A contest and a learning curve

I’m weird.  I’m super, super competitive–though not in an unhealthy way, I don’t think–but I don’t really enjoy contests.  Too much pressure. However, I stumbled upon the Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest (FFFC) via Facebook and other bloggers, and thought, Hey, why not?  

The contest brings together various DIY, furniture, and home decor brands /businesses and bloggers, like myself.  Recent collaborations include General Finishes, D Lawless Hardware, HomeRight, and this month, Minted.  At the risk of embarrassing myself, I’m going to admit that prior to the securing a spot in the contest–a feat in and of itself–I had never heard of Minted.  After perusing the site for, um, about 5 seconds I realized I had been missing out.  Beautiful paper, (I am a SUCKER for beautiful paper), art, home decor and most things in between. My favorite part, though? The concept.  Designers submit their designs, the Minted community votes on which designs meet muster and appeal to them, and then Minted “mints” them via their site. Minted. Get it? Products include fabric, art, pillows, paper, cards, stationary, invitations, and Christmas cards. Pssssst: If I win, I’m so ordering my Christmas card from them, and even if I don’t win, I’m so ordering my cards from them.

Now to the learning curve.  This month’s contest theme? “Take A Seat.”  This month’s hosts, Colleen from 58 Water Street and Stacy from Anastasia Vintage provided both inspiration and much needed courage. Hand me a paintbrush, some stripper, an orbital sander, a pin nailer, some stain, or some varnish and I’m unfazed.  Tell me to reupholster something? I’m shaking in my boots.  Not one to back down from a challenge, though in all honesty I did consider it,  I got busy. The first task?  Find something suitable to upholster.  My first candidate was a cool, cool wing chair with unconventional lines, but was a full-blown upholstery project. I’m crazy, but not that crazy. The second candidate was a lumpy, old chair–straightforward, but boring.  Here’s my third candidate, an interesting but tired mid-century barrel chair I found in the dump, a place I affectionately call “The Free Place,” and a “matching” ottoman.

The second task?  Select a fabric.  Minted provided each contestant with 5 yards of fabric at no cost to the contestant. I’m still wrapping my pretty little head around that one, and can only say: thank you, Minted!  Selecting a fabric proved difficult.  Patterns choices–over 500 hundred!–and then, the color choices.  And even more, the competition element. One fellow contestant voiced her concern about choosing the same fabric as another contestant, and likened it to showing up to prom in the same dress as another girl. Her comment made me chuckle, mostly because the same thought crossed my mind as well. Can we say aaaawwkward? Below you’ll find some of the options I mulled over.

Eventually, I settled on Althea and Ruth’s “English Garden” and “Herringbone Stack” from Anupama Srivastava. Truly, though, it was a struggle.

The battle commenced with staple removal.  This was a big ‘ol pain.  I’m a firm believer in having the right tools for a job and anticipate doing more upholstery work in the future, so I purchased a quality staple remover, a regulator, and an upholstery gun.  We take our DIY seriously around here!  Even with the right tools, removing the staples proved problematic, because of this groove.

Getting enough leverage to remove the staple, without damaging the frame, was painstaking and tricky. Eventually though, as Thad and I tagged teamed her, we stripped her to down to her lovely bones.

Before I did anything with fabric, I cleaned up the frame with my favorite Gojo technique and applied a dark stain to revive the lovely, if tired wood. And then I watched A LOT of Youtube videos.  Everything I’ve read and viewed has suggested taking pictures to help put Humpty Dumpty back together again, and so I did. I also enlisted the help of my favorite sidekick, Thad, for his extra pair of hands and unflagging moral support. I’m not sure what I’d do without him around.

Armed with just enough information to be dangerous, the upholstery started, fast and furious. I started by applying a layer of Dacron–the existing foam was a bit flat–and this proved to be good practice for the fabric.

And then I messed it up!  In my effort to replicate a tutorial–she’s a pro whereas I’m a quaking beginner–I snipped where I shouldn’t have.  If this wasn’t a contest, I might have been tempted to thrown this chair on the burn pile.  Instead, I started stress eating cauliflower (I’m on a health kick right now!) and I didn’t have chocolate around. It took a few deep breaths, a calm carpenter husband, and the knowledge that it had to get done to give me the courage to hack up another yard of my beautiful–and limited–fabric.  But I did.

After summoning up the courage to begin again, I messed it up again!  This time, it was the pneumatic stapler–it was so tricky to pull the fabric and to staple the fabric in the correct way to the frame.  There was some staple pulling, basically the equivalent of a seam-ripper when sewing, a stapled index finger (mine, not Thad’s!), and some beer before we got everything pulled into place.  It took the better part of a day.

To finish her off, I made some double welt cord and then hot glued it in place, again with Thad wielding the tool and me placing the fabric/cord. Post upholstery project, I’m exhausted and a bit stressed–remember, my “don’t like contests” comment?  I’m not sure I’m in any hurry to begin another upholstery project anytime soon, but am glad I had the necessary kick in the pants to do at least one. But Thad gets the major assist on this one–there’s absolutely no way it would look the way it does without his participation.

Want to see the end result??

One of my favorite details are the castors on this chair.  They’re something I’ve never seen before.

Do you blog?  Do you share our passion for furniture fixing?  If so, consider joining the Fab Furniture Flippin’ Contest! Join a wonderful, warm community of women (all women, at this point I think?!), who love to share what they do with like-minded people, AND gain exposure for you and your little corner of the wide, wide interweb.  Below, you’ll see the various women who pull this contest together every month. Wow. And THANK YOU. For further information, email info@fabfurnitureflippincontest.com.

Since this is a contest, I’m going to ask that you please vote for my entry. Voting begins after the contest closes (during the week of November 23rd), and you, my readers can vote for my entry via the Inlinkz thumbnails at either 58 Water Street or Anastasia Vintage.  Still on the fence?  I’ll borrow a line from Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite and say: “Vote for me and all your wildest dreams will come true!” Wink, wink.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I have so much to be thankful for, not the least of which is that this project is in the bag.  Till next time!