Real Inspired: January 2014

Shabby Chic Dropcloth Chair Cover

Hi guys! Remember this chair?

Burgandy Chair gets a Dropcloth Makeover!

Old, burgundy velour, and free?

I really wasn't diggin' it. Especially the closer it got to Christmas and it's colors of red and green. I was pretty sure that it just wasn't going to work out. I had hoped to make a slipcover for it by then, but you know how I roll by now. It didn't happen.

I discovered that one of the legs on one side was a little busted. And I started thinking that I didn't want to waste time and money to slipcover a chair that was broken. It wasn't my favorite chair anyway so I probably wouldn't put the money into fixing it. So I waited, not exactly sure what I would do but knowing SOMETHING had to be done by Christmas.

A few months ago, my mom found this picture in a book and sent it to me. If it could work for a couch, surely it could work for a chair! It was worth a try at least. So off I went to Lowe's and bought a 9'x12' dropcloth.

I like to wash fabric before I use it but this was a bit big for our washing machine. I tried anyway. I'm really not sure how well it rinsed out. I am absolutely terrified of laundromats(weird, I know) so I didn't even go that route, though that would have been the best. The dryer did not work so well on it either so I had to lay it out over our table to finish drying.

Actually getting it to look right on the chair was harder than I thought it would be. There was a lot of extra material that gave the chair a poofy look. Definitely not the shabby chic look that I wanted! It took a little doing, but I finally figured out that some of the extra poof was taken care of if I pulled it underneath the chair legs. And it held the whole thing in place better.

Because there was a seam down the middle of the cloth, I was limited in how I could maneuver it. I stuffed the seam down behind the chair cushion where it meets the back of the chair. Then it just took moving the material around and trying to place it in folds instead of bunches.

I haven't had any problems with it shifting around too much so far, except over the holidays when there were lots of people using it.

Ignore the lovely background of laundry and the eliptical machine. Or not. If it makes you feel better about your own living room, well, we all need those moments. That's why we all watch Hoarders. Am I right?

It isn't my favorite look but, to me, it's better than the burgundy. It is now a light neutral and it works in this room so much better! It's a temporary fix but it's one I can live with!

I'll just keep telling myself that it doesn't look like a just threw a dropcloth over a chair and called it a day. Is it truly "shabby chic" or does it evoke images of creepy old haunted houses with cloth covered furniture?

I may link up here.

Let's Get Dangerous!

How close do I walk to the wild side?

I know, I'm a wild child. A glass of water spilling on the computer didn't teach me apparently. Now I have to experiment with open paint cans.

I should at least move Hubby's shirt though, huh?

ps. If you said the title with a really deep dramatic voice and pauses between each word, then you, Random Person, are awesome. And probably have some great childhood memories.

One Word {2014}

I'm a little slow for this post, but I really wanted to think good and hard about my one word. My one overarching word that will steer me through 2014. Yes, I came up with a little list of goals, but this one word is something that I will keep going back to every minute, every day. Even when I'm not actively organizing closets.

Hubby is very happy with this word.

Have you picked out one word for 2014?

Train Wreck

Does your life ever feel like a train wreck?

{SOURCE}

I think this might be how my house feels at the moment.

All right, that may be a more accurate representation of me at the moment.

If you go upstairs, there are still Christmas boxes and decorations just hanging out. If you go downstairs, there are still Christmas decorations just hanging out there too. Also, the kitchen threw up in the living room.

Oh yeah, and random eliptical machine that still doesn't have a home yet.

Have I mentioned we've been painting the kitchen? Because we have. It's coming along quite nicely too. It was the one room in our house that I wanted done before we had our next kid. And here we are, a month away from next kid and on schedule to have it done, thanks to some wonderful friends and family.

But, you know, in the middle of all this mess, one might be tempted to not make it worse. But that extra mess might be exactly what you need. What your kids need.

Before we put it up for next Christmas, Hubby thought he'd get out the brand new, never opened, train set we got this Christmas. Little Man likes trains and we thought he'd get a kick out of this one.

Little Man's newest fascination is telephone poles and this train came with a whole bunch of them! He was quite excited about that.

In the setting up process, Hubby walked out of them room to get something and this kid figured out how to turn the train on. You can guess a two year old's reaction to accidentally making this big train move. I would say equal parts fascination, excitement, and fear.

The train was a great success.

Sometimes you just have to make a bigger mess and make some memories. He won't remember the house looking like a train wreck. But he might just remember the first time he and his daddy put together a cool train set, complete with fake steam.

