Home Remedies: April 2012

April 4, 2012

A Pretty Little Skirt

Despite my best intentions, unexpected medical issues (both of my doggies, my son, then my hubby!), have derailed my decorating plans. Time, money and that ever precious commodity , energy, had to be channeled elsewhere for a few months. The good news is that everyone, dogs included, have either recovered completely or are on the mend. Oh yeah, I also started back to work full-time. Did I forget to mention that? Anyhoo….. despite all of the drama, I did manage to squeeze in a few projects here and there, along with some thrifted finds that I have big plans for (I will be sharing those over the next few weeks).

But lets start with one of my favorite mini-makeovers, shall we? A few months ago, after my dear, sweet, but not very gentle son broke one of our dining chairs, I began the search for a replacement. Our dining set is the Sourav collection from World Market, only with two benches and a chair at each end.

Photo: Cost Plus World Market

We bought the set about six years ago, and World Market still sells it so I knew I could replace the broken chair easily enough. Or so I thought. My set, being slightly aged, has darkened a bit over time and all of the newer pieces had way too much red undertone to match up. The sales lady assured me that the color difference wouldn’t be very noticable but she obviously doesn't know me very well. I knew that it would bother me immensly. I had been toying with the idea of using parsons chairs, so I meandered back over to the dining set area to see what I could find. I was ecstatic to see these chairs on clearance for more than half off!

http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/cost-plus-world-market-marco-dining-chair-raisin-reviews

The only color they had left was called “raisin” and did not exactly fit my color scheme, but I knew that a slipcover could fix the problem. They were super comfy, and at such a great price, I snatched up two chairs and brought them home. Now I just had to find the perfect slipcovers, at the perfect price.

Fast forward two months. I happened to be at Ikea shopping for a slipcover for my thrifted Ektorp love seat (more on that later), and being the ~~cheapskate~~ price conscience person that I am, I headed over to the clearance section first. There were no Ektorp slips, but I did happen upon a couple of Henriksdal chair covers, and at 7.00 for two, it was worth a try.

HENRIKSDAL Chair cover IKEA The washable cover to HENRIKSDAL chair frame is easy to put on and take off.

Ikea.com

Back at home, I was sad to discover that the chair covers were not quite long enough. Not one to get discouraged, I turned to Pintrest to see if I could gather some ideas. Sure enough, I found this picture:

http://akadesign.ca/?p=4755

I knew I could sew some fabric onto the bottom of the existing slipcovers and make some pretty skirts. One inexpensive flat sheet later, and this is the result: