58 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@makingitlovely

Nicole Balch

Method 2: Trying to Glue the Fabric Back Together

I thought that I could slip a little fabric under the tear and then glue in back together. I had actually called a local upholsterer for advice and this was the technique that they recommended, so I tried it. Messy and awful. The worst of it was a product I found (that sounded promising!) called Tear Mender. It was a rubber-cement like adhesive that smelled awful and gummed up my fabric. I think it could be great for thicker fabric or leather, but it was terrible for my linen. I tried a few other liquid stitch products, but none with good results.

Method 3: Patching the Fabric

There were two options for patching. One: I could cut out a matching portion of fabric from my chair’s armrest covers, glue it over the tear or iron it on with fusible mending tape, apply Fray Check to the ends, then stitch around the patch to secure. Or option two: slap an iron-on patch over the rip. To my surprise, the easier option worked! The patch fuses completely to the fabric, bonding to the ripped portion and preventing the tear from getting worse. And even better, the edges of the mending patch won’t fray so there’s no need to stitch around the edge (which calls more attention to the repair).

It’s not invisible (and I never expected that it would be), but it looks like it’s just part of the chair’s busy pattern. And as I had mentioned, the tear takes away some of the chair’s preciousness, which isn’t such a bad thing. I could even blend the patch by using fabric paint to match the pattern, but I don’t think that will be necessary.

One Last Option

I can pile on the pillows and a throw blanket. Sure, there’s no room to sit, but look how cute it is.

I kid! The chair’s going to be just fine.

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as How I Repaired a Tear in My Chair’s Upholstery | 37 comments

Oh, nothing. Just a 2″ tear smack in the middle of the fabric where your head rests. See it? It’s up near the top on a blue part of the fabric.

(click to enlarge)

Do you think it can be fixed? Right now, I can still return it. Then I can either go for the full price (non-torn) chair, or skip it and keep the orange chair instead of selling it.

The busy pattern is in the chair’s favor here, as a repair job would be much less noticeable than on a solid color. And in a way, the tear takes some of the preciousness away from the chair; It’s coming into a house with a toddler and a baby, a dog, and several cats. Something, at some point, is bound to happen to it. (Although the orange chair has survived the last five years completely intact.)

It looks like my options for repair are to patch it, or to darn the upholstery with a looped stitch. The chair came with matching armrest covers that I could use for a patch. I could probably take it somewhere to be repaired too, but if I’m going to put more money toward the chair, I may as well buy a new one.

Think it could be saved?

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Floor Model, Half Off | 99 comments

2006

now

We have had our couch since 2006. We also still have the same pink Robert Abbey lamps, and the same pillows (but moved around a little).

And hello, orange chair. You’ve been with us for five years now too.

2006

now

Yes, the living room in this house has its differences from the living room in our old apartment, but I was surprised to see so many similarities. It’s really my Making it Yours concept put into practice.

And wow, has my taste really stayed that consistent? I’ve been feeling the urge to shake things up a little lately, but I also still like our living room a lot. Do you ever feel conflicted like that?

© 2011, published by Making it Lovely as Design Stasis | 53 comments

This is going to be a good year.

© 2010, published by Making it Lovely as Pantone Validates my Living Room | 46 comments

Thank you for all of your cute basket suggestions! I went with plastic lace baskets for toy storage. I had completely forgotten about them, but they were all over the design blogs when they first came out as the Carrie bike baskets. Victoria uses one for file storage, Joy has one for scraps in her studio, and now I can tell you that they also make excellent little toy bins.

p.s. Have I ever mentioned how much I love my vintage side tables? They’re the best. They hold remotes in the drawers, magazines and the new toy baskets underneath, and they have ample surface space up top. And they were only $10 each.

© 2009, published by Making it Lovely as Pretty Toy Storage | 56 comments