I may be linking up here.

My Top 5 Goals for 2014

I am not a New Year's Resolutions person. Honestly, I never saw the point. No one ever keeps them anyway. And the gyms make a killing! But goals...

I can get behind goals.

A few well thought out goals for the upcoming year can be a good thing. Especially for someone like me who is great at making lists and terrible at long-term planning. Hubby and I have been talking about the few main things we want to work towards and plan for this year. So I have a few lists of family goals, blog goals, and personal goals.

Not all are for sharing, but here my top five:

1. Finish the Nursery - I had wanted the nursery finished by now, but sometimes life happens. And I am the procrastinating queen soooo...yes. This is a big goal for the year as we are now at the 6 week countdown mark till Baby Real Inspired arrives! Also, he's going to need a better nickname once he gets here. Any suggestions?

2. Paint the Kitchen - This room has been in limbo for a year too long. By next fall, I want to have this room ready for seasonal decorating! I did nothing to it this year because, well, this:

Decorating that just seems pointless. Full disclosure: this is an old picture. The wallpaper has been totally removed at this point. The last few days have been full of prep work for a kitchen work day on Saturday! Let's see if we can't knock this one out before baby gets here!

3. Organize the Closets - Just looking at my house, you wouldn't know that I can actually be organized. I love organization but I don't do well in breaking down those projects to actually get them done. I see the big pile, get overwhelmed, and promptly go make myself a cup of hot coffee, all the while convincing myself that tomorrow is another day. I'm hoping to work a little more on this with Hubby's help. He is so much better at breaking things down into manageable steps than I am.

4. Grow the Blog - I've decided to focus on two main things to accomplish this: a new, more professional-looking blog design(can't wait to share it!), and participation in more link parties. I knew a blog could be work but I really didn't grasp how much! Eventually, I'd like to be able to monetize and make a little money on the side but that will be down the road.

5. Keep Up with the Ironing - Sure, that sounds funny, but I really hate ironing. It piles up and then Hubby has nothing fit for wearing to work. I am baring my insecure, wifely, soul here. So often I prioritize other things(like *cough* house projects *cough cough*) that I neglect something that is important to him and necessary for his job. So this year, I will strive to banish the selfish ironing procrastination!

I'd also like to hear what kind of posts and projects you would like to see this year! If you have any suggestions, leave a comment below! Feel like sharing your goals for the new year? I would love to hear them! And if you have a blog post of your own goals, go ahead and leave a link in the comment section and I'll head over to check it out!

I may be linking up here.

All the Christmas Pillows!

Last week I finally got my Christmas "Tour" up for everyone to see. There are several reasons that I finished that post after Christmas. One, I had an eliptical machine sitting in front of the fireplace. Two, I drenched my laptop with water. And three, I hadn't finished my mountain of pillows.

Here is my couch with a few of the finished masses. The Christmas tree pillow in the center was my decor inspiration. I bought a couple of these a few years ago at JC Penny's. Every other pillow was made by me in a mad frenzy of Christmas spirit. Took me a few weeks to knock them all out, mostly working on them at night after Little Man went to bed.

On the far left is the sweater pillow from my fall decor. You can read about that one here.

The solid green pillow used to be a tablecloth. Thrift store fabric for the win! On the far right is one of two white pillows that I made from a thrift store curtain. I used this tutorial I found at Vintage Revivals. I love her zipper trick! But, unlike the tutorial, I wanted my covers to fit the inserts trimly so I cut the material only an inch larger than my inserts.

All the inserts are old feather pillows bought at the thrift store. The cheap way to buy feather pillows! Best thing!

This is definitely my favorite pillow of the bunch. My shirt pillow. Or, technically, Poor Hubby's Shirt Pillow. You can read more about it here.

This is my second shirt pillow. I didn't have enough shirt material for one complete rectangle on the back so I cut out two squares, lined up the pattern and sewed them together to make a complete rectangle. For the front I used a leftover square of dropcloth from this project. The original plan included stenciling the front, but it was way too close to Christmas and, really, who needs that extra stress? Wrapping leather cording around it was way easier, still fit with my decor, and it was free.

After making the Christmas tree skirt, I had 1/2 yard of faux fur left over. Soooo...another pillow. That I stuffed with leftover stuffing from when I shortened my King-size pillows. Good thing I hung on to that! The snowflake pillow was in the dollar section at Target for $3.

We really had a pillow-palooza at our house! You can never have enough pillows in my opinion. An opinion that, unfortunately, Hubby does not share. I should have remembered that before I cut up his shirt.