Reupholstering and reinvented nook!

(really really long post ahead...)

Several people have inquired about the upholstery project. Well it was a doozy, I'm not going to lie. Not exactly a walk in the park. Not the kind of project you plan to bust out in a matter of hours. BUT.....and this is a big but, it really wasn't as hard as I imagined it could be. 

Getting started, we tried finding videos on youtube to educate ourselves, but didn't have too much luck there because we couldn't find a chair demo that was similar enough to the type of chair we had. Ours was big and tufted, with buttons and decorative nail trim. Remember?

I would not try this as your first upholstery project. Although, it obviously can be done. Without the combined brains of a skilled and seasoned seamstress and a mechanical engineer though, I would have been lost. Anyway, some random things we learned along the way.

1. Uphouslering really just requires some basic problem solving skills. Each chair or piece of furniture is so unique, that no one is going to be able to solve ALL your problems. You will likely run into corners or pieces of fabric that just don't work, and you'll have to figure it out. May sound scary, but after you jump into it, it's kind of fun :)

2.  Easiest way to tackle any project is to NOT BE AFRAID. This chair was put together by a human, it can be taken apart and reconstituted by a human. Seriously.

3. Best way to put new fabric on is to just use the old fabric as a guide. This means you have to take some care not to rip the existing fabric to shreds before you can use it as a pattern. There were moments when this proved difficult for me (due to sheer frustration).

4. I seriously thought the worst part of our project was getting the old fabric off. It was so disgusting and tattered and dirty that I wanted to touch it as little as possible. BUT the entire piece of fabric was stapled down so we had to take nearly every.single.staple. out by hand. Yuck.

5. As we took the chair apart, we learned a LOT about how to put it back together. I wish we had taken more "during" pictures, but we didn't. For instance, those pieces on the front that are surrounded by decorative nails? That is a piece of cardboard covered in batting and fabric. Who would have thought?!

6. It would have been a lot easier to upholster a chair that didn't require as much sewing. For instance, the front of our chair's back is smaller than it is at the top. It also has buttons. This means that you need pleats at the bottom. Enter Elaine (mother-in-law extraordinaire and aforementioned seamstress!). Also, the cushion required piping to really make it look nice. I would never have attempted it. Enter Elaine again! And actually, piping is ridiculously easy. Well, a LOT easier than it seems at least. Here is a video explaining how. (p.s. there were lots of videos to choose from, but I thought this one was the coolest because the lady has lots of tattoos :))

http://www.ehow.com/video_4414125_what-piping.html

7. I found this tutorial AFTER the fact (dangit!) that does an amazing job at explaining in more detail, for anyone interested in tackling a similar project. The loveseat/chair they recover is AMAZING!!!

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2010/03/how-to-pick-chair-to-reupholster.html

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2009/11/reupholstering-101-how-to-reupholster.html

After the chair was finished, I allowed myself to tackle the other projects that have been sitting, waiting. One thing I hate about our apartment are these ridiculous paper blinds. See?

Nice that they are cheap and easy to install and provide much needed protection/privacy from the road that is right outside the window. BUT our house gets little to no sun and so I always want to open up the blinds. Frustrating though, since you have to accordian fold the paper to the top of every window, every time. Seriously! It was so frustrating that 90% of the time I just wouldn't do it and would turn on the lights instead or sit in a dark house all day. Not exactly fun. 

So I decided to make new window treatments. I needed something that would offer privacy, but that could easily be pulled up to let light in. They also needed to replace those dumb paper things!! So I decided to make roman shades. My friend has an amazing website and a great, cheap tutorial here.

http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-shades-out-of-mini-blinds.html

Being in old New England, I ran into problems though. These windows are only 21" wide. Do you realize how SMALL that is?! No one even sells blinds that small. Most windows have standard size widths and you can find cheap blinds from Target or KMart for $5. Not me though. Oh well. I found a decorator weight fabric (to help with the privacy issue) I liked for a great price and got to work. 

Problem though......windows are smaller at the bottom than the top. SERIOUSLY?! Oh my gosh. No wonder these windows didn't have treatments when we moved in...they are IMPOSSIBLE to fit! Anyway, Erik figured it out for me and now our bare nook is not so bare anymore!

Before (at Christmas time, obviously. Most of the time this area had nothing but stuff piled up)

and After!

Reupholstering and reinvented nook!

(really really long post ahead...)

Several people have inquired about the upholstery project. Well it was a doozy, I'm not going to lie. Not exactly a walk in the park. Not the kind of project you plan to bust out in a matter of hours. BUT.....and this is a big but, it really wasn't as hard as I imagined it could be. 

