Author Archives: Doris Ofori

About Doris Ofori

Abundant Living Interiors is a full service Interior Design company located in Woodbridge, VA. We are made up of professionals who are passionate about all aspects of interior design. We are available to make your dreams a reality. Whether you want to totally revamp or make a few changes we have the professional know how to make this a reality. Our DIYs are aimed at motivating you to creatively solve your interior design dilemmas. Visit us on YouTube to learn some creative solutions you can apply in your home.

Reupholstery Student Completes Class

Roxanne Johnson, an ambitious and hard working student successfully completes a 5 week beginners reuphostery class. During this class, Roxanne learnt how to reupholster her side chairs. She is the first graduate who completed two chairs during this training. She faithfully traveled over an hour to each class and was always on time and ready to learn. Roxanne already had great sewing skills before the class and this skill helped her a lot as she learned to reupholster her chairs which required sewing in some areas. Roxanne worked on the frame of the chairs alone by sanding and painting them after stripping off the old fabric.

I greatly applaud Roxanne for her continued hard work as she continues to use the skills she learned after graduation and completed dining room chairs as well. She is currently working on a chaise lounge

Custom Furniture Slipcovers

Custom Furniture Slipcovers provide an instant solution to an otherwise not so good looking piece of furniture. Custom Furniture Slipcovers are a less expensive alternative to re-upholstery in most cases. Consider the following tips in order to determine if your furniture is a good candidate for slipcover instead of re-upholstery.

Is the frame and cushions of furniture structurally sound?
Although the fabric may be worn out in some areas, is it still intact?
Would you like an easy change in style for instance adding a skirt where there was none?
Is there a possibility that you may one day want to go back to the original appearance of the furniture?
Are you reluctant to let go of your furniture for the weeks a re-upholstery job will take?
Would you like to receive custom furniture slipcovers that fit well by mail?
Do you already have a slipcover you would like duplicated?
Would you like to have the ease of being able to easily remove the slipcover to have it washed or dry cleaned?
Would you like to have a less expensive alternative to re-upholstery

If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, then custom furniture slipcovers will be a good choice for your furniture.

Our custom furniture slipcovers come with a separate slipcover for the cushion(s) and fit very well. For our long distance customers, we offer SlipCover By Mail for most furniture styles if you are willing to provide us with some photos and measurements.

2016 Spring Craft Show

Abundant Living Interiors, LLC made her appearance at the 2016 Spring Craft Show at Garfield High School on Saturday.

Some of the items featured were lamps, lamp shades, chandeliers, bathroom sets, table runners, throw pillows, light sconces, tripod lamps, sunburst mirror and more.

Attendance was very good and we sold a number of items and set up appointments for custom design and decorating.

Delicious Seating

Delicious Seating from unconventional material.

There is a lot around us that we can use in very unexpected ways. I built this seating and ottoman and upholstered it in faux fur. Using aluminum dryer vent I purchased from the hardware store for about $10 and some pewter nail heads, I embellished the bottom part of both pieces to complete a small seating area. It is amazing what you can make out of very unlikely materials. Very beautiful and expensive looking. I am very pleased with the out come.

Vanity Mirror Becomes Mirrored Tray

Vanity Mirror Becomes Mirrored Tray:

Update. I picked up an old mirrored vanity door from the curb last year and made a mirrored tray out of it. I has been completed for some time now but I wanted to complete my display at the shop and place it in front of it.

Now that I have completed my display, look at what I have made out of the old mirrored vanity door.

Old Mirrored Vanity Door Transformed

Old Mirrored Vanity Door Transformed:

I bike ride almost every morning and during one of my rides about a month ago, I saw an old mirror vanity on the curb ready for trash pickup.

I did not want the vanity but I was drawn to the mirrors. They were in very good condition. After my ride, I went home and took a screw driver and went to take only the mirrored doors off. I had been thinking of making a mirrored tray for some time now. At a time I least expected, my dream of making a mirrored tray will soon become a reality.

I am excited! Stay in touch to see what becomes of this old mirrored doors.

