How to Waterproof Your Upholstered Dining Chairs

 If you've got kids and you've got upholstery within a meter of your dining table, chances are, you've got stained upholstery. I did a ton of research about the best way to go about incorporating kid- and water-proofed dining room upholstery. Because, let's be honest, kids (try as they might) are not easy on fabric where grape juice and peanut butter oils are concerned.

 

 

I had this great coral-print fabric on-hand that I wanted to use to lighten and brighten the original dark-brick-reddish chair upholstery. But there was no way it was going to stay clean without some sort of protective barrier.

 

There are loads of ideas out there. Buying oilcloth (or leather or vinyl or other water-resistant fabric) outright would work if you didn't already have fabric, but that didn't apply to me here. I was tempted to try my hand at soaking the fabric in boiled linseed oil, but the extreme flammability and the warnings about having the fabric be forever tacky swayed me away from that.

 

 

I read that you could use iron-on vinyl, and thought this would be my answer until I realized it only came in 17" widths. My dining chair seats were wider than that. But wait! Fabric.com sold the stuff in 24" widths!!! (Fabric.com was the only place I could find that offers 24".) And it's cheap, too - like $6/yd or something. Problem solved.

 

I cut my fabric to fit the seats then followed the very easy instructions on my heat&bond iron-on vinyl. (Be careful to double- and triple-check the surface of your fabric before you stick the stuff on to make sure it's clear of lint and hair. Otherwise, you'll have lint and hair on there eternally.)

 

Ended up with a relatively flexible and waterproof piece of fabric. Yesssss.

 

 

I followed this basic tutorial on recovering the dining room seats.  

 

 

Start at the center of each edge and work toward the corners with the staples.

 

 

Do opposite edges.

 

 

So, when the two opposite sides of the seat were stapled (the front and the back, when the seat would be reinstalled onto the chair frame), I was ready to do corners. Starting in the center of one of the side edges, I stapled half and then, always pulling taut (because vinyl shows off wrinkles baaaaad), curved the staple line upward toward the corner. Like in the photo below.

 

 

Trimmed the excess.

 

 

Neatly folded and pinched the remaining corner fabric, doing my best to minimize the pleating.

 

 

Then stapled the fold down.

 

 

I did that for all four corners, and the seat cushion was ready to rock & roll.

 

 

I love how easy this is to do, how inexpensive, and how it lets you use whatever fabric you want, pretty much anywhere in your house, worry-free.

 

 

Here's the brightening effect of a fabric swap:

 

 

I'm a fan, I'm not going to lie. I love having this option for our dining room. Because I have four kids (the oldest is 9), and spills and fingerprints are part of our daily existence. It's not matte, to be honest, but it's not like covering the seat itself in separate clear vinyl. This is easily more subtle, less shiny, than that.

 

 

There are still some changes I want to make to this dining space before I call it good. But, for now, this quick waterproofing fix provides continuity and a little brightness.

 

 

Now, when I cry over spilt milk, it'll not be because the chair seats are ruined. It'll just be because I don't want to clean it up. Again.
(Just kidding. I don't actually cry over spilt milk. Usually.)


{shared: A Glimpse Inside, A Jennuine Life, DIY by Design, GingerSnap Crafts, My Girlish Whims, Sew Much Ado, Simply Designing, Sugar and Dots, The Happy Housie}

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Mismatched dining room chairs

Hey everyone.

I'm currently in the process of working on some dining room chairs for the freshly painted dining room table. I think an eclectic mismatched situation, with just a hint of cohesion, is more my style than what's going on currently at my dining table. But I've got some tricky resources to work with, so I'm trying to get it all figured out.

 

Which means I'm hitting the cyberwaves for some much-needed inspiration. I'm good at sharing. I'll share:

This room is bold, which I like, but I almost feel like everything is trying a little too hard. Overall, I like the idea behind the dining chair cushions' coordinating.

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Oh heavens. Yes, yes, and YES. Everything.

