Trashure

A friend's neighbor was throwing this sad stool a way. My friend rescued it, knowing I would be able to use it. Yes, I get trash gifts :D

Although it was falling apart it was actually well made and stable. It was missing two side sticks but I knew what to do with that problem right away.

First I dismantled it completely, it had good long screws that I threw in the tumbler for them to clean up. The parts of the top and those used to kind of repair it in the past I got rid of. I then used one of the long sticks to replace the missing short one and all the long sticks I replaced with pretty sticks that we bought in a thriftshop back in 2017 during our trip to California.

I filled up the screws and holes and already it looked much better! I brushed the wood clean but did not sand it smooth as I wanted to keep its texture.

I choose 5 colors of paint to match what I wanted to use on the top. I painted the wood with a rough dry brush without trying to cover the entire wood (except for the first layer of dark brown) and then sometimes used a metal brush to rub it off for an aged look.

The paintwork gets varnished as I use water-based paint. The feet got felt to protect both the paintwork and the floor it will live on :) I built the top of salvaged wood.

As this stool already was pretty high I needed to have a frame going down. The ugly bottom got covered with fabric.

The top got a 5 cm foam and got covered again with the red lining fabric.

And the top I covered with vintage kilim. The side kilim has holes due to the way it is woven, hence why the foam needed to be covered with fabric first.

This one might have the most extreme makeover yet till date, I'm so happy that it turned in to something pretty instead of ending up in a landfill.

It is super strong and stable, and absolutely gorgeous to look at.

I find it so satisfying to give these sad pieces of furniture another chance, even a better one than that they had when they were new :)

Available at StarHomeStudio among many other one-of-a-kind furniture pieces and home decor.

From Trash to Treasure

Finally another furniture project finished! The heat is not really motivating, especially as a lot has to be done outside. This sad little ottoman had some cute legs, but that was the only thing that was nice.

The fabric and foam were in a horrible state, the legs were wobbling too, all in all it needed a lot of TLC.

Peeling off all the fabric caused me two big blisters, the wood is hard and the fabric was stapled at 3 places.

After sanding, securing and painting the feet the ottoman already looks much better.

Time to cut the kilims.

Stapling, webbing, fabric and foam.

Sewing the kilims and trims together.

As the wood was so hard it was very hard to hammer all the nails in place (FYI I was wearing shorts :)).

But the result was worth all the sweat, tears and blisters.

Giving these sad furniture pieces a new life is so satisfying, especially as we also use vintage fabrics and embroideries.

The ottoman is available at StarHomeStudio among other one of a kind furniture pieces and home decor.

Tender Loving Care

This sad little ottoman had quite the make over with some TLC. All four legs were wobbling, its filling all out of shape, fabric faded, staples rusted all in all a sad little pouf.

You might remember this photo were I had already removed the fabric and the guts of the ottoman and started painting.

I love stripes but every time I want to paint stripes I remember how much I do not enjoy them, but I love the result so these won't be my last stripes :)

The vintage black and white trim is to cover up the staples that hold the kilim to the pouf.

I'm so happy how this one became! Only the filling and the under fabric is new, everything else has a history.

Love how the kilim colors and stripes come back at the legs, of course this was the reason why I painted those stripes for hours in the first place :)

Look how sad the top was, the fabric was actually very bright in the inside it was now pastel from years of sun exposure.

The filling is higher than it was to accommodate the kilim without cutting it, not an inch went to waste :)

Here another sad detail of ripped fabric, dried out wood and rusted staples, the original upholstery was never well done but years did not help it either.

The completely made over pretty kilim ottoman is available at StarHomeStudio among other one of a kind furniture pieces.

Custom made Kilim Ottoman

At the end of last year we got a lovely convo through Etsy with the question if we could make a custom made ottoman according to a kilim the customer had. I replied that we could and after a few emails back and forth, receiving pictures of the kilim and their beautiful home and giving my mailing address I did not hear back again.

Thinking that she changed her mind it was a nice surprise to get a kilim in the mail a few weeks later. It was actually lucky she forgot to write me as I would have been looking for the perfect feet in the mean time at various places which I didn't, but we scored some beautiful vintage wooden feet just 2 days before the kilim arrived, it was just meant to be :)

I cleaned up the straight parts with a sanding machine and the remaining parts by hand.

And then we built a strong wooden skeleton exactly according to the size of the kilim, an impressive size of 38'' by 26 1/2'' (97 cm x 67 cm).

It was then time to decide on the paint.

We mailed between each step to be sure that we were on the right track and it was a fun project.

As the ottoman is so large I had to do the paintwork in the living room which has our biggest table.
After 7 layers of paint and varnish it was time for upholstering it :)

Strong webbing, on top of that fabric, then foam. Under some more fabric to cover the webbing and it was time to cut and sew the kilim.

Deciding on the little details, and then nailing the kilim in to place!

And a beautiful kilim ottoman as result :)

Normally we work the other way around, fixing furniture and finding stuff to cover it, it was nice to discover that we can do it another way too :)

This kilim is of course not for sale, but we have some pretty one of a kind furniture pieces in our StarHomeStudio shop.

And a little update: the ottoman in the customer's home :)