Chair Rehab

We were lucky enough to have my sister and her family and then my parents visit back to back.  My parents trip was very last minute as my dad is going to have knee replacement surgery but was able to fit in a quick trip before the surgery so my parents decided to come visit.  They wanted to see the grand kids and take me some of my stuff that I have been keeping at their house (wedding dress, old decor, etc.) as well as a 1950s chair and turn of the century dresser I inherited from my grandparents.  My grandma passed in April so my parents have had the chair and dresser in the basement since they cleaned out her house in late April. 

My grandma (dad's mom) at her 94th birthday celebration, just a couple weeks before she passed; with her 3 great-grandsons; she also has 6 great-grand-daughters

And here is the chair that she gave me:

Except, these are the cushions it came with:

The cushions on it (seen in top pic), are from the matching rocker she gave me years ago.  We had this matching rocker in our bedroom until we moved to the lair. The rocker has been sitting in the attic since we made the move.

the webbing was all brittle and deteriorated and the wood needed some serious TLC

So I knew it needed some serious work but I was willing to take on the challenge.  I finally found a bit of time to tackle the beast this week. I started by removing all the old webbing and pulling all the staples.  Easier said than done-there were about a million staples  (even had to unscrew part of the chair to get the corner ones out).

I found some great elasticized webbing at Fabric Depot for $2.99 a yard plus everything was 30% off so 5.5 yards ended up costing me less than $12.  I didn't end up replacing the two horizontal straps as I realized they were added later and I don't think the chair needs them to be supportive.  I can always replace those straps in the future if needed.

Lastly, I cleaned the chair with some Murphy's Oil Soap and then gave it a good oiling with some Old English dark tint wood oil.  Just yesterday I decided to add some furniture wax to it for protection.  I did the same steps for our Lane coffee table while I was at it (don't you love how those two pieces complement each other so nicely even though they were from two separate grandmas?)

And there you have it...a repaired chair.  It is so comfy and I feel so lucky to have furniture pieces from Steve's (foot stool & round side table) and my own family in our living room.

Grandma & Grandpa visit Oregon!  My dad was nice enough to replace a toilet at our rental while he visited as well as repair our broken toilet seat-it was a loo kind of week :)

Can't believe she's already 2 months!

Camping at Cape Lookout State Park on the coast last weekend

Back bedroom

...which happens to be our bedroom or the current "master" bedroom.  While a 11.5'x11.5' room doesn't exactly scream large, spacious, master bedroom, it has been our little home since we moved in 4 1/2 years ago.  It was one of our earlier projects and probably the first we finished made livable.  Not only because all it needed was paint and a little trim work as well as a lower closet bar added and some curtains, but because I felt we needed at least one place in the house that was mostly project free and therefore, non-stressful/place I stayed up at night to think of all the other projects we needed to do (I often have a half page list by my bedside by morning) What better place than the bedroom?  Anywho, we had also just gotten married and I wanted to do our new comforter and awesome silk and velvet pillows justice with matching paint.  Here are the results.

the bedframe is a Pottery Barn special (big splurge but got a huge employee discount hook-up-Thanks Sean) as are linens...the little bedside clock and rug are from PB as well, beagle is not; tissue holder from crate and barrel as well as matching trash can (can sorta see in pix below); picture of bed is from our wedding; brown pillow from HomeGoods; scones an estate sale find and shades from my friend Chris' personal collection that he so graciously gifted us; curtains made by me from a $5 bedspread I purchased originally for Steve when he used to rent

2 winters ago, my sister graciously passed down my grandparents bedroom furniture that she and her husband had refinished and previously used in their master bedroom.  Shipping it here from California was a nightmare. The company we used had not paid the shipper they contracted through and therefore our stuff was taken ransom and held for weeks.  There was nothing we could do until the two companies settled money issues.  Well, while we didn't have our furniture for while, it all worked out in the end being that they discounted the shipping rate by a couple hundred which was great for us being that we always seem to be pretty tight on money with all these house projects.

my grandpa made the dresser above to match the other pieces; lamp and cigar box inherited from Steve's grandmother

the jewelry is from Urban Outfitters (an x-mas gift-thanks mom and dad), photo frame aaron brothers, pot is estate sale find and jewelry box made by my other half as a x-mas gift when we were still "going steady" and he was busy trying to make me "swoon"

We still need to patch the holes in the picture rail from when we put it in, add detail trim above the windows and doors (which requires us to lower the picture rail that we put too high to add the detail trim, hence why we haven't patched the holes in the picture rail) and we eventually want to close off the door by the window that connects to the kitchen and is pretty much useless only used to yell at the beagle when he is outside barking at dawn(our house has a theme of many doors going on as do many bungalows).

