Making Do

As I’ve said before, moving every few years has its perks and challenges.  Trying to maintain (and continually improve) a sustainable, eco-friendly, low-budget, simple, organized and beautiful home on top of that can be, well –  extra challenging. 

Each home we move into has its own style, floor plan, room layout, and needs.  For me, the process of organizing and decorating a house (rental or owned) is often a frustrating and exciting endeavor.  Over the years I have learned a few things that have helped me maintain my sustainable sensibility while also creating beautiful and functional spaces. 

Here’s a peek at the guidelines I use to determine if something is worth the money, time, and effort…

Lexie’s Guidelines for Home Décor:

1.     Is it multifunctional?  Can I use it in more than one way in different spaces?

2.     Can I change it up? (paintable, switch out fabric, slipcover, etc.) 

3.     Does it break down or fold up for easy storage? (in case it won’t work in a particular space)

4.     How big and heavy is it?  (my husband’s favorite as I like to change up our rooms a lot)

5.     Is it inexpensive enough that I can sell or donate it if necessary?

6.     Does it fit in with my blended décor styles?  (cottage, rustic, farmhouse, beachy, simple, modern)

These “rules” help to ensure that our home isn’t filled with large amounts of oversized, heavy, multi-colored, miss matched, or expensive décor.  Now, there’s nothing wrong with any of that if that’s what you like, for us though moving every 2.4 years (our current average), it helps to keep the guidelines in mind before each and every purchase. 

So now that we’re unpacking and starting to organize and decorate house #7, I’ve been thinking of these guidelines quite a bit and I realized that #1 (Is it multifunctional?) is one of the most important rules I follow.  As I’m working in a space I’m constantly thinking about what furniture and décor we already own that I can use...what do we have that I can "make do" with?

This past week I moved all of our extra décor (that I haven’t placed already) into the basement so that I can “shop” my own home. 

Ready for some free shopping!

Yesterday I was working a bit on our sunroom.  We’ve never had a sunroom before...vaulted ceiling, french doors that lead outside, floor-to-ceiling windows on every wall, and a big opening that’s connected to the main family room.  It’s a beautiful space and also a little nerve-wracking trying to determine how we want to use the room and how the furniture placement will work. 

Two of the pieces of furniture I’ve decided to use in the room are a pair old wooden patio chairs I picked up at a thrift store in NJ a few years ago.  Originally purchased for our covered front porch in our NJ home…

Originally stained a reddish color, my mom helped me paint them with leftover exterior paint - BM Swiss Coffee

…and then used outside on our deck in VA. 

Left outside...rain or shine, snow or sleet.

Having been left outside for 3+ years, they were dirty, spiderwebbed, and rusty.  So when the movers were unloading them from the truck a few weeks ago and I said “Oh put those in the sunroom” – I got a sideways glance from Mr. MacGyver (nothing but love, I tell ya!)  

Yesterday I scrubbed those babies clean with some Dr. Bronners…

My cleaning arsenal

Half dirty, half clean

All cleaned up

 …and then painted over the rusty springs with some rust primer. 

Not the most eco-friendly I know, but it was leftover from a previous project and it does the job well.

Cleaned and primed

 I still need to go over the springs with some white metal paint and make some indoor slipcovers for the cushions. I’ll be sure to post more pix once the sunroom is complete.

So "making do" is by far one of my most used "tricks" for sustainable décor.  How do you “make do?” 

Lots-o-love,

Lexie

Dipped Leg Chair: Upcycling Furniture with Chalk Paint

Completed chair in its new home!

This chair was the first furniture redo piece that I've sold, and I love the story behind it!

This past spring, I bought several pieces from a woman who was liquidating her shop.

Needless to say, I loved this chair in its raw form and was excited to give it a new life.

This past summer, I posted a picture of the chair on my Facebook page, and one of my friends asserted that she just had to have it. I told her that I planned on refinishing it, and she replied that if I planned to sell it after I refinished to please contact her. Cindy had no idea of my plans: stain vs paint, colors, et cetera.

So my project began...

Without any dialogue with Cindy regarding my plans for the chair, I started painting it with Annie Sloan Old White chalk paint.

I started with the intention of giving it a white washed look: 2 parts paint to 1 part water to get a white washed look.

As I was painting it white, my intuition screamed that it needed to be grey and not white!

As Lexie and I texted back and forth during my DIY project, she thought the white would look great but that grey would look good too. Since I couldn't continue with the white because the color did not feel right, I switched to Annie Sloan Paris Grey.

After I painted the entire chair grey and then waxed it after the paint dried, I lightly distressed it with 220 grit sandpaper.

I love how the white subtly shows through after I distressed the grey paint.

After I finished painting and distressing the chair, I thought that a dipped leg would complete it, and minutes after I thought about dipping one leg, Lexie suggested a dipped leg after I texted her a picture of the painted chair.

However, even with Lexie's encouragement, following my intuition took some time. I kept thinking, "What if Cindy doesn't like it?" "What if it doesn't come out the way I imagined."

After several weeks, I took the plunge (I took the plunge mainly because my youngest had developed a 11-week-long, head-to-toe rash that I recently realized appeared 2 hours after I started using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint for the first time on 24 September 2013, so I felt the need to complete all the chalk paint projects and to get the chalk paint as well as the furniture painted with chalk paint out of my house).

Once the chair was completed with its Annie Sloan Duck Egg dipped leg, Lexie and I both loved it! After it was completed, I posted a picture of it on my Facebook page. When Cindy saw it completed, she said that she absolutely had to have it. She loved the chair with its dipped leg, and it matched her office decor perfectly (I have never seen the interior of her home so the outcome was completely serendipitous)!

When painting the dipped leg, I used Frog Tape to guarantee a clean line and then I brush on the paint below the tape. After the dipped leg was dry, I sealed the entire chair a second time with clear wax.

Not only do I love the story behind this chair and am so happy that this chair has an awesome new home, I also love the constant reminders from the universe for me to trust my intuition.

Much Love!
Priscilla