Getting started, we tried finding videos on youtube to educate ourselves, but didn't have too much luck there because we couldn't find a chair demo that was similar enough to the type of chair we had. Ours was big and tufted, with buttons and decorative nail trim. Remember?

I would not try this as your first upholstery project. Although, it obviously can be done. Without the combined brains of a skilled and seasoned seamstress and a mechanical engineer though, I would have been lost. Anyway, some random things we learned along the way.

1. Uphouslering really just requires some basic problem solving skills. Each chair or piece of furniture is so unique, that no one is going to be able to solve ALL your problems. You will likely run into corners or pieces of fabric that just don't work, and you'll have to figure it out. May sound scary, but after you jump into it, it's kind of fun :)

2.  Easiest way to tackle any project is to NOT BE AFRAID. This chair was put together by a human, it can be taken apart and reconstituted by a human. Seriously.

3. Best way to put new fabric on is to just use the old fabric as a guide. This means you have to take some care not to rip the existing fabric to shreds before you can use it as a pattern. There were moments when this proved difficult for me (due to sheer frustration).

4. I seriously thought the worst part of our project was getting the old fabric off. It was so disgusting and tattered and dirty that I wanted to touch it as little as possible. BUT the entire piece of fabric was stapled down so we had to take nearly every.single.staple. out by hand. Yuck.

5. As we took the chair apart, we learned a LOT about how to put it back together. I wish we had taken more "during" pictures, but we didn't. For instance, those pieces on the front that are surrounded by decorative nails? That is a piece of cardboard covered in batting and fabric. Who would have thought?!

6. It would have been a lot easier to upholster a chair that didn't require as much sewing. For instance, the front of our chair's back is smaller than it is at the top. It also has buttons. This means that you need pleats at the bottom. Enter Elaine (mother-in-law extraordinaire and aforementioned seamstress!). Also, the cushion required piping to really make it look nice. I would never have attempted it. Enter Elaine again! And actually, piping is ridiculously easy. Well, a LOT easier than it seems at least. Here is a video explaining how. (p.s. there were lots of videos to choose from, but I thought this one was the coolest because the lady has lots of tattoos :))

http://www.ehow.com/video_4414125_what-piping.html

7. I found this tutorial AFTER the fact (dangit!) that does an amazing job at explaining in more detail, for anyone interested in tackling a similar project. The loveseat/chair they recover is AMAZING!!!

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2010/03/how-to-pick-chair-to-reupholster.html

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2009/11/reupholstering-101-how-to-reupholster.html

After the chair was finished, I allowed myself to tackle the other projects that have been sitting, waiting. One thing I hate about our apartment are these ridiculous paper blinds. See?

Nice that they are cheap and easy to install and provide much needed protection/privacy from the road that is right outside the window. BUT our house gets little to no sun and so I always want to open up the blinds. Frustrating though, since you have to accordian fold the paper to the top of every window, every time. Seriously! It was so frustrating that 90% of the time I just wouldn't do it and would turn on the lights instead or sit in a dark house all day. Not exactly fun. 

So I decided to make new window treatments. I needed something that would offer privacy, but that could easily be pulled up to let light in. They also needed to replace those dumb paper things!! So I decided to make roman shades. My friend has an amazing website and a great, cheap tutorial here.

http://littlegreennotebook.blogspot.com/2009/02/make-shades-out-of-mini-blinds.html

Being in old New England, I ran into problems though. These windows are only 21" wide. Do you realize how SMALL that is?! No one even sells blinds that small. Most windows have standard size widths and you can find cheap blinds from Target or KMart for $5. Not me though. Oh well. I found a decorator weight fabric (to help with the privacy issue) I liked for a great price and got to work. 

Problem though......windows are smaller at the bottom than the top. SERIOUSLY?! Oh my gosh. No wonder these windows didn't have treatments when we moved in...they are IMPOSSIBLE to fit! Anyway, Erik figured it out for me and now our bare nook is not so bare anymore!

Before (at Christmas time, obviously. Most of the time this area had nothing but stuff piled up)

and After!

Ava's Laugh

Ava has quite the personality, although if you are reading this, you probably already knew that. She laughs a lot more now and on this particular day I got her to laugh like we've never seen (it helped that it was almost bedtime so she was getting tired). Fortunately, Britney was quick to grab the camera and was able to catch this on video.

Enjoy!

Ava's Laugh

Ava has quite the personality, although if you are reading this, you probably already knew that. She laughs a lot more now and on this particular day I got her to laugh like we've never seen (it helped that it was almost bedtime so she was getting tired). Fortunately, Britney was quick to grab the camera and was able to catch this on video.

Enjoy!

Looks like she will crawl after all!

Ava has been almost crawling for 2 months now. I was starting to wonder if she was ever gonna do it or if she was just going to skip that step, scoot forever and eventually walk. Today she surprised me! Looks like she will crawl after all! Yay!

Looks like she will crawl after all!

Ava has been almost crawling for 2 months now. I was starting to wonder if she was ever gonna do it or if she was just going to skip that step, scoot forever and eventually walk. Today she surprised me! Looks like she will crawl after all! Yay!

Reporting on Lent

Erik and I concluded that we would make rotten Catholics.

Reporting on Lent

Erik and I concluded that we would make rotten Catholics.

ARP

This is totally random, and a little out of the ordinary for things I post, but I just wanted to mention a program Erik and I have participated in during the Sunday School hour of our block meetings for the past few months. Our ward decided to give the members a glimpse into the fairly new program the church has sponsored called the Addiciton Recovery Program. It was created by members of the church who were "addicts" and closely mimics the 12 step Alcoholics Anonymous program. The purpose of doing this during the Sunday School hour was, I think, both to inform about the structured meetings that are held weekly and also about the accessibility of this program to the general membership of the church.

I have come away from this class really grateful for its structure and concrete ways of how to improve my life using the Atonement (the teachers of our class called it the Atonement Recognition Program). The manual that they have put together is available for free online at:

combatingpornography.org
(interestingly, this is a new website that the church has created that just launched...facinating)

For instance, one "step" is to take a written, personal inventory of your life; good and bad. The purpose being to look for patterns in behavior or reactions to situations that can help you maybe understand the root cause of some of what you are looking to change in your life.

I loved this class and the opportunity I got to learn more about the Atonement and how I can use it more in my life in very concrete ways (I'm a very concrete, list-y type of person!). I'm SO grateful for a Faith that helps and motivates me to become better and more like my Savior, Jesus Christ. A Church that seeks to help it's members become better is only doing the work of God, in my opinion. What an amazing blessing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in my life! I know that God knows me. I know that Christ lives and that he died for me and that he is the head of the LDS church. I am so grateful for this direction in my life when there are so many things that can bring me down.

ARP

This is totally random, and a little out of the ordinary for things I post, but I just wanted to mention a program Erik and I have participated in during the Sunday School hour of our block meetings for the past few months. Our ward decided to give the members a glimpse into the fairly new program the church has sponsored called the Addiciton Recovery Program. It was created by members of the church who were "addicts" and closely mimics the 12 step Alcoholics Anonymous program. The purpose of doing this during the Sunday School hour was, I think, both to inform about the structured meetings that are held weekly and also about the accessibility of this program to the general membership of the church.

I have come away from this class really grateful for its structure and concrete ways of how to improve my life using the Atonement (the teachers of our class called it the Atonement Recognition Program). The manual that they have put together is available for free online at:

combatingpornography.org
(interestingly, this is a new website that the church has created that just launched...facinating)

For instance, one "step" is to take a written, personal inventory of your life; good and bad. The purpose being to look for patterns in behavior or reactions to situations that can help you maybe understand the root cause of some of what you are looking to change in your life.

I loved this class and the opportunity I got to learn more about the Atonement and how I can use it more in my life in very concrete ways (I'm a very concrete, list-y type of person!). I'm SO grateful for a Faith that helps and motivates me to become better and more like my Savior, Jesus Christ. A Church that seeks to help it's members become better is only doing the work of God, in my opinion. What an amazing blessing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in my life! I know that God knows me. I know that Christ lives and that he died for me and that he is the head of the LDS church. I am so grateful for this direction in my life when there are so many things that can bring me down.

Yesterday we pretended like it was summer....

...it was 85+ degrees outside. So nice! Ava and I decided to have a picnic on the front lawn. I grabbed a blanket, some food, and out we went.

while she looked like this initially...(and she was like this for a good 5 minutes...I have no idea why!)

soon she was all smiles and was LOVING being outside

and it only took 1,498 trips back into the house before we were settled
1. bib
2. extra sunscreen
3. hat
4. sunglasses
5. extra toy (scratch that, we have the sunscreen bottle)
6. finger food since Ava was too occupied to eat via spoon
7. phone to send pic to daddy

Ava watched all the cars, looked at birds and smiled at the people who walked by. I thinks she may have even waved! She was so distracted she barely looked at me...which is NOT like her. I had to do some major moves to get her to look at me for the pictures

don't worry aunt katie, we had sunscreen on

can't wait until summer really arrives!!!


p.s. Thanks so much to Grandma Bassett for the blanket we're sitting on (Ava plays with the different fabrics all the time) and the cute outfit! It was perfect for today...before she spit green beans and sweet potatoes all over it

p.p.s. Jess is coming 3 weeks from today sans kids!! (not that I'm counting down)

Yesterday we pretended like it was summer....