In case you forgot the before...

and the in-between...

The Buffet has Arrived

After meeting to look over and make final decisions on our buffet, it was delivered to us 1 1/2 weeks ago and it is beautiful!  We still need to stain it, but that has not yet happened with my being out of town last week.  We tested some colors on scrap wood and will probably go with gunstock by urethane.  We plan to stain the inside and outside of the buffet even though the outside is quarter sawn white oak and the inside is a mix of red oak and mahogany-we saved on cost by using different wood inside and on the back of the piece.  Our craftsman (he was amazing) added lots of extra little details to make the piece perfect.  Now I need to find some cool cabinet hardware.  Hopefully finished pictures will come soon.   

curves to add a little softness and detail...bottom feet match our Haywood Wakefield chairs

sample stain on scrap wood                                                    faux divider cut into door

Buffet

Steve and I have been wanting a buffet for our dining room to go under the window for a couple years now and have been looking for an antique.  However, we have not been able to find what we want being that the height can only be 32" so we have resorted to having one custom made.  We have an awesome guy through Brunke's Furniture on Sandy Blvd., just a couple blocks from our home.  He came over to our house and looked at our pictures and created a custom design.  He will have it made in just 4 weeks.  It was nice that in having it custom made, we were able to have some options changed to save money and have other details included that blend with our house and other furniture details.  We plan to stain the piece ourselves to save a bit of money.  We are having it made of straight grain white oak to match our living room chairs.  I hope to actually be able to move some of the cooking supplies (yes, I know, not conventional to store in a buffet) from the basement to here so that getting them does not require a basement trip. 

love everything about this design with the exception of the tiny legs and the back piece on the top

 like the leg height and the arch on the bottom, do not like the design on the inlay of the cabinets

like the side detail design

AHHH! Leather couch at last!

Steve and I ordered a leather couch back in November which we were tod would be delivered in early February.  Well, when I called the store about 1 1/2 weeks ago, I found out that our order would be delayed another 2 months...making it not arriving until the baby comes.  Anyways, after talking to the manager, we were able to cancel our order and receive our deposit back.
In the meantime, I had been eye-ing a beautiful leather couch at Rejuvenation that I thought might after work. It was slimline and had a great compact size.   After returning to take a look and measurements with my sister, rearranging the Haywood Wakefield chairs a bit and showing the couch to Steve, we went to pick up the new couch last Tuesday night with our friend's moving hep since I cannot pick up more than 35 lbs. right now.  If you haven't had a chance to check it out, the Rejuvenation store in Portland has awesome well-priced furniture ranging from antiques, vintage, reproductions, modern to bungalow.   ...another added bonus, super comfy.

My new loves-Heywood Wakefield

On Sunday I had to go to Rejuvenation to get some nickel hardware to replace the brass hardware on our bathroom door since we finally got the doors stripped and are prepping them for stain.  Anyways, while walking in the backdoor, I happened to notice what looked like some pretty cool chairs that looked pretty craftsman.  Well, anyways, I snuck back outside while my friend was selling some lighting to salvage and took another look only to find 3 arm chairs with leather cushions and almost immediately fell in love...even though they appeared tattered and dirty and had some minor imperfections. 

      With that, I had to ask the price as well as find out more, at which time the price was awesome compared to new arm chairs I was researching for purchase and I was pointed to 3 more inside that were already restored with a good wood cleaner and leather cleaner/conditioner.  Sitting in the chairs was a dream and when measuring (I just happened to have a tape measure in my purse among several heavy pieces of door hardware) their compact 25"x25" size, I was in love.  Furthermore, I found out that the chairs were in original condition and were Heywood Wakefield, made in Portland, used for a masonic lodge in Washington and then bought by a collector and stored for years. 

I took a picture with my cell and called my husband, telling him he had to come see.  So...less than two hours later, we had purchased a pair of the beauties.  Below are pictures of them (lighting is different in each but they have same color finish and leather more closely resembling the second picture) after Rejuvenation restored them and pictures of their labels.  Based on the label, they were made between 1921-1925.  So comfy and also have built-in beverage holding arms. Love them!!!!!!!!! 

Can't you just picture all the old masonic lodge men sittin', chattin' and drinkin' their beers now?