The Bargain Life

featured on Apartment Therapy!

my roommate has had an Ikea Tullsta chair since our freshman year (we were roommates then too). Since it’s last move, we never could find the slipcover or the legs, which we had unscrewed. instead of buying a new slipcover for it, i decided to do something more creative. i also bought an ottoman for $5 at my favorite thrift store and decided to do it to match. so i bought 4 yards of Inger fabric and 2 sets of 6″ Capita legs. i’m still working on the ottoman, but here’s the chair:

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My favorite place to get home decor fabrics is Ikea not just because it $6-$8 a yard instead of $20-$30, but they have really awesome bold prints.  They just added 2 new fabric collections which are a bit disappointing.

Kallt Fabric
Overall this line is too country for my taste, but the second one down looks cool. It’s a possibility for my sofa that i want to reupholster, but i think i’d rather do something black and white and more outlandish.

Gunilla
ugh. On their own the top 3 aren’t that bad, but together it’s like cutesy vomit.

My favorite collection is still the Inger fabrics, of which i already have 2 in my home.

I happened to wake up early this morning, so I went to a bunch of different yard sales. I bought:
- a metal canister – 25 cents
- a pair of marble owls for my roommate (she collects owls) – $1
- a hand-cranked ice cream maker – $1
- a pair of stacking containers – $5
- a box of miscellaneous tupperware [not pictured] – $2

I also went to one yard sale where they were selling a whole bunch of amazing restaurant benches in purple and lime green velvet. they were around $100 each, but I seriously need a purple velvet sofa in my life. I resisted the urge, but they’re selling them tomorrow too…

Stefanie and i are looking for a third roommate right now, and consequently our common areas are looking spotless and stylish. (my rooms on the other hand have filled up with the junk we don’t want out on display). Here’s a look at our house and some of the bargain solutions we’ve come up with:

after i killed the potted petunias i bought for this window shelf, i put up a spectrum of colored glass bottles, which looks really pretty when the sun is shining through. i added blue and green vases that i got for 50 cents each at a thrift store since most of our empty bottles were orange and brown. total cost: $1.

also pictured: hello kitty toaster: $15, Stefanie’s vintage owl cookie jar, 2 clear bottles i painted the insides of that got demoted from the shelf, small plant and pot from Ikea: $2, Target kettle: $6.

the wooden bowls on the end of the counter were $1 each at a thrift store. i put my keys in them right when i walk in the door so i don’t loose them.

we replaced an ugly wall-mounted mail sorter with a swirl shaped coat hook for $5 from Home Goods. the mail now goes in counter-top sorters from Target for a few dollars a piece. on the other side of the door is a $10 ikea magazine rack.

the set of 3 canisters was $3 at a thrift store, and on either side are the 50 cent ikea plant pots from the dead petunias, which now hold miscellaneous junk.

on the window shelf are two $1.50 Ikea plants in $.50 pots, which are nearly impossible to kill. the center plant and pot is Stef’s. we put up 2 empty Orangina bottles and a few wind-up toys to fill the space.

this is the view of the dining room from the kitchen. i picked up the chair for free on the side of the road. i may reupholster it, but i love how retro the orange tweed is. the bust is also a trash pile find, this time from my roommate, and i think it will end up in her room eventually. our kitty tower, previously blogged about, lives in the corner.

i made the window bench out of 2 cabinets that we found in our basement crawl space, which i repainted and sewed cushions for with Ikea fabric. the pillows on the bench right now are just leftovers from the living room.

the kitchen table and chairs are from Ikea via craigslist. Stefanie bought the stool at Ikea just for the sake of having stools at that counter, but they are too high and we pretty much never use them.

Stefanie had this dresser and didn’t want to use it anymore, but she couldn’t get rid of it or diy it because it belongs to her family so we’re using it as a sideboard. we detached the mirror to make it look obvious that it’s a bedroom dresser. the runner is a folded-up tablecloth. the drawers hold all of my tools since i do most of my crafts in the dining room.

our living room is a bit bipolar since al of the major furniture is Stefanie’s, and a lot of the accessories are mine. for most of the time we’ve lived here i’ve just left it as a vintage feeling room (i do like all of Stefanie’s decor choices), but it’s in the process of having more modern pieces incorporated into it.

there’s no overhead light in the room, so we added an Ikea knappa pendant lamp. i still think $25 is too much for a bunch of pieces of plastic, but look-wise it’s worth it.

both sofas came from Emory announcements for $40-$50 each. i want to reupholster the wing sofa with something bold and modern, but right now it’s got a comforter cover over the center of it as a temporary fix, which looks surprisingly good. the pillows are all either from Ikea or made with Ikea fabric. the quilt on the sofa is from Anthropolgie, so it was obviously not a bargain, but it is really comfortable for a quilt.

