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Tag Archive | "Inspiration"

The View From Your Bed?

Monday, July 25, 2011

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One of the many things that impressed me on my tour of the Deck House earlier this month was the art wall assembled opposite the homeowner's bed. I've always paid special attention to this prime focal point, one that few visitors ever see but which we enjoy night after night, morning after morning. At the moment my Jules Cavailles still life is propped on the dresser at the foot of my bed along with some cherished family photos. What's at the foot of your bed?

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Blame it on Venus

Thursday, July 7, 2011

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I had to laugh this morning when I checked my online horoscope and found the following description for the period July 1 - 18, 2011: "This is usually a peaceful time, when you will enjoy quiet hours at home, either alone or entertaining guests and feeling at ease. . . Redecorating is often undertaken under this influence. You want your home to be elegant or gay and light. Fortunately, you are usually quite sensitive and in tune with your inner feelings, so that your home decorating efforts should be satisfactory. Try to avoid the usual tendency to do things lavishly or expensively, and keep practical considerations in mind." As it happens, I enjoyed the July 1 long weekend so much that I decided to take this week off work. I've been enjoying quiet time at home completing projects and yes, redecorating.

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Upholstery Day Two: Putting It Together

Friday, June 17, 2011

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The best thing about taking a course like this is that all the tools are provided, which means you can give them a try without committing to expensive equipment purchases. Manual staple guns will suffice for a dining room chair with a full-seat wooden support, but if strapping is involved, you really need a compressor-powered gun to drive the staples into the frame. For me, facing the gun for the first time summoned memories of high school wood shop but in this case I was actually anxious to use the tool rather than flee the building screaming. The gun is loud and powerful but nothing at all to fear. Andrea recommended weaving the straps for further resilience so that's what I did.

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Upholstery Day One: The Prep

Thursday, June 16, 2011

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After removing the nasty seat cushions of my $20 garage sale chair, my next task was to remedy the wear and damage to the original wood finish. RE:Style Studio owner Andrea Ford introduced me to the Black & Decker Mouse sander, which did a fine job of removing the old factory finish. Eventually. It took me all morning of our first day to get the chair to the point where I could start the spray lacquering. The process just confirmed my preference for stripping over sanding; a chemical stripper can do in minutes what takes hours to accomplish with a sander, even a Mouse.

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RE:Style Success Story

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

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It's not like I was expecting a crappy result but honestly, I never imagined my first reupholstery project would turn out so incredibly well! The happy ending is entirely thanks to my coach, Andrea Ford of Toronto's RE:Style Studio: I spent Saturday and Sunday at Andrea's west end workshop where she walked me and a fellow named Jay through our first projects. Jay was ambitious taking on no less a behemoth than a La-Z-Boy recliner. I was much more modest in my attempt to rehab a T.H. Robsjohn-Gibbings side chair with removable seat and back; I also redid the seat of another chair, which looks easy but like the back of the Gibbings has a significant curve to it, which presents a challenge to a rank beginner like me.

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