Roped in sisal {DIY desk and lamp}

Happy Friday, ya'll! We're workin' with rope again today! Yeehaw! I'd like to think I would have been a darn good cowgirl if, you know, I hadn't grown up in suburbia Northern Virginia. Oh, the what-ifs... (actually, I was responsible for two dozen horses by myself one weekend when I was 10 years old and working at a horse farm in exchange for riding time. The weekend wasn't a complete disaster)

Earlier this week I shared how to hang art with sisal rope in order to add visual substance to an empty wall:

Moving onto furniture, I've got two more ideas for our handy sisal rope! 

1. Trim a recovered seat:

One of the first DIYs I learned was how to recover a seat. My parents gave us an extra staple gun that they had, which is really the only tool you need. That, and a screwdriver to remove the seat cushion from underneath. Once your seat is off, you can remove the existing fabric, (though that isn't always necessary), and then place your seat top-down on the new fabric. Pull the fabric moderately tight over the edges of your seat and staple away! Once your new fabric is attached and you've trimmed off any longer edges and ends, you can screw the seat back on. This is where I wash my hands and call it a day since I don't know the first thing about making or attaching piping cord. Depending on your seat, sisal rope might be the perfect answer!

For this project I plugged in our hot glue gun to let it 'pre-heat' and then measured and cut the proper length of rope I would need to wrap entirely around the seat. After I was done cutting the rope, the glue gun was ready. It was best to work slowly in one small 4" section at a time as the glue dries so fast! I just made a 4" strip of glue along the seam of the seat and then pressed the rope right over the line of glue. I love this alternative to piping cord and it was super easy!

2. Rustic roped lampshade

While the glue was still hot I decided to experiment with this stripped lampshade that was collecting dust in our garage. I pre-cut all the pieces of rope that I would need and set them aside within reach, working in small sections at a time. This project was a little more tedious as I had to go super slow with the glue to ensure it didn't drip off the wire frame. The end result though looks so cool! It totally has that rustic-chic Pottery Barn vibe going on. Pop in a little Edison bulb and it's a unique, sophisticated floor lamp!

Surprise! These pieces will be available at the June 7 sale.
9am - 3pm
Contact me for the address if you'd like to stop by!

As always, thank you so much for reading and have a wonderful weekend! 

~Chelsea

This post was published under Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.

Fresh IKEA hack, (without using paint)!

Hi friends! There are few things that motivate me like a good challenge. When PopSugar Select Home

asked for submissions of brand new IKEA hacks, I knew I wanted to try something a little different. I'm so excited to share this idea which they've selected to feature here along with a handful of other creative hacks! (And since this post, I also hacked two of IKEA'S ever popular Jennylund chairs - they went totally mid-century modern - check them out here!)

Decoupaged IKEA Bror chairs!

Want a fresh transformation that doesn't require popping open a can of paint? Today I'm excited share a brand new IKEA hack using the most gorgeous paper and a couple of plain IKEA Bror chairs. The technique? Decoupage with Mod Podge, (yup, that's just as fun to say as you might guess)! The art of decoupage, (gluing cut-out bits of colored paper onto objects), has been around for many centuries, and there's a reason it's still popular today! It's inexpensive, easy to do, and the sky is the limit with what you can do!

Now, painting furniture is another fantastic way to achieve dramatic transformation. However, sometimes painting furniture can be intimidating, (and the supplies can be expensive). And other times, paint simply doesn't do the trick. Such was the case with this pair of IKEA Bror chairs. The legs on these chairs were initially painted in a soft, chippy grey. Pretty, but it was a rather dull disappointment. Certainly not the fresh update that these chairs were begging for!

So, after a quick trip to Paper Source to pick up some pretty paper, (I chose the  Yuzen Cherry Branch  pattern), and then to Michaels for a small bottle of Mod Podge, (I chose the Hard Coat in the purple bottle), I set out to really transform these Bror chairs.

Here is the small list of the supplies I used:
Paper of choice
Scissors
Hard Coat Mod Podge
Small paint brush
Paper towel, (to lay my cut-outs on while applying the glue)

The steps for this project were very simple:

1. Cut the paper into rectangular strips, ranging in size from 2" - 4"

2. Lay each strip face down on the paper towel, dipped the brush in the Mod Podge, and applied a liberal amount onto the back of the strip, (do this one strip at a time).

3. Line the strip up to where you want it to be applied, and run your fingers across it so that it adheres to the surface.

4. Smooth out any 'bubbles' in the paper with your fingers for a nice, smooth finish.

Now this pair is echoing the blooming outdoors with their blossoming legs!

Using a paper with a smaller pattern helps create a more cohesive look across the finished product.

So there you have it! A fresh and sweet update for the IKEA Bror chair! 

Thank you for stopping by!

~Chelsea

This post was published under Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.

It's the little things {My favorite detail in our living room!}

Hey guys! I know you are probably sick and tired of seeing posts on our living room at this point in the week, (full photo post of the transformation here in case you missed it), but this one is my favorite! There's a small detail in the living room that I doubt anyone has noticed from the photos, but it's a detail that makes all the difference to me as I live in and around the space.

See it?

Probably not! I barely can unless I'm looking right at it.
Look closely at the bottom edge around the chairs.

Pom-pom trim!

I just can't seem to leave well enough alone sometimes. And there have absolutely been times when I've realized that and undone something I've done. But this time it was an added touch that really feels good and right.

Here are the chairs before, (IKEA Ektorp Jennylund chairs)

There was nothing at all wrong with these chairs before. Nothing. But being as our main floor is a big open floor plan with the living room and dining room spilling into one another, the backs of these chairs are staring you in the face when you're at the dining table. And since these two armchairs are mostly floating off of the carpet, I wanted to add something a little interesting to them.

I found this .5" white pom-pom trim here

My first step was figuring out where I wanted to attach it - the outside of the slipcover, or the inside. I used push-pins to get a visual for how both options would look:

Inside won! I love how the little white pom-poms peek out from underneath, like another layer of the chair.

I cut about 7-9" strips of trim to make it easier to attach underneath the chair, (since I was gluing with Liquid Stitch, not sewing).

Then I made a 7-9" length of glue with my tube of Liquid Stitch, just hitting the backside edge of the slipcover.

And finally, gently lay the strip of pre-cut trim over the line of glue.

I didn't remove the slipcovers for this project. I just gently flipped the bottom edge up, one side at a time around the chair.

Finished product! 

(hello lil' dust bunny)

So like I said; it's a little thing! But to me, a totally worth it little thing.

Now those factory made Ikea slipcovers are uniquely ours!

Thank you for reading!

~Chelsea

This post was originally published on Chelsea's Garage, now affectionately known as StyleMutt.