the triangle end tables, coffee table, and the boxes in the coffee table are also from Ikea. the round table behind the sofa is an antique that Stefanie got as a gift. it’s Dylan’s favorite place to sleep.

all of the artwork in the house is from our friend who lived here before us. she lives in a tiny apartment now, so we’re holding it for her.

here we’ve got the credenza that i made (previously posted about) holding the TV. the mirror that we took off the dresser in the dining room is propped up against the wall. it does have hanging hardware, so so might actually attach it to the wall. the cubby bookcase was either free or really cheap, and it’s good for stashing the clutter.

the chair was a bit of a splurge at $50, but Stef really liked the unique shape. it’s got a towel draped across it because the cats like to sleep there.

this $5 orange chair is kind of hideous, but it’s also the most comfortable chair in the house. the cats agree: Dylan likes to lie on top of the backrest.

i finally got my camera back from the shop, so here are pictures of my two most recently finished projects:

was: a damaged chair from a thrift store
is: the same retro shape made funky and bright
cost of chair: $2.50
cost of supplies: $3 for paint, $8 for fabric (with lots leftover), $5 for upholstery foam
total cost: $18.50
how to: read the previous post for a rundown of everything i did.

was: a dining chair in dire need of attention
is: semi-traditional, but fitting with my retro-modern decor
cost of chair: free
cost of supplies: $5 for paint and $10 for clear lacquer (lots leftover of each), $4 for plywood, $4.50 for upholstery foam, $4.50 for fabric
total cost: $28
how to: read the previous post for a rundown of everything i did.

I have way too many projects going on now, but now I at least have all the supplies, so there’s nothing holding me back from finishing them except that there are 5. here’s where I’m at:

1. Ikea Tullsta Chair
this is my roommate’s chair that she’s had since freshman year. it’s legs and the main part of the slipcover are MIA since the most recent time it was moved. instead of buying a new cover from Ikea, I decided to sew one. as it turns out, the white cover is only $30, so it’s not any cheaper to make one, but it will look much cooler. i’m still not sure what we’re going to do about the legs.

done:

• purchased 4 yards of Inger fabric (the one with the blue and black leaves) for $24
• purchased 2 zippers for $4 – one for seat cushion and one for back pillow

in progress:

• pin fabric inside out on chair
• make cover for seat cushion – front is sewn, but zipper still needs to be sewn into the back

to do:

• make cover for back pillow
• purchase and attach new legs (probably one of the many choices from Ikea

2. metal framed chair from thrift store
I bought this chair for $2.50 at a thrift store because I loved its continuous metal frame. suspended between the frame are a backrest and seat that had a black wooden frame with natural-colored wooden caning. it was so cheap mainly because the caning on the seat was torn, but I planned to rip it out anyways. I left the caning on the back and painted it the same color as the wood frames.

done:

• unscrewed backrest and seat
• removed old caning from seat
• sawed the seat frame into 2 pieces along the groove from the caning
• spray painted seat and backrest bright red ( one $3 can)
• wove fabric scraps to create a new base for the upholstery
• bought new fabric for the seat (the bold floral one) for $6, with lots left over
• bought foam for the seat for $5
• stapled fabric and foam on the seat

to do:

• screw the 2 pieces of the seat back together
• clean/polish metal frame
• screw seat and backrest back onto frame

3. old dining chair
this is the chair that I got for free at a yard sale while I was home in New Hampshire. it would have been done by now, but I left the fabric that I bought for it at home. I’m not sure if my parents will mail it or if i’ll just use something else.

done:

• removed old upholstery from the seat
• scraped and sanded away the old finish
• bought a gallon of “oops”/mis-tint light blue paint for $5
• applied 3 coats of paint
• bought a sheet of plywood for $4 use as the base for the new upholstery
• bought a piece of 2″ thick foam for the cushion for $5
• traced the shape of the seat onto a paper bag
• cut and sanded the plywood seat
• drilled pilot holes through the chair frame into the plywood
• bought half a yard of a black and white print satin for $4.50 and then proceed to leave it at home :(
• bought a pint of clear lacquer finish for $10 – I plan to use this on many projects
• applied 3 coats of lacquer

to do:

• staple fabric to the seat
• screw the seat onto the chair

4. window bench
a while back we found some old cabinets in the crawl space in our basement – 2 tall narrow ones and 2 short ones. I decided to turn the 2 short ones into a bench to sit below the window in our dining room along one side of the table. I didn’t discover until I’d already started working on one of the cabinets that they are different sizes, one is 36″ wide and the other is 30″. there is also about a 1/2″ difference in height which i may decide to correct with a plywood board.

