minor transformations

I have been working on some little projects in the midst of some big and bigger projects on the new house. I'm not quite ready to share the big things yet because they're not done and if I showed you the state of my walls post-wallpaper-and-paneling and the state of my kitchen without the cabinets and drawers that are outside being painted, you would probably gasp.  It's a mess, but it's our mess and so it's a beautiful mess :)

However, I have been busy in my sewing room, making lots of pretty things. I had an old farm chair that my Dad scored at an auction when I was a kid and we recently found a similar-style chair at a yard sale for $10 with no cushions, so I got some fabric to make the two chairs match.  Here's the garage-sale chair before:

and here it is after...

And see that ottoman up there with that chair??? Here's the before of that...

Not bad, huh?
Oh, and here's the chair being put to good use...

I also have some really cool shutters on my kitchen window.  They have fabric inserts, but the fabric in there was just not my style (with a valance to match) and so I got busy making some new inserts for them. Here's the before:

And here they are now...

In that top photo, you can see a tiny bit of the floral wall paper that was everywhere in this kitchen.  After a WEEK of work, that wall paper is now all gone.  Wall paper is my absolute nemesis.  Fortunately, I found a wall paper steamer on Craigslist that is worth its weight in gold! Trust me, it's the only way to go to remove 30-40-year-old wall paper.

I have a few more things in the works.  I made some living room curtains and plan on doing some painting this weekend, so maybe I'll have more to share soon! For now, my Father-in-law is hard at working filling holes and painting cabinets.  What a guy :)