...it was 85+ degrees outside. So nice! Ava and I decided to have a picnic on the front lawn. I grabbed a blanket, some food, and out we went.

while she looked like this initially...(and she was like this for a good 5 minutes...I have no idea why!)

soon she was all smiles and was LOVING being outside

and it only took 1,498 trips back into the house before we were settled
1. bib
2. extra sunscreen
3. hat
4. sunglasses
5. extra toy (scratch that, we have the sunscreen bottle)
6. finger food since Ava was too occupied to eat via spoon
7. phone to send pic to daddy

Ava watched all the cars, looked at birds and smiled at the people who walked by. I thinks she may have even waved! She was so distracted she barely looked at me...which is NOT like her. I had to do some major moves to get her to look at me for the pictures

don't worry aunt katie, we had sunscreen on

can't wait until summer really arrives!!!


p.s. Thanks so much to Grandma Bassett for the blanket we're sitting on (Ava plays with the different fabrics all the time) and the cute outfit! It was perfect for today...before she spit green beans and sweet potatoes all over it

p.p.s. Jess is coming 3 weeks from today sans kids!! (not that I'm counting down)

8 months!

Ava is getting cuter and cuter by the day, I swear. I really wish I could freeze this time and keep her like this forever. She is so interactive, so happy, and can only move a little :) It's perfect!! She loves all things metal and plastic and is particularly fond of buttons, zippers, leather straps (like on my clutch!), her baby doll, and tongues. The last week or so she has become really interested in tongues...hers and ours. We can always get a smile and usually a good laugh out of her if we show her our tongue.

She laughs quite a bit now too, and continues to be very very social. She loves other people and especially other babies. I took her to Erik's work for lunch this week, and she was flirting with one of his coworkers! A seriously coy smile and laughs the whole time. My mom said she is just like I was!

We finally "weaned" Ava from swaddling when she slept. I was so scared to do it because I've always thought she needed it to sleep...the times she's busted out have not been good. But much to my surprise she has done great! Now I get to hear her playing in her crib before she falls asleep and my favorite part is the funny positions she ends up in. I didn't get a picture, but she had her bum WAY up in the air yesterday (reminiscent of Chel!). Here are a few of the other positions I've caught her in:

draped over her blanket roll

after a particularly hard time falling asleep...so cute, huh?

And what would a post be without a good video?! Ava is loving peek-a-boo, and has become especially fond of her daddy. She has always given me a good smile, but she has really been getting excited to see Erik when he comes home and in the morning. It is so sweet and is really fun for me to see! Here is a video of their nighttime ritual shenanigans:

8 months!

Ava is getting cuter and cuter by the day, I swear. I really wish I could freeze this time and keep her like this forever. She is so interactive, so happy, and can only move a little :) It's perfect!! She loves all things metal and plastic and is particularly fond of buttons, zippers, leather straps (like on my clutch!), her baby doll, and tongues. The last week or so she has become really interested in tongues...hers and ours. We can always get a smile and usually a good laugh out of her if we show her our tongue.

She laughs quite a bit now too, and continues to be very very social. She loves other people and especially other babies. I took her to Erik's work for lunch this week, and she was flirting with one of his coworkers! A seriously coy smile and laughs the whole time. My mom said she is just like I was!

We finally "weaned" Ava from swaddling when she slept. I was so scared to do it because I've always thought she needed it to sleep...the times she's busted out have not been good. But much to my surprise she has done great! Now I get to hear her playing in her crib before she falls asleep and my favorite part is the funny positions she ends up in. I didn't get a picture, but she had her bum WAY up in the air yesterday (reminiscent of Chel!). Here are a few of the other positions I've caught her in:

draped over her blanket roll

after a particularly hard time falling asleep...so cute, huh?

And what would a post be without a good video?! Ava is loving peek-a-boo, and has become especially fond of her daddy. She has always given me a good smile, but she has really been getting excited to see Erik when he comes home and in the morning. It is so sweet and is really fun for me to see! Here is a video of their nighttime ritual shenanigans:

Signing

Ava has been signing "more" for a couple months now and it is ridiculously cute. She picked it up remarkably fast and now signs "more" for her food, toys, and when she wants to try some of our food (which is ALL the time!). It's been so fun to see a little bit of what is going on in that head of hers.