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Alternatively, I do love a dining bench as well. I grew up with two benches at our family table, and now I kind of want my kids to experience the tugging adjusting squeezing jostling bumping that comes with it. Plus, you can always squeeze in "just one more" dinner guest... :)

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Major vintage feel to this dining, ah, "set." Love the looseness and casual vibe. Also, because the chairs are so low-backed, they don't draw too much attention to themselves. Which is, to me, endearing.



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Both styles below are mid-century, but the chairs' mediums are completely different. A fancy person's version of "mismatch."

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I like this kind-of-random jumble of chairs.

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Love the subtle-yet-apparent differences in the mismatched dining chairs here. No, really. I love this.



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Anyway. You get the idea. But my very most ultimate inspiration photo, the one that I'm trying to work into our own space, is this guy:

 

 

Next up: painting the walls white and adding delightfully undersized bits of vintage art. And also, stealing a church pew.

 

Just kidding. I won't get around to doing that stuff. But wouldn't it be great if I did? Because then I could practically have this dining room!

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How to Paint a Dining Room Table

Hey kids, as you can probably tell from the title, this post is about painting a dining room table. Because I'm crazy like that.

 

 

I'm not talking about slapping on a coat of paint and calling it good. I'm talking about durability. About kid-friendly. About withstanding milk spills and spaghetti night. About not worrying whether or not the tabletop is going to survive its next Kids' Craft Hour.

 

If you get what I'm saying, nod your head.

If you're nodding your head, read on...

 

I've been wanting to swap our current counter-height dining set for a standard table height for some time now, just because our dining room space is so small. I felt like everything was disproportionate.

 

Fortuitously enough, we looted a dining table and four chairs from an unsuspecting and sweet neighbor who's moving. (By "looted," I mean we hauled away her table while she practically did a happy dance because it meant she wouldn't have to move it anywhere herself.)

 

 

It's in decent shape but not great. Hey, it was free - no complaints here.

 

 

I love wood, don't get me wrong, but as you can see from the photos above, this particular table is (a) not real wood, and (b) possessing a wood tone that is too dark for our small dining room. We needed a little more light-n-bright. Stat.

 

 

The chairs are in good condition, but not exactly what I'm after. That's another project for another day. Soon.

 

 

There are a million and three ways to paint a dining table (believe me, I've scoured the interwebs and have taken copious notes), but this is the way I went about it. If you're looking to embark on a similar project yourself, feel free to add my humble account here into your mix of research.

 

(Continue reading after the jump.)

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Dining Room Furniture I'd like to Meet...and then Steal

If you've taken my ever-evolving house decorating tour, you may recall this photo of our dining room:

 

Since this photo was taken, I've changed out and trimmed the curtains and added a rug to the space, which makes me happy. But what doesn't make me, like, thrilled is our dining room set. It seems so blah. Too tall for this little room (and too tall for the kids to push themselves up to the table). Not a place you're subconsciously moved into pulling up a chair and staying awhile, even if there's popcorn and a cutthroat round of Boggle going down.

The dining room is one of the first things you see when you walk into our home, but I feel like this setup doesn't reflect us as a family. I'd love to mix and match traditional and contemporary. Have an odd chair or two. Add in patina or color or vibrancy or character. Or (d) all of the above.
 

Hello, Saarinen table and leather Louis chairs (and, while we're at it, sputnik chandy). Welcome to my blog. May I welcome you to my real life? Pretty pretty please?



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The mix of dining chairs (but all of a similar modern style) is so engaging here.

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Isn't this set-up pretty? I like the chunky-looking table legs. I'd love to give my husband a velvet upholstered chair at our dinner table. The kids would have vinyl until they've proven themselves worthy. Like in 30 years. But I don't think they'd complain about these cool LC7s.

Contemporary Dining Room design by San Francisco Architect Fougeron Architecture FAIA

 

You guys all know I love a rustic-industrial combo. Like this. I don't know how comfy the chairs would be in real life (like that rusted one makes me a little nervous, frankly), but it sure is pretty. Annnnd I would adopt that sweet chandelier if I could. And name him Henry. Henry the Chandy. Has a great ring to it.

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I especially love a more traditional table paired with modern dining room chairs. And quite possibly my very favorite look of all time is a clean-lined stained wooden table paired with vapor chairs. Actually, I love everything about this dining room design - it's not a lot of space to work with (I can relate to that with our dining room), but they've done a lot to make it inviting here.

