Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Garage Sales!

So about two weeks ago I saw that there was a garage sale close by so I decided to go. I found two arm chairs and they were only $20 for two and I got a huge roll of red microfiber fabric for $5 (I was planning on making pillows and a few other things with that!)! What a steal right? I only saw one of the chairs because the other was downstairs, the one I saw had a box on it and looked in decent condition so I thought why not?! The lady I bought them from said she got them recovered for about $40 a piece so I decided that wasn't to bad and I could live with the fabric for a while until I found something else I liked. Well, when we got them home they were covered in cat hair and they were dirty dirty dirty! Yuck! So after about two hours of cleaning all the hair off and getting them as clean as I possibly could I decided to call and upholstery shop, they gave me an estimate of $500-$600 a chair! haha I about died!!! I think that lady just wanted them out of her house! SO, I decided that I would try to do it myself. I figured if I screwed things up bad enough I was only out $25, $10 per chair plus the fabric I bought. So, here are the before and after pictures...





Not to shabby for my first time, granted it isn't the best but I was happy, and it will do until I really want to shell out some real cash for some nicer chairs! It used most of the red fabric I bought so I need to find some that matches or just do another fabric and put it in a different room. For now though I just want to get the feeling back in my finger tips but I think I just found a new hobby! :) Go garage sales!

16 comments:

Jenny said...

I LOVE garage sales!! I am so jealous of your find. Where the heck did you learn to re-upholster (i don't know if that is how it is spelled). I want to learn way bad. LEt me know.

Just a Sports Fan said...

My favorite part of the picture is the dirty diaper in the background:) However, despite that, you did a marvelous job on the recover.

Benjamin Francom said...

Holy crap Kim, you did an awesome job! I love it. I have a chair at my house that needs to be redone, come on over any time!

Melanie said...

Wow! I'm impressed! How on earth did you know how to do that?? It looks great! You'll have to come help me decorate our new place! I love your family picture, by the way!

annie said...

WOW! I received a sewing machine for christmas and have no idea how to use it. Are you available for hire...seriously!? I would love to know how you pulled that off cause it looks amazing. Also anytime you want a garage sale buddy i am game!

JaNae said...

How about flying to St. Louis and helping me out? :) I wouldn't be able to do that for the life of me. Looks great.

Brittany Owens said...

I must say, "Not to shabby!" You and Natalee are very creative.

Kim said...

haha, everyone is being so nice! Seriously all I did was measure everything, cut out a piece a fabric, staple gunned it to the chair and trimmed around it. Then once that was all done I glued the trim on...honestly it doesn't look as good as the picture may appear!

Lisa said...

A woman after my own heart! My home is full of things that were used/owned by other people. Saves tons of money and you get a sense of accomplishment, too.

Use a contrasting fabric for your pillows to tie other colors in!

Cheyenne and Seth and Co. said...

you are amazing! I am super impressed, next time you're in Utah you can come and teach me how to upholster chairs:)

Me and My Boys said...

Hey Kim, It's Laura, Chirstina's sister Long time no see, Your little girl is super cute! How are you guys? how do you like colorado?

Morrise Family said...

I'm really impressed with your chairs and love the contrasting piping! I took an upholstrey class through community ed here in Provo and it's not easy! I checked this book out from the library and thought it was a really good reference:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1843307979

Debra Darling said...

You did a great job for your first time recovering! My first recovering job was on a huge couch. I finally threw it out because I couldn't stand looking how how awful I did any more!

jen.nie said...

WHOA KIM!! You have a hidden talent!! They look great!

Ira and Heather said...

Wow! Kim you have a talent!!! I can't believe those are the same chairs!!! I remember what those looked like when I came over. Now Jeff has to like the chairs better. I know who to have help when with projects like that!! I miss you guys!

Alaina said...

Ooo I am SO IMPRESSED! Now that I have never tried. You are amazing!