Slipcovers???

Right up front I'm going to admit to something - I may have lost my mind. Or taken leave of my senses. Take your pick as they are both probably accurate. 

I'm thinking of attempting making slipcovers.

I know. I know. 

I have a sewing machine. It's still in the box it came in when I received it as a Christmas present eight years ago. I know. 

But I seriously don't sew. 

Or, well, I haven't sewn anything since Home Economics class back in 8th grade. And we aren't going to ruin my Friday by actually saying how many years ago that was...but I will say that our President was Reagan at the time. 

*cringe*

When did I get old? Ok, sorry, I digress. 

My inspiration are the Couture Slipcovers from Ballard Designs.

I'm in love with them.
So simple, fresh, and I adore the simple little ruffle at the bottom. I heart these. I covet them. But they won't fit my existing chairs - well - not as they are. I would have to literally saw off the top 4 inches of chair and cover them in foam, and...well, you get the idea. 

So what if I made my own slipcovers?

I could do it. 

I think. 

I've been researching it and honestly, it doesn't seem that difficult. I know - famous last words - right?

I thought I would make a pattern out of some old muslin I have laying around and then maybe a "test" run slipcover out of some dropcloth fabric - just to see if I can actually do it. Then I'm not out any actual money for my experiment. What do you think? Can I do this? Any seamstresses out there (who aren't laughing at me hysterically) - could you give me any pointers? Is it possible? 

Or do I need to just be committed??? Be honest. I can take it!

Which also leads me to needing to finish the dining room. I need an area rug and I was thinking of getting one from Overstock.com. I haven't bought anything like that from them before - anyone out there know anything about Overstock and their quality? I also need to find some new curtain panels. Lots to do still.

I'm linking up with Follow Friday! It's a great blog hop and a wonderful way to find some new blogs and make some new friends!

OK then, the dining room transformation is underway!

So I didn't get it quite together enough to download the pictures - hopefully later today.

I have decided on a paint color for the dining room. HOOORAH!!!! Good lord - THAT only took, what, 5 months? ugh. Dark, stained, red oak wood trim will do that to you. You'll think you have the perfect color, get the sample color home, and EGAD.

But, I have found the one. It's called Burlap - from Sherwin Williams. It's a lighter neutral...sort of a green/brown/yellow/gray/taupe?!?!?! lol - I know - but it is one of those "chameleon" colors. I LURVE it. AND it looks good against the wood trim AND works going from our living room, which is painted Butternut, into our kitchen - which is painted an old Martha Stewart color, called Fell ( a dark, olivey-army green color - I know, sounds crazy but it's beautiful against our cream glazed cabinets).

I'm excited about the paint color and I think I'm going to start priming those red walls this week. Then painting. THEN ordering new cream color curtains and a rug.

Here's the next part. We inherited our dining room furniture from hubby's parents. It isn't really our style but it was free. So you go with what you got - right? Anyway - I've never been in love with the chairs. They are a bit too formal for my tastes so I was looking around for possibly getting new chairs.

I'm in love with the "Couture" chairs from Ballard Designs. LOVE them. LOVE the slipcovers. Love the pleat details. NOT in love with the $230 price tag that goes along with the chairs. Seriously. $230 each. Nope. BUT the slipcover, which is SO cute, is only $20. THAT is doable. I was thinking of maybe slipcovering our chairs myself - but for $20 I'm thinking those may just be the better option. Now, our chairs dimensions are almost identical. My thought process is that I will order 1 slipcover and just see how it works on our current chairs. If it fits - I'll order 3 more - if it doesn't - I'll send it back and attempt slipcovering them myself. It could happen...

Another potential problemo is that we really have 6 dining room chairs - but 2 of them are meant for the end of the table and they have arms. Well, they just don't sell slipcovers for dining chairs with arms or at least I haven't been able to find them if they do. So I may have to attempt those myself or see if I can find a seamstress around here to work something up for me on those. Or maybe I'll just put those chairs away and move our bench into the dining room....hmmmm....

I've also re-vamped the current chandelier in the dining room. More to come on that too. Stay tuned...