Come What May and Love It : October 2014

Since I'm not teaching this year, I wanted to find a way to still bring in a little extra cash, plus find a fun hobby I could do while I stay home with babes (I couldn't bring myself to sub like I had originally planned to). So... I decided to do something fun and completely different than anything I've ever attempted.

Upcycling furniture. Or flipping or repurposing... Whatever you want to call it.

I fell in love with the idea of taking something old, ugly, and run down and making it bright and beautiful once again.

I spent hours researching online, reading lots of blogs, and watching YouTube videos. YouTube is my best friend these days. Seriously you can learn anything you want online, at home, in your sweats. It's divine.

I felt like I was finally ready to try my hand at this thing, so I started looking at KSL classifieds for a simple chair to do my first makeover with. I found an awesome chair for cheap and so my honey and I went and bought it. Then that same day I found two more I loved (for dirt cheap) so we bought them too. We came home with three chairs and I was like, "oh my heck, I'm so excited but I'm terrified. I have no clue what I'm doing!!"

We decided to just dive in with the chair that was in the worst shape. This scared me because I had no idea what I was doing plus it was in bad shape to begin with but I figured if we could do the one in the worst shape then we could do anything! Ha ha.

It was nasty. Well, the seat was nasty. Every time I looked at it, let alone touched it, I felt like I needed to wash my hands a hundred times. It had mystery stains, crusty stuff, and who knows what else on it. Justin had to stabilize the chair because it was a little unstable and there was a spring that had come out of place and was basically hanging under the seat. BUT it had beautiful bones and I could tell it would turn out gorgeous. I had a vision and I couldn't wait to transform this chair into a little French beauty.

Justin screwed off the seat. The inside was a nightmare. I researched how to make it all good again, then took off the nasty old fabric and reupholstered it with this beautiful white and yellow damask fabric I found.

Then I painted the frame with two coats of chalk paint (homemade chalk paint that is... So simple and a thousand times less expensive!). And I did a wash of a nice tan to bring out the detailing. The final step was applying wax to the whole frame. Do you like my huge work space? It was just steps outside of the condo while Isabelle was napping haha.

Before we screwed on the seat again, I had to put it next to the other chair. What a difference!

The finished product!

The before and after. I couldn't be happier with how my first chair makeover went!

I can't believe it's already fall. Where does the time go??

We said goodbye to summer with Justin competing in a triathlon in Ogden. He did such a great job! Especially since it was freezing in the morning. I was so glad I wasn't the one getting in the water to swim!

Isabelle was such a sweetheart and just went along with us as we went to all the different locations.

We all celebrated by immediately getting ice cream ha ha. Not sure that's the best post-triathlon recovery food, but it tasted yummy!

This little one sure loves getting out and about. She's so happy when we're on the go and will take great naps when we're not home. But... She really dislikes sleeping in her crib during the day! She would much rather stay up and play.

I can't believe she's half a year old already! Her favorite things include sucking on everything in sight, cuddling, reading books, sitting up, standing up (with help), bath time, looking in mirrors, touching faces, playing in the door jumper, going on walks, being outside, and being held. Izzy, you are the sweetest girl!!