Urban Cottage Chic Archives » UrbanDomesticDiva

Where Have I Been? Meet the Blog’s New Vintage Chic Shop!

Flora Caputo — Fri, 05 Oct 2018 14:08:00 +0000

First of all, my apologies. I haven’t been this MIA on the blog since I started it in 2008. To all of my followers out there, thank you for your unwavering support, and sorry the content was light in September. and I hope Google forgives me as well as their magical algorithm. I have a backlog of writing a mile long! But I promise you will be rewarded for your patience.

As the blogging landscape has evolved and changed, so have the opportunities to grow it. Through my feedback and social channel growth, as well as the evolution of my own artistic and shabby-chic style, I became inspired to use by art direction and design skills to work for myself in a bigger way. It has been what I have been doing in the content I create for you all these years, but I wanted to create other physical things so that my followers could infuse all the “savvy-chic-pretty” directly into their lives. In doing this, I’m further delivering on our mission here to “make the world lovelier, one pixel at a time.”

I used September as my month to create, create, create just for you, in hopes to launch my blog’s shop my month’s end with a strong base of products.

And VOILA:

https://www.urbandomesticdivashop.com

And a smaller version of the shop is on Etsy.
(I would love some favorites if you could, to help get the shop some eyeballs. Thanks!)

I have had so much fun! I just let the muse speak, and I was able to use all the vintage textures and fonts, pictures and ephemera I saved through the years to create really fun and unique products, designed by yours truly! And I have a slew of more products to upload this weekend. I am also busy developing holiday gifts and decor to put in the shop by end of the month.

Some of my personal faves:

‘Conquer the Day’ Mug ‘Go Away’ Mug

‘Coffee Lipstick Hustle’ Oversized Tote Bag ‘Grand Bazar Hotel’ (French) Heavy Tote Bag

‘I Am Very Busy’ Phone Case ‘Victorian Camera’ Phone Case

‘Welcome’ Artisan Pillow 20 Inch ‘Sit. Stay.’ Artisan Pillow 20 Inch

‘Parisian Collage’ Blanket

Now that the big push of developing and launching an e-commerce site in 30 days is over, we bring you back to our regularly scheduled content. I am still cooking, gardening, thrifting, upcycling, and crafting at the homestead, and planning on sharing all that I learn with you.

SO don’t go anywhere. A lot more fun is about to happen with the Urban Domestic Diva.

If you wish to stay up on updates as well as when new products get placed in the shop, enter your email above with the “subscribe” link to join my mailing list. I have a monthly newsletter full of fun, content, and surprises.

Thanks again!
Peace and Blessings,

UDD

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CRAFTS: Chalk Paint and Wax Salvaged Cabinet Make Over

Flora Caputo — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 14:23:00 +0000

I’ve lived in the city of Chicago for years, and I am not ashamed to say I am a dumpster diver. I am very selective of what will pull me out of my car in an alley to pull some treasure out of someone’s garbage or back gate, but if you have a good eye and are fast, you can find some great furniture for nothing!

Case in point:

My neighbor has been slowly cleaning out her house to move, and I had been eyeing her back gate for antique, well-worn furniture that I could makeover for weeks. My patience rewarded me one day when I saw a worn out, scratched up cabinet. But the “bones” were strong and the cabinet door needed some simple woodworking repair to make right. I totally wanted to grab it. I was with my teen daughter, taking her to school, and I know she would have been mortified if I jumped out and threw it in my trunk. So I said to myself, if it is still there when I get back home, it’ll be kismet. I’ll grab it. You have to move fast in the city. You are fighting with other crafters, not to mention the metal scavengers with their ramshackle pickups that troll the alleys for stuff. They are fast. Once one of the members of my staff was spray painting a metal cabinet downtown for our office makeover in the alley behind our building. The guy painting it ran upstairs to get something-just for a minute. By the time he ran back down he saw the cabinet on the move on the back of someone’s scavenger truck, with the spray can still on top. REALLY!

