A while back, we covered the basic tools and tips needed for simple upholstering tasks, and now we're ready to cover step-by-step how to recover padded chairs. It's one of the easiest upholstery tasks, and can make a huge difference in the look and feel of your dining room.

Ready? If you've picked ot the replacement fabric and assembled all your tools, you're set to tackle this project. It normally takes a few hours to remove the old fabric from your cushions (there's a LOT of staples) and another few hours to secure the new fabric to them. 

You found a GREAT project piece of furniture - it's got great bones, under a tired old surface. You can see it in your minds' eye, updated and refreshed with paint, and you've picked the perfect color to paint it. After you sanded and prepped, you eagerly apply a first coat. As it dries, you notice it is slowly taking on a pink (or purple or brown) splotchy haze in some areas. What the heck?!?!

Before you try covering it up with more paint, stop. It's time to figure out what's going on...and what you can do about it. (Hint: the answer is NOT "more paint".)

I'm going back to the future to revisit one of my favorite blog series: my bedroom makeover. It's probably about time to tweak some parts of it...but to be honest, I still really like it, even after two years.

Customers and friends often ask us if our homes are as beautifully decorated as the shop. We get a chuckle when we hear their speculations, because it's the age-old paradox: the cobbler's children have no shoes; similarly, we have little time or energy left over to pour into beautifying our own living spaces.

​But occasionally, we do both get an itch to change things up on the home front, and Sherri and I were both working on updating our bedrooms when this was first published. Ready? Here we go!