A Splash of Color

I’m having color cravings. I blame it on the springing of Spring. Outside the browns and grays are slowly being painted over with the vibrant colors of life. I am not Mother Nature, but I am following in her footsteps and finding ways to add color to this drab house.

Ladies and gents, I am no crafty SAHM. Nope, I am far from it. However, something unexplainable happened, and I took on a crafty home project. I can’t believe it either, yet it’s true. I don’t know what got into me, but I pitched a fit and recovered my kitchen chairs.

This table and chair set is a hand me down, and it has been our dining table for three years now.

As you can see, it has been well loved. There are a lot of dinner time and cooking in the kitchen with Moanna memories ground into these chairs.

I have been wanting to recover these bad boys for over a year now. I even bought fabric back in the day, and tore a chair apart to see how it would look. Then I realized that I didn’t own a staple gun, so I put the chair back together in defeat.

Last week the urge to cover these chairs hit me, but this time it was serious. I can’t explain it, but the chairs needed to be recovered pronto. The fabric I picked out last time the urge hit me was no good. I hated it, so Moanna and I went on a fabric hunt. We spent over an hour looking for fabric. Nothing I came across was bright enough. If it was bright enough, it was pink and green and flowered, which I loved, but it would not work in my kitchen. I was about to throw in the towel when I came across this red flaked vinyl. It was wonderfully gaudy. It was bright red, and it would be super easy to clean. Our kitchen could rock a retro motif. Moanna thought it was “totally cool” because it sparkled. I was in love with this hideous fabric, but I knew Steve would drop dead as soon as he laid eyes on the kitchen. I’m not kidding, the man is not at all into retro, vintage, Victorian, antiques, anything that is not modern. He likes simple, clean, bold. Things that you would find in a spa or trendy loft. If you want to add a blast from the past into a room or an outfit, then you better know exactly what you’re doing or he’ll veto it. I didn’t want my husband to die over red flaked vinyl, so I kissed the diner fabric goodbye and kept on looking.

Since I had been through the upholstery and curtain section a hundred times, I went wandering into other parts of the store, and found myself in the outdoor canvas section. At first, it all looked pretty similar to the muted crap I had been staring at for the past hour. There was a lot of earthy tones and faded colors. On the fifth or sixth time down the isle, I found it. The perfect fabric.

It had the perfect bright red in it that I needed, and several other vibrant colors to add warmth to my kitchen. The striped pattern was simple, so I knew Steve wouldn’t die. It was outdoor canvas. If it was designed to survive the elements of the outdoors, then it should be able to stomach meal times in our home. Plus, it was on sale. 40% off! I got a yard of fabric, a roll of quilting cushion stuff, a staple gun and a pair of fabric scissors (this is how unequipped I am as a home maker – I didn’t even own fabric scissors).

As soon as we walked in the door, I started taking chairs apart. I had no time to waste. This color needed to be in my life now. I was on a mission. I measured and I cut, and I stapled like a mad woman. I didn’t even take the time to rip the old crap off. I didn’t have time for such nonsense.

Before.

After.

Gross.

Gorgeous.

Off putting.

Inviting.

I hammered out two chairs in no time. Things were going well. I was thinking to myself that I could handle more projects like this. Maybe I could be one of those craft SAHMs. I thought I was unstoppable. Then I ran out of staples when I started in on the third chair. Shut down. Stupid rookie mistake. I didn’t buy a pack of staples. I thought the staples that came with the gun would be enough. I’m sure a well seasoned crafter would have had plenty of staples in the gun kit, but not me. Nope, I used about a million staples on each chair. I had to staple down the quilting fluff stuff, and then the glorious fabric and then the weird netting stuff that goes on so you don’t have fraying, which by the way I didn’t think to purchase, so I reused the stuff that was on there. Moanna was in bed and the store was about to close, so I would have to push pause on my beautiful chairs until I could go get more staples.

The next day,  Mo’ and I bought more staples and finished the chairs. This is not an exaggeration. I was screwing the last chair back together when I heard Steve pull into the driveway. He was finally home from his two week business trip, and I couldn’t run out to greet him because I didn’t want him to walk in and see an incomplete project. The house wasn’t clean, and I didn’t have time to bake him something, so darn it, the chairs would be done! While Moanna answered the front door, I drilled the last screw into place and turned the chair upright.

Steve was impressed with my craftiness, and claims to love the fabric.

Before.

After.

Drab.

Vibrant.

Depressed.

Happy.

Next week, lessons in hot glue guns… Or not… I don’t own one of those either…

On St. Patrick’s Day, I was still suffering from my color deficiency and was still high on my chair success, so I made rainbow pudding. Two packs of pudding, six cups of milk and a lot of food coloring equals delicious, colorful dessert. Isn’t this the most psychedelic dessert you’ve ever seen? I think it’s fantastic.

It’s hard to say what will fall victim to my color cravings next. It’s hard to add color to a house that you’re not allowed to paint, but somehow it must be done. I can’t live in this muted place any longer.

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