So when I came back home from school drop off and the cabinet was still there, I grabbed it. I had been looking for a replacement for our end table that we bought cheaply at Target, with a lot of water damage on top. This was going to be perfect, and once I painted it the Tuscan red I was using as accents in the living room, it was going to be fantastic.

Some wood glue, chalk paint, elbow grease, and furniture wax later, VOILA. Hubby loved it. We use the cabinet to store books, notebooks, and magazines. I think it used to hold vinyl records. I kept the vintage hardware on it, but feel free to look for new hardware to spruce up your salvaged piece. There is such fun hardware out there, from Anthropologie, Joanne Fabrics, or Wayfair.

Here is a how-to video on restoring and making over an old antique table/cabinet. Don’t be afraid of throwing treasures in YOUR trunk. It keeps stuff out of landfills and saves money.

Just do it for the good stuff! You can leave the junk for the metal scavenger trucks.

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CRAFTING: Old Lamp Makeover with Chalk Paint and Embroidered Lamp Shade (how-to video)

Flora Caputo — Mon, 19 Feb 2018 16:32:00 +0000

Old Lamp Makeover

Anybody that has growing children knows that kids grow out of stuff, and not just clothes; but toys, interests, and room decor. When my daughter’s age went into the double digits, she wanted to trade the pastel blues and greens of her bedroom (with Hello Kitty mural hand-painted by yours truly) for an edgy black, white, and orange teen room. Sadly that meant I had to retire some really nice Pottery Barn decor, including a charming lamp.

I resisted putting it on eBay, and it was taking up room in my closet. So when we bought our cottage lake home fixer-upper, I decided to pull out that forgotten lamp and give it a makeover for the cottage guest room so it would match. I chalk painted the base and bought an inexpensive shade at Target. I added flair by doing some embroidery right on the shade to give it some floral favor to match the guest room bedding. It turned out beautifully and took just a weekend to finish.

If you ever find a great lamp base at a thrift store but it looks dated-don’t fret. With a coat of paint and a new shade and you can have some great lighting on a budget!

Check out my how-to video below, complete with some embroidery stitching tutorials. And if you want to stay up on my crafting and upcycling projects, subscribe to my youtube channel. I update bigger projects on Fridays and do kitchen basic videos midweek. Subscribing helps to get more eyeballs on my stuff and support my efforts so I can keep on sharing digital love.

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CRAFTING: How-To Chalk Paint an Old Mirror using Clear Wax and Brown Wax (VIDEO)

Flora Caputo — Wed, 23 Aug 2017 20:43:00 +0000

If you have visited the blog often enough, or follow my Instagram or Pinterest boards, you will see my new found crafting obsession is chalk paint. It’s opened up a whole other world for me as it relates to furnishing my home and finding thrifting treasures. Chalk paint is a super easy way to upcycle decor and furniture. No sanding or stripping is necessary. So that 5 dollar dresser painted 70’s orange can be yours with some new hardware, a few coats of chalk paint and a waxing. The same holds true for wooden or laminate lamp bases, magazine racks, shelves..and of course…mirrors.

This mirror was found in the back of a closet at our lake cabin, completely out of place and filthy. Also on the back of the mirror, I found handwriting that said: “stolen from Mr. Pacente.” Now you know there is a story behind this old mirror!

Crazy, right? Who knows how long this mirror was in the closet?

Well, the mirror was heavy, and seemed valuable and well made, but did not go with any decor of my rooms. So a coating of antique lace with clear and brown wax (to age it) did the trick. It’s not hard. Just watch the video and see!

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How to Organize your Linen Closet for a $10 Dollar Store Trip

Flora Caputo — Thu, 17 Aug 2017 21:11:00 +0000

I took this summer off to spend time with my family, decompress from advertising life for a bit and focus on house projects that have been languishing for years.

Some people take off summer to back pack through Europe or go climb mountains. Not me, no sir! I plan exciting things like organizing linen closets.

