house diving: Smalls' diy project

I'm going to start a new "series" on the bloggie called house diving! I'll be going into my friend's homes to take house tour pictures and help with some DIY projects of their own. Dive into their space, if you will (everything has to tie back to the fish HA!). Are you people ready to see a new and exciting space?! 

I told you about my friend Smalls buying a house and joining the Two Dogs and a House/Single Ladies club. In this bloggie post, you'll get to see her initiation into the club.. her first DIY project! 

Here are her two sweet pup pups, Jesse and Campbell. 

And here is the project! Smalls wanted to update her dining room set. I love the table, don't you? We decided to paint the chairs white. There was discussion of painting the base white too, but after considering the bead board and white chairs, it was decided to leave it as is. 

Chairs like this are not too difficult to makeover, you just have to know what to do!

First you remove the seats. They were attached by screws at the bottom. 

It happened to be raining, so we spray painted them in the little storage room under the house. I tried to teach Smalls all the painting techniques I had learned, which I'm sure got annoying after the 17th time of me saying "well when I did this..". Basically we did light even coats, three of them, and let them dry in between each. There are some actual techniques, like always keep your hand moving. The first coat will look like there is barely any coverage, but it's important to stop and let it dry! 

They turned out lovely! 

Although word to the wise: it's not smart to paint on an old bed sheet. You will stick to it. 

You also might want to wait until you can get outside. Things got a bit silly after hanging out down there in the paint fumes for too long! HA! 

In true DIY fashion, Smalls got bitten by the bug of wanting it to get finish asap. She did the upholstery herself! Woowoo! I believe the fabric is from Hancock Fabric. 

Even though there aren't pictures, it would have been similar to the barstools I recovered several months ago. Just cut the fabric with a centered design on each seat, then use a staple gun to attach it to the underside (be sure to not cover the screw holes to make it easier to attach it back to the base). There is no need to remove the old seat covers! 

They look awesome! 

I'll be doing some more features of her house soon, but I knew this project deserved a post of its own! Congrats Smallsie!