A Scraphappy Ottoman: Using Men's Suit Jackets for Upholstery

I love this vintage ottoman, but the vinyl was cracking,

stuffing was coming out...

So today I decided to tackle her.

I taped the tears, and removed the fringe.

Added a couple of layers of batting to the top.

For fabric, I decided to use some leftover remnants

of men's suit jackets...

 So I just started piecing and sewing the fabrics together...

  After sewing the pieces together for the top, 

I hot glued the edges down.

Then I glued a piece of red trim around the perimeter of the top.

 Now for the rest….

I did the same thing, just pieced together fabrics…

It's like a puzzle.

  I tried to use pieces that had little surprises…

like this sleeve with it's suede elbow patch...

...working pockets. (Great for a remote!)

Buttons...

 Finished it off with a label from the lining...

 Definitely unique…….

 I do believe "she" has become a "he."

Let me test him out.

Yep, he works great!

Think outside the box, folks!

It's fun!!!!!!!!

And the end result is always a surprise!

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370

Sharon's New Powder Room

So my client, Sharon, 

recently asked me to come over 

and help her with a decorating dilemma.

She had just created a powder room 

out of what used to be the back of her house…

and the entrance to a furnace room.

I love the beehive floor tile and

the vanity she had installed.

The room had been primed, 

except for this original siding on 

what was the back of the house.

She kept the existing window frame as well, 

and placed a mirror inside.

Pretty clever, I thought!

(If you look closely, you can see black specs 

where the side of the house had been hit over the years 

with the coal used to fire the furnace.)

She wanted to paint but had 

no idea what colors to go with,

or what to do with the siding.

Check out my solution!!

Lovely!

The walls were painted in BM Revere Pewter.

I painted the ceiling in BM Boothbay Gray.

And the siding, BM Chelsea Gray.

(I personally loved the patina of that original siding

but painting the walls just made it look dirty,

and it wasn't meshing with the new fixtures and vanity.)

I think this was a pretty great solution.

Painting the siding a deeper hue 

still makes it the focal point of the room.

And it looks divine with the window moulding 

which I painted in White Dove,

the same color as the other trim.

All that's needed now,

are a few pieces of wall art.

Quite tasty.

Tasty indeed!

Have a decorating dilemma at your house?

Perhaps I can help.

SheShe, The Home Magician

Sheila Fox

sheilafox@aol.com

804-402-4370

An empty basement becomes an Industrial Urban Bedroom Suite

I'm finally going to plough through all these photos
and show you this to-die bedroom makeover!!!!

My client, Nancy, had an empty room in her basement
when she got rid of her pool table.

She wanted to make it into a guest suite.

And she let me do it!
And I thank you, Nancy.

(I love working with her.
She just gives me full reign,

and I feel like I'm able to do
 my very best with that liberty!)

Take a look at where we started:

Here's my empty palette!

Take a tour 'round the room:

Pretty…vanilla……...

Stark…cold…empty...



The room has no door……it has a long hallway…
that  is flanked

by this wall with three white brick insets.

Down the hallway,
there's a full bath.



And the front room is a sitting area/den.

And now for the reveal………
There's so much to see!!!!

Come on down!
Here's the hallway leading to the bedroom.

(I blogged earlier about how I transformed
those white brick insets.
It's just paint, folks!)

Welcome to nirvana.
Two area rugs really ground and warm up this space.

I painted three of the four walls in Benjamin Moore Galveston Grey.
OH MY GOD, I'm in love with this color!
And this room!

It is unbelievably rich and warm now.
Above the platform bed  (I blogged about that as well)
I hung a salvaged window.
I kept everything fairly monochromatic…

And then used pops of red for accent.

I finally got to use this pinwheel I made from a tabletop!!!!!!
It makes me very happy.

I used some of Nancy's photos...

This is a group shot of her High School graduating class.
This was a thrift store peg rack that I painted to look like driftwood.

Little industrial style night table.
Check out the little toy safe below it…

An apothecary lamp is the perfect height for bedtime reading.
There's a little chair in the corner…

…some thrift store photos…

And I made custom pillows……..

and purchased grey and white bedding...

More thrift stores finds….
Everywhere in the room, there are little surprises.

On the right side of the room,
more little pops of red.



On this side of the room……
the walk in closet…

Another one of my favorite things…
these industrial styled pulls I found at Hobby Lobby..
No more shiny brass!!

A little whimsical "thumbs up"
knob was added to the furnace room door.

And now there's a little sitting area here,
where you again see the wall
that runs down the length of the basement.
It's the only wall in the room I didn't paint.
But I did paint
the inside sills in the same color as the walls…
it helps unify everything.


I turned a mirror on it's side and hung in the first brick inset...
and I placed some of my purchases...
I
…and Nancy's pieces on the ledge and wall.
These were previously in the bathroom and now you can
really see and appreciate them!

x's and o's….these make me smile!

And remember that one lamp that we started with????

It looked like this?
And was just about the only thing in the room...

It got a makeover, too.
I stained the base and added a frame of a trashed lamp shade
which I spray painted, along with an edison style light bulb.
(Those are Nancy's husband's dog tags hanging from it.)

I could take you down the hall
to show you the other little spruce ups,
but I believe I'll save those for another day.

For now,
let's just pause and rest.
Ahhhhh….

Have a room that is desperate for some help?
I'm all over it!
She She, The Home Magician
Sheila Fox
sheilafox@aol.com
804-402-4370