Ikea Tullsta: Nailed It!

How do you take a pretty ordinary, nothing special, 99-dollar beiger-than-beige canvas chair and turn it into something special?

Well, I suppose you could do this or this but I chose to do this:

I had an entire box of upholstery tacks stashed away and over the course of a couple hours last night I applied them all around the base of my Tullsta chair. It probably would have been a good idea to measure, make a guideline and all of that to ensure each nail was positioned properly....I think you know me well enough by now to be laughing out loud at the thought of me having the patience for that.

I figured I'd start at the back and if it was going to be a total fail, no one would have to know because the back will be in a corner.  No harm, no foul.  Luckily I got the hang of it and with help from a tiny flat head screwdriver I was able to remove and replace any tacks that were too wonky.

It's certainly not perfect, I don't think any professional upholsterers out there should be concerned about job security.  But it still came out really well and I'm pretty happy with the results.

The Tullsta chair has two things going for it that make it an excellent candidate for a little DIY nailhead trim. One, the frame is made of wood so soft you can push these in like thumbtacks.  At least the first few anyway, then your thumb gets achy and you'll need a hammer to gently tap in the rest. And two, the canvas fabric allows you to remove and reposition tacks (which I had to do many times!) without worrying you'll ruin it.

Here's the before:

After:

In case you're wondering, yes this is my soon-to-be-finished guest bedroom and no, that pillow is not staying. It's just there for the sake of a prettier picture.

This guest room is really coming together now. I'm really loving how it's looking and I can't wait to share it with you! I've got some finishing touches to take care of and a fabric on backorder (grrrr!) before I can photograph and reveal.  But I promise it's coming soon!

xo
Sarah