(if you missed it, her "sign" is when she clasps her hands together)

I just recently started teaching her "all done" and "milk". I don't think "all done" is a very motivating phrase for her as I usually do it at the end of the meal when she clearly could eat all day long (she will ALWAYS eat!). "Milk" is kind of a hard sign and she is just now starting to get the coordination to do it, so we'll see if she catches on. Anyone else teach their small child sign? I'm wondering what signs have worked for others. I'm thinking a "sleep" or "nap" sign would be good but I think I'll have to make one up 'cause the real one is going to be too hard for her now.

Signing

Ava has been signing "more" for a couple months now and it is ridiculously cute. She picked it up remarkably fast and now signs "more" for her food, toys, and when she wants to try some of our food (which is ALL the time!). It's been so fun to see a little bit of what is going on in that head of hers.

(if you missed it, her "sign" is when she clasps her hands together)

I just recently started teaching her "all done" and "milk". I don't think "all done" is a very motivating phrase for her as I usually do it at the end of the meal when she clearly could eat all day long (she will ALWAYS eat!). "Milk" is kind of a hard sign and she is just now starting to get the coordination to do it, so we'll see if she catches on. Anyone else teach their small child sign? I'm wondering what signs have worked for others. I'm thinking a "sleep" or "nap" sign would be good but I think I'll have to make one up 'cause the real one is going to be too hard for her now.

First time in the swing

Before the aforementioned flooding, Boston has some amazingly warm weather. One day Ava and I took advantage and went to a nearby park. It was so nice to get out and Ava got to try the swing for the first time. She was not too excited at first but after a while she was all smiles and seemed to love it! Here are some pictures of her...I turned her around for better lighting and so she is squinting, but you get the gist...

cheesy grin

such a typical Ava face...looking at the metal!

First time in the swing

Before the aforementioned flooding, Boston has some amazingly warm weather. One day Ava and I took advantage and went to a nearby park. It was so nice to get out and Ava got to try the swing for the first time. She was not too excited at first but after a while she was all smiles and seemed to love it! Here are some pictures of her...I turned her around for better lighting and so she is squinting, but you get the gist...

cheesy grin

such a typical Ava face...looking at the metal!

Floods of 2010

About three weeks ago New England was hit by a really bad storm that caused lots of flooding. Then a week ago we were hit again. I don't know how much rain we got on the first storm, but on the second we got 5-6" in 48 hours. Fortunately, our apartment has an underground pump to get rid of water below the foundation. It is also far enough away from the near-by river that we didn't have to worry about flooding. However, our next door neighbors apparently had some water damage that required them to replace their carpets. A couple miles away there was lots of homes whose basements were flooded. Many were hit hard by the first storm (reported here) and then again by the second. This is what happened to one family:



I think people were better prepared for the second storm, but many of the people still had bad flooding during the second storm because there was so much rain. Apparently following the second storm, the fire department would only come help pump out your basement if it had more than 4 feet of water in it. That gives you an idea of the magnitude and scale of the flooding.

On a more personal note, I like to go running along the near-by river. Knowing that it was flooded and interested in seeing how high it was, I decided to run my standard route even if the path was under water. Sure enough, many stretches of the path were under water, and at its deepest, it was under probably 18" of water. Normally the water is well below the path. It was very impressive!

After all that rain we now are having 70 degree weather!

Floods of 2010

About three weeks ago New England was hit by a really bad storm that caused lots of flooding. Then a week ago we were hit again. I don't know how much rain we got on the first storm, but on the second we got 5-6" in 48 hours. Fortunately, our apartment has an underground pump to get rid of water below the foundation. It is also far enough away from the near-by river that we didn't have to worry about flooding. However, our next door neighbors apparently had some water damage that required them to replace their carpets. A couple miles away there was lots of homes whose basements were flooded. Many were hit hard by the first storm (reported here) and then again by the second. This is what happened to one family:



I think people were better prepared for the second storm, but many of the people still had bad flooding during the second storm because there was so much rain. Apparently following the second storm, the fire department would only come help pump out your basement if it had more than 4 feet of water in it. That gives you an idea of the magnitude and scale of the flooding.

On a more personal note, I like to go running along the near-by river. Knowing that it was flooded and interested in seeing how high it was, I decided to run my standard route even if the path was under water. Sure enough, many stretches of the path were under water, and at its deepest, it was under probably 18" of water. Normally the water is well below the path. It was very impressive!

After all that rain we now are having 70 degree weather!