All we Need is Love

All we need is love, even a heart shaped pouf :)
This one was never really anything special but a kid clearly didn't improve it by the time we scored it.

All the faux leather, out of shape foam and filling had to be removed.

Then it was time to choose the fabric, always fun to do.

An her she is with a pretty new dress and a whole new attitude :)

The top is a beautiful vintage embroidery, the sides a terracotta colored velvet.

Available at StarHomeStudio among other one of a kind furniture pieces.

Little in Between Project

Just to show that we sometimes make our furniture for ourselves :)
This was a large wooden tray originally used at a bakery to let dough raise, I scored a few of them and after a thorough cleaning they have been in storage for a year or two.
I sawed little shelves for it and after nailing those all in place it got two layers of white paint.

Here a sexy picture of me, glasses all foggy as it is still 40 Celsius degrees here I got all sweaty and it condenses in the plastic glasses, yes very sexy especially with my leopard night gown :D

But it did turn out cool, perfect for all our large thread bobbins in the sewing room. The only new thing was the paint, so a good recycle project too :)

Vanity Chair Gets a Boho Flair

I think the 80's was the worse fashion era ever, like horrible colors, weird baggy shapes and even hair and make up was bad. This vanity chair had the misfortune to be dressed (and made) in the 80's, I have seen worse clothing on people from that time but still this is bad :)

The shape and size however is adorable, it is almost like a pouf but with a back.
All the horrible fabric was removed, the body was reinforced, foam was renewed and now it was time for dressing her up.

You know how most women try a gazillion things went they go somewhere, making a huge pile of clothing on their bed in the progress? Well we always make a huge pile of fabrics and embroideries while we search for the best combo's for these furniture pieces.
For the 'dress' part we used a vintage handwoven, hand embroidered pleated skirt, the pleats needed to be opened and then resewn in the correct length to fit entirely around the body of the chair.

For the back we created Faux Chenille. This is a technique which starts with layering fabric pieces on top of each other, as long as the first layer is one large piece the other layers can be small pieces of fabric.
Those layers are then secured with safety pins or pin needles.

Then you sew diagonal lines with about 5/8'' (1.5 cm) between each line until your entire layers of fabrics are sewn together becoming a firm fabric.

Then in between each sewn line all layers are cut with scissors, except for the first layer which will hold everything together.

Once cut this is first thrown in to the washing machine and then in the dryer. You'll see why in a bit.

Like the blooming arm chair we wanted some crocheted flowers again for extra texture and quirkiness. This time they were dyed in greens and blues to match the fabric of the seat.

Now it is time to put all pieces together :)

The faux chenille becomes fluffy after washing and drying, the more the fabric frays the more fun the result becomes. While the green looks like grass, the flowers look very happy among the green.

I could staple most flowers to the chair as it was wood on the sides and back, with nails for staple guns. Only a few needed to be sewn as they came on the foam part.

This chair is now so fun and happy, vintage materials from different times mashed together with some crazy :)

The chair is now available in our StarHomeStudio shop among other one of a kind furniture pieces :)

Tender Loving Care

This little drawer chest has been hanging around in our attic for quite some time and it was time to bring this sad piece down to give it some tender loving care :)

The leather on top was all dried, ripped and ugly, under it was a layer of blue fabric which was holding its filling.

The filling was old school, saw dust! It was still neatly in place but not my choice of filling.

Once all filling, nails, fabric and leather was removed I sanded the wood completely until the woods beautiful color came back, a pinkish warm colored wood and as soft as baby bottoms :)

I decided to spice it up with a fancy leather instead of a classic more obvious brown leather.

All freshened up and totally not something you want hidden away in your attic, I love how old pieces are strong and beautiful enough to fix them up and give them another life, unlike new stuff that just gets thrown away.

This newly revived beauty is now available in our home decor shop, StarHomeStudio.

From Shabby to Chic

Another make over, yes we have been busy :)
This one was actually slowly being done while we were also busy with the armchair.

I made a sketch to get an idea how it would look like ones made.

Sanding, varnishing and painting the woodwork many times was a fun killer but the result made it worth it.

We had only one embroidery which was perfect in color and size, a punch needle embroidered parrot, very fluffy and eye catching.

I wanted to have a nice fat seat so the stripes would pop nicely. also the wood right below the seat showed nails which I covered up with foam, fixing two things at once.

The vibrant green pompom trim matches perfectly with the parrot and bring some color to the black, white and grey sides of the pouf.

It is stable and can be used as a stool, in front of your make up mirror, in the hallway, children's room or anywhere where others can admire it too.

We have several more of these stools, I will be slowly sanding, varnishing and painting them, due to the vintage embroideries we use each will be unique and one of a kind.
You can fin our furniture pieces here in our decor shop.

A Breath of Fresh Air: Armchair Before and After

It took almost a month but here it is, finally the armchair I showed a while back is gone through its huge transformation.

The fabric and style might come familiar, that is as it was part of a set with this Ottoman which we transformed earlier this month. Both still had their original upholstery from the 1950's, some weird pea soup green colored velvet, with trims hiding their pretty wooden legs. The fabric was actually in great condition after all this time, but the general appearance of the set was pretty sad.

Tearing up the old fabric and filling took many hours, which was the state I showed a while back. It was not stapled, but nailed, which was done before the stapler was invented :)

It needed new foam filling and webbing to give it some body and firmness.

Finding the perfect pieces of fabric and embroidery actually took the longest, we changed it a gazillion times and puzzled for many hours with many different vintage embroideries.

Eventually we figured it out, a bold and smashing combo of old embroideries and a magenta pink velvet, screaming for attention :)

A lot of parts needed to sewn by hand, after stapling most of the fabric firmly, for a pretty finishing.
This took a long time too.

 But it was worth it, all the work and patience resulted in an amazing one of a kind armchair, impossible to make a second one.

Full with color, dimension and history. Beside the foam, webbing and pink velvet all materials have a history. The colorful striped fabric is  handwoven and vintage.

This armchair won't be needed to hide in a corner, every side is beautiful and would look great in the middle of your living room for everyone to admire.

And although both changed a lot the Ottoman and Armchair are still a great pair and are separately available in our home decor shop, StarHomeStudio.