Slip Cover Twins

A perfect fit.

Another set of slipcover twins, well almost.

One is done and the other slipcover is in the process of.

This will be my second set of slipcover twins.

The first set of wingback slipcovers were made in 2011.

Both are sewn in two different fabrics, matelasse and cotton duck.

Twins in the dinning room.

This time I decided not to do piping.
As much as it is more time consuming, 

I think I like the look of piping better.  

That's ok because I see many slipcovers in my future.

I love a little pleat that shows off some leg.

I do know how to sew in zippers, but I think bows are so much cuter.

This is the pattern on the matelasse.

As you can see it will fit right in with the other furniture in the room.
The fireplace in the back is a future project.

This chair is the other chair waiting to be finished.

I usually cut all the fabric first and work on a little each day.

I should be finished in a couple of weeks, in between work, school and life.

The new chairs are 17 years old and some of the first pieces of furniture 

we bought when we finish building the house.  

They are well made, but I do not like the dark green color. 

 Slipcovers are far easier than reupholstering a wingback chair for sure.

These are Mr. M.'s favorite chairs and they will stay in our master bedroom.

The good thing about having furniture that are slipcovered in WHITE,

They look good in every room.

My other chairs have been in the living room, basement, office and dinning room.

Thanks for stopping by.
I will also be partying this weekend at;

French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
The Curator's Collection for Making Broken Beautiful
Thoughts From Alice for Sundays From Home 
Shabbyfufu for Share It One More Time
Elizabeth & Co for Be Inspired

The Wicker House for Create-Share-Inspire

Projects For The New Year

This week I spend time putting away all of the Christmas decorations.

Reflecting on the past, projecting on the future.

I am happy with most of last year.

I have made it through another year at my job and I still enjoy going to work each week.

I have scaled back my blogging, spending more time doing projects in the house and gardens.

No, I did not get all accomplished, but that is OK, it just leaves me busy with projects for the next year.

Some favorite pictures of Christmas 2012.

I am looking forward to putting the pine wood floor in the office.

We are taking each room one at a time.

After seeing how wonderful the living room turned out, we can't wait to put the wood in all of the rooms.

The big project of the year.

Of course, will be to continue to work on our garage/mud room/master bed room addition.

Each year we are closer to the end.

Last year we were able to install garage doors, tubes for radiant floor heating, electrical.

All we are waiting for is the heat to be connected and we can go for our next inspection.

Then we have some major work to do-insulation, drywall.

Actually Mr. M. and I are looking forward to the work.

We work well together.

We enjoy the time together on our home, our dream home.

The end result will be a huge garage for our cars, tools and storage.

A mud room to store all the kids shoes, boots, coats, backpacks.

So the mess is not in the connecting kitchen.

Cubbies for their stuff.

Another closet for extra storage.

Cabinets for my gardening tools.

A checkered floor.

Chore boards.

I also have another set of twin wing back slipcovers to sew just like these ones.

In fact, they will almost look the same with only a different bedspread fabric.  

They will go in the new master bed room when it is done.

I have been dreaming of how I want to decorate the room.

It is big, really big 24 x 29. 

It will be our sanctuary.

A place for just him and me.

His and her walk in closets are a must.

Small laundry room.

A seating corner for reading and watching television.

A fireplace.

A desk for a coffee station and laptop.

The room will be connected to the already existing master bathroom.

 A place to go when we have teenagers in the house.

I have a lot to dream about.

It is going to be mostly white too.

With blue.

I have lots to do in this New Year.

How about you?

Who says the parties have to end.
Let's celebrate the New Year.
Make sure to stop by French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday.
Thank you Courtney for mentioning Arbor House Lane in your post today.
I am also Joining Debra from Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday.

New Whites in the Dinning Room

I finally finished my dinning room chairs.

It wasn't really a daunting project, well maybe in my mind only.

Four chairs to paint.

4 Times x 4 chairs.

Sand and stain.

Remove the 3 layers of upholstery.

Add a layer of cotton batting.

Reupholster in simple white fabric.

Sew four seat slipcovers.

It sound like a lot, but really, each chair only took 2 days to paint.

One day to reupholster all of the chairs.

One day to make several of the slipcovers.

All in all, I think I finished the whole project within 2 weeks with lots of swimming breaks in between.

The best part is that I had to purchase nothing.

The chairs came free from one of my cosigners at my old shop.

I used fabric I already had, a cheap lightweight cotton denim from Walmart.

The paint was some I had used on some of my interior walls.

First, two coats of flat paint, a coat of Annie Sloan Old White and the top coat was semi-gloss.

You may be wondering why I painted the semi-gloss over the Annie Sloan.

The first chair I tried to like the chair before the semi-gloss, but I did not like just plain waxing.
I used my go to method of using semi-gloss and either let life (meaning 3 children) distress a piece of furniture or sand and stain the furniture.

Simple ruffled slipcover.

Look at those legs!

Ballarina ties on the back.

I like the look with the full slipcovered parson chairs, my newly slipcovered white chairs and the vintage farm chairs.

Now, if only I could do something about that table!

How about you?

Have you finished any projects lately?

I am sharing my white chairs with Kathleen from Faded Charm for White Wednesday.

and

Miss Mustard Seed for Furniture Feature Friday.

and 

Courtney from French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday

and

Cindy from My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday.