For those of you that aren’t a tad OCD, or grew up with off-the-boat Italian mammas screaming at you to clean your room, this sounds horrible. But organizing this closet under the attic stairs has been a thorn in my side since we moved in, and gave me absolute joy to finally making it look nice. I don’t even have a real before picture. The above pic is a phase 2 purge. The previous pic would have looked like Bed, Bath and Beyond threw up on the shelves. Piles of old towels, giant bed spreads that our daughter had grown out of, a bottle of liquid plumber and a red tinsel Valentine heart decoration was mixed in with occasional holiday linens.

The “closet” is open, it doesn’t have a door per say, so the contents can be seen by all. Therefore I was even more anxious to get this mess under control, and eventually, hang a rod and sew a curtain to close it a little and look nice, if I couldn’t have a door. It’s just going to the attic, so my husband doesn’t know why I care so much. But I can see it, and it bugs me.

the pile to donate (this was
jammed in the closet)

organized

SO phase one was going thru and matching bed sheet sets, throwing away old or donating old stuff.

Next, based on your organized piles, figure out how many containers you need, and measure your shelf heights and container needs’ widths. From here, make a shopping list of how many containers you need with your sizes.

Also, take sheet sets, and using one pillow case from that set, place the other pieces in that matching pillow case, like an envelope. Fold the case over, and you have your sheet sets all together, nice and neat.

Take 10 bucks and go shopping to the Dollar Store! This was my loot from the store, I got a giant sweater/blanket bag, closet organizing boxes and a box of labels.

Then I got to work labeling, folding and filling! And voila! Isn’t she beautiful!

And while I was at it, I organized my cedar chest of linens for the master bedroom in the same fashion. I was tired of not having a complete set of sheets. So this is easy when it’s time to change sheets and find blankets for cold nights.

This is a perfect project to prep for fall weather! Don’t you think?

Next up, the hallway closet! Stay tuned!

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CRAFTS: How-To Refresh an Old Rocking Chair with Two Tone Chalk Paint

Flora Caputo — Wed, 12 Jul 2017 16:18:00 +0000

If you have been following me this year, you may have noticed an uptick in upcycling furniture with chalk paint. We recently bought a fixer-upper cottage in Michigan, and we really don’t have much moolah to furnish it the way we want right now. And honestly, I always like using old pieces that have more character. A cottage needs to have that relaxed-shabby-chic-found-object-relaxed kind of vibe. So I have been scrounging our garage and attic to see if there is anything we already own that I can repurpose for some furnishings at the lake. One of those pieces was this rocking chair.

I bought this rocking chair in my twenties for when I planned on moving out on my own. It was my first piece of antique furniture, and I haven’t wanted to part with it. But hubby hates it and has been wanting it out of the house. It had that 70’s pine color, and it was heavy and awkward and was relegated to the basement (and almost to the alley twice!). So I thought one way to save it from the garbage heap was to make it cute and cottagey with chalk paint. I wanted extra seating up there for guests anyway. I mean, how hard could it be? The nightstand and small accent table I painted was a breeze!

Well……yeah. About that.

Not so easy. You have undersides, and arm rests and intricate legs and spindles. And I wanted to try using two tone colors that through distressing you could see the second color. So that took an extra step and a lot of extra sanding. So this is not a quick weekend project. This is going to get done over a few weekends. But I am so thrilled with the result! And I transported it to the cottage already while hubby was fishing in Canada, so hubby cannot complain.

You can try the two-tone chalk paint effect with any piece. It gives the furniture some extra depth and interest. It’s worth the extra step.

Here is how to do it:

Supplies:

Rags

Dish soap and water

Chip paint brushes

Chalk paint, two colors. One is your underneath color you will sand to expose, and the second is your top, main color.

Various grit sandpaper, one rough (100 grit) and a finer one (500 grit, 1000 grit)

Clear wax cream

A paper plate or plastic plate to use as your “wax palette”

Wax brush used only for clear wax

Directions:

STEP 1:

Clean your piece with dish soap and water. Let dry completely.