Abundant Living Interiors gets new look

Abundant Living Interiors gets new look:

Our website abundantlivinginteriors.com gets a new look. After over 10 years of having two html websites we have upgraded to a new WordPress site. This new site does not only show the services we provide but also has DIYs to motivate you to find creative solutions to some of your inner space dilemmas. This is a responsive website and adjusts itself to any device that is being used to view it. You also have the opportunity to comment and receive updates. We are excited about sharing our creations and inspiration with you and hope you enjoy it. Thanks to all who helped to make this a success.

Tell us what you think about our new site.

DIY Free Home Decorating

DIY Free Home Decorating:

Many are not aware that craigslist is not just for jobs and to purchase used and new stuff locally but also to pick up free items. Just as you can shop for things to decorate your home you can also “shop on the free” on Craigslist. With a little patience and determination, you can decorate your home by getting most if not all the items on craigslist for free. The photo above shows a few of the things I picked up for free and customized them to best suit the family room project I was working on.

In this post, I will share the transformation an old credenza went through to become a mirror mosaic top bar.

I will share the process the other items in the photo went through to become what they are today in future posts.

Some tips to follow when selecting free items on Craigslist are;

Have in mind the kind of item(s) you are looking for.
Determine the approximate size that will work for your space.
Look through the free items frequently.
Be quick and ready to go and pick up item(s) when you find it.
Be patient, it may take longer than expected but do not give up, any day could be your day.
Be capable of working on the item when you find it or communicate frequently with the one who may be making the modifications if needed.
You may be lucky to find exactly what you want and it may not need any modifications.
Mirrors are great to decorate spaces with and quite often mirrors are given out for free. The key to selecting mirrors is, unless you are good at cutting mirrors, plan on having them cut to size if you do not find the size you want, or rather select mirrors that are as close as possible to the size(s) you are looking for.
Avoid picking up a lot of stuff with the hope of modifying them for a purpose only for them to sit for years without doing what you planned.

Read more to find out how this credenza was transformed into a mirror mosaic bar.

Fix or Customize Paper Lamp Shade

Fix or Customize Paper Lamp Shade:

These paper lamp shades are not very durable and tend to rip quite easily and they all have the same boring ivory paper, but with a little effort you can fix and or customize any paper lamp shade.

I purchased this Sore paper lamp shade from Ikea AS IS department for less than $3.00. After leaving it in the box at the business not sure how to customize it, the next time I went to pick it up I noticed some roaches had left their droppings on it. When I went to clean it, it began to rip. I had to find a quick solution. I decided to use some mod podge and paper napkins to fix it. I searched for some paper napkins but I did not find any I liked. Then the thought came “why not use some paper patterns?”

Bright idea! I had some old Simplicity paper patterns for a skirt in the attic and I went and got it. The steps are as follows;

Items needed are mod podge (matte finish), water, brush, paper patterns or front layer of paper napkins.

Put the metal frame into the shade so that it is stretched open.

Rip some of the patterns or napkins into smaller pieces.

Pour some of the mod podge into a disposable cup and add 2 table spoonfulls of water per 1/2 cup of mod podge.

Starting from the top, apply mod podge with the brush to a small section of the shade.

Place a piece of the pattern or napkin on the glue and apply more mod podge on the piece and surrounding areas.

Place another piece slightly overlapping part of the previous.

Apply more mod podge and repeat the process, covering the lamp shade with the pattern or napkin.

When you are about two thirds done, stop and allow it to dry completely.

When dry, turn the shade over and continue the process from the bottom to where you left off slightly overlapping as you go.

Allow to dry completely and you have a new lamp shade in your choice of color and design.

Enjoy.

DIY Re-upholstery Class

DIY Re-upholstery Class:

Enrolment for the October 2015 session of our Bring Your Own Chair DIY Re-upholstery Class has ended. The 5 week session begun on Saturday October 17, 2015.

You are welcome to join our next session. In this class, you will learn hands on how to re-upholster your own furniture using your side chair or occasional chair as a demonstration. Some sewing skills may be needed if your chair has some sewing.

We do not yet have a date for the next session but you may register without including a payment and we will contact you when a date is set.

Read more to find out more about the class.