Change your focus. That’s just what you have to do some days in order to stay on-track, productive, and, quite frankly, sane. That’s exactly what I had to do today, when life threw a curve ball at me. So I rolled up my sleeves, pulled out my staple gun, and got to work recovering a set of black dining chairs with painter’s drop cloth.
Today was going to be a great day. The kids had a snow day so we’d be stuck inside all day. Now when the kids were in elementary school, I’d cringed at snow days and the thought of being stuck inside all day cooking breakfast, lunch, and dinner and picking up after them – all day!
And then there was the dreaded moment when they asked to go outside to play in the snow. Digging out the coats, pants, hats, gloves, and boots. Layering them up so they looked like the Michelin Man. Then standing outside in the freezing cold while they went sledding, only to, at some point, break out in tears because their gloves fell off and snow went up their sleeves.
No… snow days were not fun!
But my kids are teenagers now. They sleep until noon, play video games online with their friends, and, as long as the refrigerator is stocked, feed themselves. If they want to go outside snowboarding, they get themselves dressed and they go. When it’s time to shovel, they all pitch in to help.
Yes, I love snow days now!
January is my favorite month actually. When others are posting their complaints on Facebook about the blizzard and the cold, I’m just settling in after a very hectic December and enjoying being stuck inside.
I love the crisp white snow and the reflection it sets off in every room of my home. I love cozy blankets, thick cotton sweatshirts, hot cocoa, Hallmark movies, and a good book. I also love the quiet time to get lots of writing done.
The plan was to get up at 7:00am and work all day writing for a a new product I’m putting together. I would put some stew on the stove to simmer all day so it was ready to eat when we all came back in after cleaning up the 15 inches of snow we were getting.
Then I hit the power button on my computer and it all changed.
My laptop wouldn’t boot. There was power, but it continued to get hung up on the dreaded white screen. So 7 hours later after a ton of online research, about 15 re-boots in all kinds of safe modes and disk scans, three phone calls to Apple technical support, an operating system re-load, and a complete system re-load from a system back-up, I was finally back in business around 2:00pm.
But by then, I was completely deflated and not in a state of mind to write the amazing product I have in mind. So it was time to switch gears to some physical work.
You may remember THIS set of wood chairs I refinished early in the Fall. At the time, I thought I’d sell them without covering the seats; figuring the buyer might like to choose their own fabric. That decision also had to do with the fact that my staple gun broke and I needed a new one.
But, I know better by now. After several years of refinishing furniture, I’ve come to realize that buyers like to see the finished product. It makes their decision-making so much easier. So it was time to purchase a new staple gun, cover the seats, and re-photograph them so buyers could envision the chairs around a dining room table.
The fabric I use to recover chairs is 10oz cotton canvas painters’ drop cloth. I discovered this fabric a few years ago when I was searching for an inexpensive yet durable option for some chairs. This cotton canvas and denim are now my two go-to fabrics when recovering seats.
The cotton canvas painters’ drop cloths are a neutral, flax color, heavy-duty, very durable, and inexpensive. Six chairs can be recovered with a single 6’x9′ drop cloth costing less then $14.00.
I recommend the 10 oz. drop cloth. It’s much thicker than the 8 oz. so you can’t see through the fabric when you pull it tight around the seats to secure it with the staples on the underside.
So I settled down at my living room coffee table with a movie and my staple gun and got to work recovering these dining chairs.
They are now ready for their new home…
If your day doesn’t go quite as planned, consider switching gears to focussing on a physical project. It will relax your mind and you’ll enjoy seeing your finished project at the end of the day.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products I use myself.
Very pretty chairs.
Thank you!
Those chairs look great! Thanks for all the details on the painter’s drop cloth fabric. Looks fantastic on those chairs and yes….oh my gosh so inexpensive! I will have to start buying that for some of my projects. If I do, I will link back to you:) I was laughing about the snow days. We just had one last week and I was getting so mad at myself that I wasn’t enjoying myself and irritable the whole time the kids were home. I was thinking why the heck have I lost all my excitement for snow days. The way you described a snow day is exactly what happened last week and EVERY time it snows. HAHAHA! You hit the nail on the head. I got a kick out of it. It sounds like snow days will be fun again at some point! Saw your post at fridays furniture fix. pinned your chairs:)
Too funny! Kathlen, you must still have little ones that like to play in the snow. Each stage has it’s enjoyable moments.