Modern Dining Room design by Orange County Interior Designer squarefoot interior design

 

Paul isn't sold on the fact that a new dining room table (and, consequently, chairs) is really necessary for us right now. He's absolutely right, it's not. But it's definitely fun to dream...

What do you guys think? Do you have a favorite dining room style?

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Greek Key Trim on Dining Room Curtains

Happy new year's eve! What a blessed year 2012 has been for me; I hope you feel the same in your lives.

 

I finished up the greek key trim from this post. Crazy how such a teensy thing makes such a big difference. I love projects like this!

 

 

I took some $20 white Ikea tab curtains, trimmed them out, and sewed down the tabs in the back so the curtains would mimic a pinch pleat. I like the way it turned out. Subtle detail. Anyway, it's an improvement from what was here previously.

 

 

I took these photos before I ironed the drapes. That's right, you read it right. Me. Ironed. Something I never ever do, but, hey, since the Mayan end-of-worldness was wrong, who knows WHAT's going to happen at this point. Everything* changes now, am I right?

 

*And by "everything" I of course mean "nothing." Except for ironing. This one time.

 

 

{shared A Diamond in the Stuff, A Jennuine Life, A Round Tuit, Adorned from Above, Beyond the Picket Fence, Boogieboard Cottage, Brassy Apple, Carolyn's Homework, Cedar Hill Ranch, Craft-O-Maniac, DIY by Design, DIY Dreamer, GingerSnap Crafts, I Should be Mopping the Floor, Keeping It Simple, Kurtz Corner, Ladybug Blessings, Making the World Cuter, Mandatory Mooch, Mercy Ink, My Girlish Whims, Pinkapotamus, Polka Dots on Parade, Rustic Pig, Sew Can Do, Sew Much Ado, Shabby Creek Cottage, Southern Lovely, Sugar and Dots, Sugar Bee Crafts, Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Sweet Little Gals, The 36th Avenue, The Girl Creative, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, Winthrop Chronicles}



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Rugs rugs rugs!

I love getting stuff in the mail. Even if it's stuff I ordered myself and tracked almost hourly until delivery, it's still super exciting.

 

I ordered two rugs at a killer sale from here a couple weeks ago.

 

Hooray! Bless you, RugsUSA. Bless you, UPS man. Bless you, world in general.

 

We're currently trying out one of them under our dining table. The colors are magnificent, and I have big plans (always) to build a new dining table and get some other chairs. But that won't happen until spring at the earliest, so I'm content to enjoy this rug for what it is right now.



And what it is is glorious.

 

Anyone have any rug love? I'd love a pic or URL. I could spend hours and hours looking at rugs. Could and have. And will again.

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Dining Room: House Tour

When we moved into our house, the dining room looked like this:

 

(Photo circa 2006.) 

There's a lot to comment on, but I'm trying to keep this blog a positive place, so I'll be brief. Shrinky dink table + eNORmous high chair, dingy-looking curtains that barely cover the sliding glass doors, undersized wall decor, a floating wall-mounted phone, and that wallpaper trim. Yipes stripes. 

 

Over the course of a couple of years, we removed the wallpaper trim, painted the room an avocado green, moved one cabinet out from being directly over the kitchen bar area and mounted it here instead (the white cabinet below), replaced the curtains & rod, added another wall thing, exchanged monster high chair for smaller booster seat, added a black dresser/table. 



(Photo circa 2009.)

The table is still too small for the space, although at least the room has the makings of some sort of personality here.

Fast-forward a few years. We painted (shocker, I know), created an art wall of sorts (I use the term verrrry loosely here), hung a drum shade chandelier, opened up the cabinet, swapped dining table & chairs, and replaced tile with hardwood.

 

(Photos taken 2012.)

Again, big plans for this dining room. Involving some updated curtains and a rug. We'll see how it all comes together!
 

 To tour the process of other rooms in my home, click here.

{shared Chic on a Shoestring Budget, Fireflies & Jellybeans, My Romantic Home}

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