STEP 2:

Using your chip paint brush, paint the first color onto the backside of the rocker. I turned it upside down first and painted the bottom areas. Let it cure one hour, then flipped the rocker to put a coat of blue on the top sides. Paint a thin layer of paint against the grain with my brush, and then go over that spot again, but with the grain. A little paint goes a long way. Because this is an under color, you only need one coat. Don’t worry if it’s streaky. Let cure overnight.

STEP 3:
Next cover the rocker with your main color, mine was antique white. Flip the rocker over gently and cover the bottom parts and back. Let sit for an hour. Then go over with another coat. Do the back and underside side all at once, before flipping it over. It’s easier for you and allows for less chipping or damage to the rocker the less you flip it. Once your underside and back are covered with two clean coats, let cure overnight. Then flip it over.

STEP 4:

Paint the top side in the same manner, with two coats. Let the rocker cure overnight.

STEP 5:

Now comes the fun part (and the elbow grease part). Use your sandpaper, rougher grit first, to sand away the layers of paint giving the rocker a distressed look. The more you work an area, you will get down to the wood layer. The lighter, the more you see the under paint color. I wanted to see bits of blue come thru to match the room it will be in. Work the distressing naturally, meaning work on raised areas and exposed areas that would get natural wear and tear. The rougher grit will get the paint off quicker, but give you a streaky look. To smooth and blend that area, work it over with the finer sandpaper. I cut the sheets of sandpaper to smaller pieces so they could fit in my hand and I could be more detailed in areas. Have a damp rag nearby to wipe off all the sanded material and you can see what you did. The sanded paint residue gathers in areas not giving a clear view of how far you’ve gone in a spot. Wipe as you go, and you’ll know what’s what.

STEP 6:

Once things are distressed enough, take a clean, damp rag and wipe down everything clean. Let dry if need be.

STEP 7:

Wax time!

Pour a small amount of the clear wax onto the plate, and with the flat of your brush, tap a little glaze onto your brush. Keep the flat plane of your brush bristles flat against your surface. Tap off excess, you want a very thin layer of wax. With a circular motion and your brush flat on your table, lay the wax down as far as you can get it to move on your table. Then move over that same spot with your brush with the grain, moving the wax accordingly. Have a damp rag handy and as you finish an area, lightly use it to wipe over the wax with the grain to pick up any excess wax. You want the thinnest, most even coat, otherwise, areas will be sticky and gummy. Once the rocker has a clear coat, let dry to the touch, just an hour or two. Be careful with the piece, the wax really doesn’t hard cure for about a week, so don’t bang on it or hit it hard with anything just yet.

So gently set it in its spot and let it hard cure for 7 days. After that enjoy your new rocker with a good book and a cup of coffee!

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CRAFTS: Transform a $4 Thrift Store Table with Chalk Paint and Brown Wax

Flora Caputo — Wed, 05 Jul 2017 21:34:00 +0000

The art of chalk painting has opened up a whole new world of furniture options for me! Many times, I see dressers and such at the thrift store that are way past their prime, and looking way dated. Wood tables look worn out and scratched, needing hours of stripping, sanding and refinishing to have them look decent in your home. I refinished many wood pieces doing it this way, restoring tables to their original wooden glory. But it takes weeks, and sometimes you may not want the wood look anyway.

Chalk paint is super easy to us, and you don’t need any sanding or priming on your pieces before you start. I found this little accent table buried under detritus in the back of a thrift shop in my neighborhood, completely forgotten about. It was dusty and dirty, and the store wrote 4$ in a large black marker right on the table top! (Who does that?) On further inspection, it was a really nice antique wooden table, the real deal. So I took it home and decided to give it an antique robin-egg blue color and experiment with brown wax to give it an aged look. If I screwed up the brown wax on my first go, I was only out 4 dollars, plus a couple bucks for the blue paint.

I am so pleased with how it turned out, and I also loved working with the brown wax. The key to remember when using it is that you need to focus the application on the indents, and inner curves. The outer curves and protruding areas would be worn and lighter. The inner areas would be darker. SO apply the brown wax in the grooves and indents, and rub outward from there, keeping raised areas lighter. I’ll explain more below.

