Little Changes • Big Impact

Sometimes you just have to work with what you have. These chairs are sturdy, with good bones… and there are SIX of them. It would take some cha-ching to replace them so I decided to revive them instead.

First, I went over every inch with TSP for a good cleaning.

I found a fantastic deal on Rust-oleum spray chalk paint and decided to use it on these babies.

It took about a can and a half per chair to get two good coats. I then used this Rust-oleum Matte Clear Enamel spray to lock it in.

The finish is super hard and there has been no chipping or dinging ••with daily use•• in the year since I finished this project. Yee-ha!

The next step was to re-cover the upholstery. I chose this duck cloth with a white background to give it a fresh pop. I love the little aqua accents within the navy print. This was under $6 per yard at Hobby Lobby…I purchased 5 yards to cover the 6 chairs plus 3 other chairs I’ll show you later.

Just 4 screws and the seat lifted off. Cut the fabric to fit and staple it in place. Duck cloth is a rather thick canvas, so I did not have to remove the previous fabric…the old fabric isn’t visible through the new.

This is my favorite stapler…and very affordable.

Lastly, these seats needed some stain protection, so I gave them a couple of good coats of Scotchgard.

I love the results! Have you done something like this? If not…why not? It’s easy and affordable and…what a difference!

  • These are the other chairs that needed new seat covers to match.

You see my partner in crime there? Daisy is never far away! And see the old-fashioned dinette set in the background? That has also undergone a transformation…I’ll share that with you, as well! Have a great day and don’t be afraid to try something new~

Gotta Start Somewhere

Since my fairy tale wedding to the man of my dreams, I’ve experienced a new surge in my nesting instinct. With the abundance of home renovation tv shows, DIY blogs, and the explosion of Pinterest, there is no shortage of inspiration!

I’m a self proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades and master-of-none! So, I’m usually good to take on a new project and dive in to the investigation-and-research mode.

Here is the first furniture re-do I took on – early on. With no thought of ever sharing my progress with a.n.y.o.n.e (!) …I didn’t take many photos. But I want to testify that if I can do this stuff, you can too. Just start somewhere.

I sort of inherited this piece and wasn’t in love with it.


OK, so full disclosure, I was more than a little impatient with this project and had no idea what I was doing. I was working with limited time off and my list of tasks to accomplish was long. It had a slick surface and I just wanted the red GONE! I opted for spray painting this baby. I cleaned it up and removed all the hardware. With the doors off, I removed the glass so that I could get the back of those pane “dividers” painted. The glass is held in place with a rubber glass retainer, like shown below, so it was super easy to remove and replace.

And so, this is what I used. The Rust-oleum Chalked spray paint leaves a feathery finish. Just don’t spray too heavily. Light strokes and lots of coats. This took 5 very light coats to get full coverage over the red.

And while I was breaking all the rules…I painted the inside of the back with some leftover ceiling paint I had on-hand in a pretty ‘haint’ blue. I may re-address that in the future…it’s not as bold as I’d like. (And it’s not visible in the photo with my less-than-stellar lighting.)

I decided to add decorative contact paper for some protection and a little extra ‘pretty’ on the shelves. And I really should think about spraying the hinges to match the nickel knobs. Adding that to my ‘to-do’ list now.

OK, so here is my first, break-all-the-rules, anything-goes project. It was enough to get me primed to learn more and get on to reviving more stuff!

Not perfect, by any means. But it suits our downstairs bath. It was good -meaning safe- to try my hand on a piece that wouldn’t break anyone’s heart if it were ruined. 😉

Floors are a nightmare down there. That’s a future opportunity!