done:

• remove old hardware and detach doors
• sand down old paint and try to sand down uneven surfaces
• paint with teal paint left over from painting the master bedroom (which was done by the previous renters)
• reattach hardware
• buy 2 yards of Inger fabric for the cushions (the grey one with white spots) for $12
• buy a 2″x22″x36″ piece of foam for $21 (why is foam so expensive?)
• cut the foam into 2 pieces, one 11″x36″ and one 11″x30″

in progress:

• sew the fabric for the foam cushions

to do:

• possibly sew a bolster pillow to sit along the back

5. quarter-circle sofa
weaving scrap fabric as a base for upholstery on the metal chair project worked so well that I was inspired to use this method on something bigger. using fabric to hold weight eliminates one of the problems i’ve had trying to turn my visions into reality – I don’t know how to bend plywood. this sofa is going to be a quarter of a cylinder with a 2-foot radius. I’m sure this will require some creative problem solving further down the line, but right now I’m just barely getting started.

done:

• purchased wood for frame: a 2′x4′ sheet of 3/4″ plywood for the arcs and 3 2″x3″ boards to span the length
• purchased 2 1/4″ thick 2′x2′ boards of birch plywood to use on the exterior of the sides

to do:

• cut and sand the quarter circles out of the plywood
• screw wooden frame together
• weave fabric over the frame
• buy a large sheet of thick foam plus small pieces for the sides
• buy fabric
• sew a tube of fabric to slide over the frame and foam
• staple fabric to sides of frame
• cut nice plywood for armrest/sides
• cut scrap plywood to upholster interior of the sides
• upholster sides
• attach upholstered portion to side panels
• stain side panels
• attach side panels to main sofa frame
• buy or make and attach legs to the sofa frame

there haven’t been any posts recently not for lack of projects or lack of bargains, but for lack of camera. i brought my camera in to be repaired a few weeks ago thinking it would be a simple repair (and it’s still under warrantee), but really it got sent out somewhere to be fixed and i still haven’t gotten it back. i’ve actually done a lot of projects both big and small recently: turning old cabinets into a bench, installing a curtain, making a cardboard drawer divider, etc. but i’ll have to wait to get my camera back before posting them.

in the meantime, here’s a collection i compiled of the best items at Ikea for under $1. it’s no secret that i adore Ikea furniture, but their small items are equally awesome.

click “read more” for links, prices, and reasons you’ll love it.
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every issue of The Atlantic Monthly since 1995 online: free
caviar-fueled discussions about the social and intellectual impact of Google: priceless
all kidding of intellectual snobbery aside, The Atlantic has some really interesting articles about issues that the mainstream media isn’t always talking about.  and it’s free!

if you’re looking for something less nerdy, and probably a lot less legal, i just found out about the website mygazines.com, which houses user-uploaded scans of loads of magazines.

recently i’ve been thinking a lot about tables. crazy, i know, my mom thinks so too. our current dining room set belongs to my roommate, so i’ll probably need to get my own this May. it can’t hurt to start planning early, right?

i envisioned a dark wood top, mahogany perhaps, on a base out of square metal piping. the base of the Torsby table from Ikea is exactly it.

but i would want to replace the top with a wooden one. i got all inspired on that ground when i went to Rockler Woodworking with my dad and some some gorgeous exotic woods:

zebrawood (left), and wenge (right)

i also saw samples of Transtint dyes on curly maple that caught my attention since they come in colors like red, purple, green, blue, etc. unlike washes, the color is vibrant but you can still see the wood grain beneath. these would look infinitely prettier than paint.

the base of the table would also coordinate with the Klubbo tables that i want. i would buy them now except that they don’t match our current living room decor at all.

as i previously explained, i’m in desperate need of wall art for my house back in Atlanta. i’ve been playing around with some pictures in photoshop trying to make them look more graphic. the ideal image is black and white with no grays, and then i would print it, cut it out, mount it on colored cardstock, and frame it. here’s one of my cats that turned out well, people are harder because you tend to lose the faces when you up the contrast.

from this…

…to this

the basic process is this:
1. open the image in photoshop
2. convert it to grayscale
3. try to white-out most of the background (how much you leave will determine how thick the lines around your image is)
4. increase the contrast to about 50%
5. gaussian blur about 2 pixels (this gives you cleaner shapes instead of pixelated ones)
6. repeat steps 4 & 5 until you are happy with the result
7. print and enjoy

if that’s too hard, you can always make a cartoon with befunky.com. the downside is that the image is small and consequently not good for printing. here’s what the same photo looks like: