2016 Top Blog Posts: French and DIY with One Runaway Hit

The start of this New Year at Maison Decor Blog  has me looking back at what my readers seemed to find most interesting.  Sometimes surprising, but this past year underscores that my DIY projects combined with a French flavor seem to bring the most views.  And I am happy about that, because those are two things that I consider a big part of who I am and what I love to do.  

Home and Garden projects that cultivate my love for the French style makes me a happy girl indeed.  

So lets take a look at the posts that everyone seemed to love, and that perhaps you may have missed.

A French Style Courtyard Comes to Life

This was a huge project and it was hands down my favorite!  Taking a dumpy unused space behind our home and making it a family favorite was really not that hard to do.  It took vision, more than anything, and some persuasion to get hubs to help me moving stones.  But stones aside,  I hope it gives you the idea to take a second look around your home's property to see what spot you could do a makeover on to gain a well loved and used space.

The before and after are quite startling, aren't they?  

Not taken from the same vantage point, but both showing the back facade of our home.

  Where the single window is, in the before shot, now stands the French doors.

 And the rest flowed from there.  The most important single element to creating this 

French style courtyard was using pea gravel as a base to create the French style outdoor space.

  Look for this courtyard to be featured in Matthew Mead's Spring issue of Upstyled Home, 

coming in March 2017.  I have seen the preview, and I have to say I was totally blown away

 by this feature and the other gardens Matthew has for this issue. 

 I CANNOT wait for you all to see this issue!!!

French Labels: An Easy DIY Transfer Method

This DIY post on how to make easy labels was another hit.  I love easy projects, and this one fits the bill.  Most of us have these battery operated pillar candles, and I personalized mine using a simple method that took a few minutes, using my printer and some packing tape.  After the candles, I did the lantern itself.  This method works great on glass or plain surfaces.  

Look how pretty it looked at Christmas! 
It would be awesome to make stamps personalized with names or monograms for weddings or showers or birthdays.....you get the idea.  I guess people like doing easy projects, just like I do. 

French Door For the Shed

This was another DIY garden project that I was very proud to finish.

The garden shed was created using a dilapidated structure, and then I shingled it with

the help of my son.  Never having done anything like this before, it was very fun

and although we may have not done it according to the "rules", it is a sturdy 

attractive feature to our back yard. 

I think the French door I found on Craiglist and added to the front gave it big time curb appeal.  
You can read more about the shed in the first post I am sharing above about the Courtyard.

Blue Fairy Tale Table

This painted daybed was part of an antique bed set that 

I had in my possession when I operated my shop.  

All pieces sold, except for the tea table which I kept for myself.  

Readers, like myself, seem to love beautiful French style antiques!

This charming painted table has made it's way into the

 current issue of Romantic Country magazine!

I had moved it from the living room up to my bedroom, where it is today. 

For a behind the magazine shoot story, here you go: 

Funny thing is, I sleep on the other side of the

bed, and that is where the table sits, under the window.  So for the shoot, Fifi O'Neill

moved the bed to hubby's side so it would make for a pretty picture.  And then she piled

up any pink and floral linens I had on the bed, and as they say, the rest is history!

(P.S. You can buy the Spring 2017 Romantic Country mag

where ever magazines are sold, so go get one!)

My living room is featured on the current cover, and inside you will see the 

rest of our home.  Some of these rooms have not been seen in the blog, so don't miss it!

And last, but not least, was this post that turned out to be a mega-hit as far as 

my statistics are concerned.  I was shocked at how many people read this post.

At least five times more than my most popular post, the biggest post of the year

was this tutorial I wrote on how to upholster a French chair.

How To Reupholster The Easy Way: My French Chair

My first attempt at reupholstering is captured step by step as I tried to 

show how you can do it the easy way.  Have I said I like things that are easy?

Yup, it was pretty easy, although nontraditional, I am pleased to say it is almost a year

since I have done it and the chair looks just as good the day I finished it.

So that is my 2016 round up for popular blog posts.

Just a mix of French with DIY and that is me, in a nutshell.

Read more »

Easy Reupholstery Part 2: The back of the French Chair

This is the second part to my Easy Upholstery post for the French Chair.

As I had never upholstered before, I went about it in a different fashion,

and as usual, I try to figure out the easiest and fastest way to get a great result.

The chair looks like it came from a furniture store, when in reality it came from

an antique shop, and it was just an ugly fabric.

To Read Part One, Click Here.

When I left off, I had not finished this back panel of the chair, nor had I applied the "gimp" trim,

which is a flat braid that is used to cover up raw edges and staples.  I have had quite a few emails

inquiring was I ever going to finish the chair and post about it?  Well I did finish it, but never got

around to posting....so here is how I did it, in the easiest way possible, of course!

Measure roughly how much area you need to cover with the gimp and then go to 

a fabric shop or craft shop and select the color and style of flat braid (gimp) you think

looks best.  I picked out an off white color, but I likely would have gone for a bit darker,

but this was all they had.  This is simply applied by using a hot glue gun.  Fold over one edge

of the gimp and glue it to itself to create a finished edge on the gimp. Then simply glue

along the edge of the staples and press the gimp into position. Finish the same way,

by turning under the last part of the gimp and glueing down to hide the raw edge.   

For reference, this is the fabric as it is stapled onto the edge of the frame, 

and then trimmed back very closely.  These areas need to be covered with gimp.

I also applied the gimp around the small upholstered arm rests, 

and anywhere you could see where you had stapled the fabric to the chair frame.

For the back, there was NO place to apply staples, 

as the back panel is usually done first by the upholsterer.  But we are covering

existing upholstery...so its going to be a different approach.

( The back panel area is just a covering of fabric stretched across for a decorative purpose.

  No one sits on it, so there is no support under the backs.)

I came up with a clever way to go about it, and easy too.

A green burlap fabric was chosen for the back (you can use the same fabric as the rest of the chair, but I wanted to have something more interesting). I used some pins to place the burlap over the back and hold it in position.  Then I cut the burlap to be about 1" - 2" bigger than the back area I needed to cover.  I don't have photos to show this, because I can't find them...but its super easy.  Cut out your back fabric to be a little bit bigger than the area you will cover.  

Now you have your fabric ready to be attached....but how?

Using spray adhesive (any brand from a craft store will do), 

I sprayed the back of the chair right over the existing old fabric. 

 Then I smoothed on the burlap over the old fabric using my hands,

leaving an inch or two excess around the edges. 

Next, you have to push the excess fabric under the wood frame. 

 You may have to trim the excess fabric to less than an inch, depending 

upon how much you can push it under the frame.  

To push it under the frame I used a metal spatula.

Simply shove the fabric under the frame using the spatula to guide it under the wood frame.

Remember, you will trim around the edges with decorative trim or more gimp.

It was quick and easy and painless!  

I used a fancy trim for the back to add extra interest,

but you could certainly just use more gimp. 

 In fact you wouldn't need to add anything, because

the raw edges are hidden under the frame, but it looked unfinished to me.

Use your hot glue gun to apply the trim around the back.

 Start in a random side spot so when your starting and 

ending edges meet, its not in a super obvious place.

These chairs look good from the back as well as the front,

so that is why its fun to use a complementary fabric for the backing.

And that is how I upholstered this 1970s French Chair into something I love.

Read Part One Here

Read more »