I also finished an old rocking chair I had that hubby kept wanting to throw away, so look for my tutorial on that this month too!

Chalk paint all the things!!!!

Supplies:

Rags

Dish soap and water

Chip paint brushes

Chalk paint

Clear wax cream

Brown wax cream

A paper plate or plastic plate to use as your “wax palette”

Wax brush (if using for both waxes, you will need two. One for clear and one for brown, but I prefer to use a paint brush and a rag for the brown wax.)

Directions:

STEP 1:

Clean your piece with dish soap and water. Let dry completely.

STEP 2:

Using your chip paint brush, paint the table. I turned it upside down first and painted the bottom. Let it cure one hour and apply another coat. If you see too many streaks after waiting one hour, apply a third coat. I just needed 2. I paint a thin layer of paint against the grain with my brush, and then go over that spot with the grain. A little paint goes a long way. After waiting an hour for your final coat, flip the table over.

STEP 3:
Next take care of the top side, with the same amount of coats. Once the table is done, let cure overnight before waxing.

STEP 3:

Pour the wax onto the plate, and with the flat of your brush, tap a little glaze onto your brush. Keep the flat plane of your brush bristles flat against your surface. Tap off excess, you want a very thin layer of wax. With a circular motion and your brush flat on your table, lay the wax down as far as you can get it to move on your table. Then move over that same spot with your brush with the grain, moving the wax accordingly. Have a damp rag handy and as you finish an area, lightly use it to wipe over the wax with the grain to pick up any excess wax. You want the thinnest, most even coat, otherwise, areas will be sticky and gummy. Once the table has a clear coat, let dry to the touch just an hour or two. Be careful with the piece, the wax really doesn’t hard cure for about a week, so don’t bang on it or hit it hard with anything just yet.

STEP 4:

Apply the dark wax. Pour a little bit onto your plastic plate. Use a different brush to apply the dark wax to not cross contaminate wax brushes. You can also apply the wax with an old rag if you wish (see photos). I used a worn rag and a small paint brush. Use the paint brush to apply the wax in your detail work and small indents, and use a rag to rub it in a circular motion outward, rubbing it away in areas you wish very little distressing. Work with the grain of the wood as you rub areas of the wax into a light sheen with your rag. You can go over the indents you filled to add darker areas and let the wax sit and don’t rub it at all. The wax is workable for a few minutes but does soak in eventually and gets harder to work. If you want it to be more forgiving, you can mix the dark with a touch of the clear wax, too.

STEP 5:

Gently set it in its spot and let it hard cure for 7 days. After that enjoy your new piece!

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CRAFTS: Decorative Ribbon ‘May Pole’ Hoop

Flora Caputo — Mon, 17 Apr 2017 15:34:00 +0000

Being a girl scout leader for years, we learn to never ever throw away anything. We save any and all scraps because you never know what you can use in a project while saving money. I also hoard sale crafts when I go to the craft store. If there are spools of ribbon for cheap, I buy it all up, because you never know when you will need it. I also get the bags of craft bric a brac at the thrift stores for a dollar. You can find some great lace, fabric remnants and trimmings for a steal.

So with hosting Easter and a few spring parties this season, I wanted to make something decorative and spring-festive using up all my hoarded scraps. With a clearance wooden needlepoint hoop at the craft store and a pair of scissors, I made a bit of renaissance-May-pole-chic in the dining room!

It was super easy and done in an evening watching sitcom reruns. My traditional Italian father who never notices stuff like this was full of compliments on my decorations at Easter!

Decorative Ribbon ‘May Pole’ Hoop

Supplies:

Strips of fabric, 1-1.5 ” thick, about 14-16 ” long for one strip, or double the length if you are double siding the tie off.

Various ribbon scraps and ricrac, roughly the same length and width

A wooden needlepoint hoop, to the size you need. We used a larger one for our dining room chandelier

Fishing line or sewing thread to hang the hoop from a light fixture or the ceiling

Scissors and a ruler

Directions:

Cut ribbons and scraps of fabric to the lengths above. Try and stay with the same colors or hues to make the boho chic look work. I went with vintage pastels, so a mix of textures and patterns can work together.

Tie single strips of fabric and ribbon to the hoop with a double knot at the top. If you don’t want knots and ends at the top, you can do a double sided strip by doubling the length, finding the center and placing the center of the strip on the hoop, and tying it with a knot on the bottom of the hoop, and letting the two sides swing down. I did a mix of single strips and doubles.

Balance the sides by mixing up the same fabric on various areas of the hoops, versus using the same area of the hoops with the same fabrics. Evenly distribute everything, color-wise and material-wise.

Once filled well enough. use fishing line or thread to hang it evenly from the ceiling or light fixture. Enjoy the boho chic as it rustles and swings in the air. I also made matching fabric banners with twine and scraps and a glue gun.

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CRAFTS: My Maiden Voyage with Chalk Paint, A Tutorial

Flora Caputo — Thu, 09 Mar 2017 03:45:00 +0000

Pinterest is full of chalk paint projects, and I have been completely smitten. SO when I saw this 9 dollar ugly nightstand as Savers Thrift, I thought I would give it a try. If I ruined it, I was only out 9 dollars and some paint.

This was so easy! Chalk paint just goes on without needing to prep anything. I think my next project, I am going to do a different color for the first coat, then using white as second and third coats, so when I distress areas, I can have some bottom colors show through, enhancing the distressed look.

Have fun shopping for hardware, you can really freshen up furniture with new knobs and handles. I finished this in a weekend. Easy Peasy!

My Maiden Voyage with Chalk Paint, A Tutorial, with an Old Wooden Nightstand

Supplies Needed

chalk paint

finishing wax

waxing brush

paint brush

a tarp

fine grit sandpaper

new hardware (if wanted of knobs or handles)

various clean utility rags and/or cheesecloth

soap and water

paper plate or plastic disposable plate to put the wax on

Directions

Step one: take all hardware off of the piece of furniture and take the drawers out. Wash all sides with a damp rag and dish soap to clean off all the grease and dirt on the piece of furniture. If there’s any sticky stuff or residue from a price sticker, use goo-be-gone or acetone.

Wipe it all clean with a damp towel let dry for a couple hours.

If the top is a laminate surface, sand it roughly with some sand paper to scratch up the top. Wipe the surface with a damp cloth and let dry.

Step two: Paint a layer of chalk paint right on the dresser. You don’t need to prime, sand or strip the furniture. Super easy! Chalk paint just goes right on. The first coat is not gonna look great, but don’t panic. I panicked and by the second coat I realized I didn’t need to panic because it really does cover nicely.

So using just a basic chip brush, paint a thin coat of chalk paint on the piece of furniture. I pushed the paint against the grain first and then go over it again with the grain. Let it dry for an hour.

Step three and four: Paint the second coat doing the same thing as the first, painting against the grain but then pushing the paint with the grain for the final strokes.

I ended up doing three coats. It’s up to you what kind of finish you want. Just know that each coat adds thickness to the paint, so if you plan on distressing the piece, sanding the paint away is just going to take more elbow grease.

Let the paint cure for a day.

Step five: I decided to distress the dresser before the wax, although Annie Sloan (chalk paint diva herself) wants you to put the wax on first, then distress and then add another coat of wax. Partly because distressing gets really dusty, and when you’re distressing a waxed piece there’s less debris. Getting all the debris off with a damp cloth kind of fixes that problem. So distressing is easy, and this is where you use sand paper of a finer grit. You work away the paint in areas that makes sense, as if there was wear and tear on the piece naturally through the years. I’m talking areas like corners, top edges, perhaps around the hardware areas. It’s up to you how far you want to take this. This could be subtle or this could be really aggressive.

I went kind of in the middle, with distress on the corners and edges.

Step six: Take a very lightly damp cloth and go over the dresser to get off all of the sanded paint. Get a nice clean surface again. Let dry.

Step seven: Waxing time! Wax is the protector of the piece. This takes the place of a shellac or a varnish.