Where I Create

For now, this will have to do.

I have company and I did not get a chance to update my post for Where Blogger's Create, so I am going

to show my post from last year when I missed the party because I killed the machine.

Thank you Karen for having such a lovely party.

Please stop by My Desert Cottage and visit all the creative bloggers and where they get their create on.

Let's get this PARTY started!

Seeing as I had all the extra non-computer time, I finished rearranging the room and fluffed a little more than it would have been last week.

This picture is what I see when I peak into my blog room.

This room is small, only 9x11, but I know how to pack a room with furniture and not make it too crowded.

This room is always full of light from three large windows.

To me it is just perfect!

This is the desk where everything is done.

I have everything within arms reach.

My favorite pin board for inspirations.

Collections of my father's paintings turned into Christmas cards from years past.

Some of my mirror collection and a chicken wire frame to hang important notices.

My favorite fairy Clara, named so because she looks like my grandma.

She dances above my head hanging from the light fixture.

Beautiful Hydrangeas from my gardens and a stray baseball that I simply can't seem to get away from.

Important message on the chalk board.

Stay cool by swimming and BACKUP the computer!

This cabinet stores a variety of china that I can not bare to part with but do not decorate with.

I also use it to store paper for the computer and school supplies for the kids.

I love the look of this topiary, who happens to be in need of a haircut.

Green and white my favorite color combination.

A simple secretary I bought at a garage sale and painted white last year. 

The drawers are packed with some of my craft supplies that I like to keep handy for when I get in the mood to create something.

I make sure to have plenty of buttons on hand.

This is the first slipcover that I made. 

I am glad to say that I have improved, but I love this couch.

It is a great place for the kids to come and chat with me while I am on the computer.

Now I am off to join the family for some early Sat. morning cartoons.

Thank you for stopping and visiting my blog room.

Make sure to close the door when you leave.

As said this post is from last year.

I will try to get my updated post up asap.

Thanks for stopping by.

New Whites in the House

Where does one start when there is a long pause.

Why of course with new WHITES.

I have completed many projects, and yet there is always a long list of those still to come.

This is what you see when you look down the basement stairs.

I moved this little dresser from the living room.

The kids have it packed with board games.

The door is to our pantry.

I did some sewing.

Cute little legs.

Just a hint of blue.

Even though those inner arm seams gave me trouble,

 I am glad to say I remembered how to whip up a chair cover in a couple of days.

I am hoping to use some of these fabrics for pillows and other slipcovers I may need for the room. 

A little table brought in from the garage and given the WHITE treatment.

Great size for a game or snack.

This over-sized footstool is great for putting your feet up or as an extra seat.

Of course I had to give it a new WHITE slipcover.

Too much color going on here.

More sewing in my future, I predict.

I have some beautiful inspiration fabric I plan on using.

The back of the basement is still cluttered, I am working on the storage issue.

I have to say we are really happy with how it turned out so far.

Turn off all of the lights and we have a great movie room.

My sister made mention that we should put in surround sound.

Oh dear.....maybe a project for next month.

These are the basement stairs.

I have one more coat of WHITE paint and then I am going to paint some stripes down the middle.

The hand rails are plumbing pipes.

Mr. M. got the idea from seeing them used in a local restaurant.

They are perfect for sliding down.

 Mr. M. does it with one hand on each side and zips down to the bottom hoping not to crash.

The kids hold on to one railing with their feet on the molding and go sliding down the side.  

Funny thing is, I did not know they did this until I saw them teaching all their friends at a party.

Even Aunt T likes to slide down with the kids.  

Thanks for stopping by.

I am joining;

White Wednesday

Show and Tell Friday

Feathered Nest Fridayhttp://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/2012/04/feathered-nest-friday.html

Special White Wednesday

It's a celebration!

 

Faded Charm

100th Post!

Come and join us in the White Wednesday fun with Kathleen from Faded Charm.

I didn't always have white in my home, seriously, I once had a different color in each room. 
But, I think I always, in the back of my mind knew it was the color I was most drawn to and wanted around me.

Due to rain, this past weekend I spent my days inside, painting with my new chalk paint and sewing new slipcovers.  I had a very productive weekend.  Not that I don't want the rain to stop one of these days, but I used my time indoors very productively.

New cushions for my outdoor seating. 

  I made these with an envelope closure on the back for easy washing, no need to pay for expensive Sunbrella fabric when cheap cotton duck will do.

My favorites are the cushions with the ruffles,

love me some ruffles.

The rain has also done wonders in my gardens. 
Happy flowers in bloom.
Yeah spring!

The birds have filled all the white houses.

This frame has already been given the WHITE treatment and is now just waiting for a chalkboard insert.

These rainy days also gave me time to do some shopping.  I was lucky enough to find a set of 4 chair cushions at TJMax my favorite lunch time shopping store.  I think they look great with my vintage wooden folding chairs.  Perfect for extra party seating.

White Wednesday was the first link party I ever joined, and even though I can't always join in each week, I always stop by to visit.  Seeing all these other bloggers who decorate, appreciate and dare I say LOVE white too, made me feel more normal.  Thank you Kathleen for giving us this great Link Party.

Thanks for stopping by, and don't forget to let a little white in your life.