Pour/Scrape some wax onto a paper plate or disposable plastic plate. Take your waxing brush (a waxing brush has a very flat bottom to the bristles) and lightly put some wax onto your brush.

In circular motions work the wax into the piece, starting on one end and working outward. You don’t need a lot of wax and you’re using your circular motions and the flat of the bristles to just really get the wax into the grooves and into the texture of the paint. Use circular motions to cover the area with the wax. Then along the same area, use the brush and push the wax with the grain for the final strokes. While you’re doing this as you go, have another clean cloth nearby and use the cloth to rub with the grain any excess wax. You might have had too much on the brush in areas and you need the wax to not feel tacky or gloppy. It should feel pretty smooth when you stroke your hand across the grain. So to get off any excess wax that you happen to have on the surfaces, keep using the towel to rub with the grain as you go.

Let the wax sit overnight.

Step eight: Take cheesecloth or very smooth rag, and with circular strokes buff the wax to a nice shine. The wax takes about a week to fully “cure”, so be careful with it until then.

Step nine: Finally screw in the hardware that you purchased. If your knobs have screws that are too long you’re going to have to cut them down. Here’s a couple links to help you. It could be you need a hacksaw or it could be a special wire tool that your husband has in his toolbox that magically can cut down the posts for these knobs.

Luckily mine were from Home Depot and they were a pretty decent size. They worked really well. All I needed was a Phillips head screwdriver. I popped the drawers in and VOILA!

It is done! A nine dollar, old, 1970s wooden nightstand has now some shabby chic to it! And it’s going to end up at our lake cottage in our bedroom. Pretty sweet!

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CRAFTS: Cheaply Make Pillow Bench Seating

Flora Caputo — Sat, 12 Nov 2016 16:46:00 +0000

We got a small fixer-upper lake house, and I have been slowly making it our own-on a very very tight budget. I mean, getting it took all our extra money and our first born (kidding..sort of). So we need to live with some things for a while, like the 1970’s wood paneling everywhere!

One of the cool things we inherited is a gigantic wrap around bench around a farm table. But it needed cushions to make the bench seating comfortable. My head (and wallet) hurt from how many pillows I would need. How to fill the area with cozy pillows cheaply, and in a way that allowed me to clean them easily in case food, crumbs and liquids got on them?

First stop, thrift stores. I found pillow forms or even simple pillows that could be recovered. I threw what I could in the wash before recovering.

Second stop was digging around my house, finding old toss pillows that were in closets, detritus from redecorating various rooms through the years.

Then I bought fabric on sale, much foraged for in the remnant bins of the fabric store. I also picked up grommets in various sizes, and Velcro. You could also grab zippers, but I was trying to be cheap AND easy with my pillow covers. Zippers were too high maintenance for me this go around. I also bought a couple yards of rope edging as well as ribbon and some large buttons.

Here were the ideas I had.

Pillow idea 1, the open side of the pillow, press the grommets into three holes on each side of the fabric sides. Then cut some ribbon, thread through the grommets and tie closed.

Don’t know how to grommet? Here is a link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRHUelOgxMI

Pillow idea 2, make an napkin envelope pillow. Here is a great tutorial using a napkin, but you can cut a fabric to size to make the “napkin” be whatever size you need.
https://www.marthastewart.com/272732/napkin-folded-pillowcases?&backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/easy-sewing-projects#slide_15

Stitch a loop on the end of the flap and sew a button on the bottom to close the pillow.

Pillow idea 3 is very simple. Instead of sewing closed the open side, sew two-three small pieces of Velcro to cinch the side closed. I prefer sewing Velcro versus using the adhesive backed ones just to make sure the Velcro will stay. I have not had good luck with adhesive Velcro in my past. Sew those bad boys right on and you know they will do their job for a long time.

Pillow idea 4 is a version of the first, but using much larger grommets. Then weave a rope, twine or large ribbon through like a giant shoe lace, and make a cool bow or boat knot at the end.

I am pretty happy with the result. Cozy, tumbley pillows all over the long benches. Makes you want to roll on in for my hubby’s pancakes!

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