Ahoy! Tour Our Updated Ticon 30 Sailboat Interior

Decorating a sailboat can be a little tricky because there are not a lot of opportunities for accessorizing - much to my disappointment.  For one, there's no room - this is kind of like tiny house living, so minimalism seems key.  More importantly, things can go flying when Lake Superior pummels us, so pottery, potpourri, and anything else we can't shove in a latched drawer is a firm "no," it turns out. 

But there are still many ways to update a 1980s boat interior because upholstery and other textiles can go a long way.  When I shared the first tour of our Ticon 30 sailboat, you got a glimpse of the all-beige interior: beige headliner, beige fiberglass, accented with beige upholstery!  I really find myself warming up to beige, cream, and off-white these days though, so I decided to embrace the beige and find inspiration in a moodier palette, with lots of rich blues.  The cushions were shot - in such terrible shape, that the seller actually knocked a bunch of money off the asking price so we could get them replaced.  I had a lot of fun choosing upholstery fabric and, after much deliberation, Hubby and I decided on a deep blue upholstery (Sunbrella Loft Indigo) which you saw a sneak peek of on Instagram.  Most colors made the beige headliner look dirty, but this rich blue made it look lighter and we figured it would hide dirt and muck well too.  I turned down teal - TEAL - but I like the classic, nautical feel of this blue.  It's such a gorgeous, rich shade and it really changes color when you look at it from different angles, which I love!

Here's quick trip down memory lane - for more photos of the "before," check out this post.  The "before" photos were snapped with Hubby's phone when the boat was still tarped, so the quality is different but it's also shinier and gleamier now because I went through a bottle and a half of teak oil and removed about 16 garbage bags of stuff. 

BEFORE

BEFORE

When you first clamber down the companionway into our boat, this is the view now:

We were both surprised by how much stuff was left behind by the former owner - some of it useful, some of it not.  We spent weeks just sorting, emptying, cleaning; I vacuumed the headliner, scrubbed surfaces, sorted through drawers, oiled teak.  Meanwhile, Hubby worked on the engine and tackled various repairs.  The unexpected de-cluttering set us back a little and it's part of the reason we launched so late in the season, but it was necessary - and oddly satisfying!

On the port side (I've gotta learn this!), is a settee with fold down table and also a neat bed extender - plus the galley (kitchen).  I changed the design of the settees a little, asking the upholsterers to remove the tufting and square off the corners for a cleaner, more modern look.

I didn't show you the teak table when it's open in the first tour - it folds down and another section slides out to reach the other settee.  Such a clever design!  I like that it can fold completely out of the way. 

The little galley is adorably tiny and I absolutely cannot picture whipping up anything more than a sandwich in there right now, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.  I'd love to find a cute vintage stove and maybe replace the sink and faucet at some point.  But for now, a good clean and some irresistible (clearance) melamine bowls from HomeSense do the trick!





On the starboard side, there's another longer settee, the navigation station, and quarter berth:

Beyond the little door is a bank of tiny drawers, hanging storage, a teeny tiny bathroom (the "head") and the v-berth with more drawers.  Fun fact: if I need to, I can scramble up the hatch in the v-berth onto the deck surprisingly nimbly.   

This is the view looking toward the stern (back):

I love the new upholstery fabric and fresh new mattress-grade foam (so comfy!).  My DIY ice dyed pillows look perfect in here and really brighten up the space!  Now that it's clean and we're using the boat, I'm assessing what else we can do to spruce it up.  I have a secret Pinterest board just brimming with nautical crafts and projects...




There is some terrible wall covering in the head and little storage area that I'd love to cover up, but I need to figure out what can withstand the moisture.  We're eyeing a cute nautical wall sconce for more light - plus we'd like to upgrade the existing interior lights.  I'd love to make some DIY fitted sheets and some sturdy, washable, cozy blankets - maybe a quilt?  That would be fun - and daunting.  I have pinned some cute macrame projects too because a woven hanging fruit basket would be adorable.

Any ideas?

A huge thanks to Sunbrella for providing the Loft Indigo fabric.  I am absolutely thrilled with the quality of the fabric and the gorgeous, deep shade of blue.  I'm already eyeing up some other nautical fabrics to have our forest green bimini re-done...   

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DIY Dog Platform for Back of Ram Truck Cab

I don't even know what to call this project, so let me just explain the problem it solved.  But first let me preface the explanation of that problem by professing my love for our truck.  It's practical for our rural life, especially in this part of the country (did you know there were 850 deer/vehicle collisions in the area for 2010?).  We have to bring our own garbage to the dump, and we obviously buy huge sheets of plywood in bulk (for projects like this, this, and this), so we've really come to rely on this guy - we even towed a stalled car and boat from the boat launch on the weekend!  Go us.  More importantly, I feel like a total badass driving such a tank.  It's a Ram 2500, which is pretty beefy.  People are (bizarrely) shocked that a woman can maneuver such a beast - with manual transmission to boot.  I love smashing ridiculous sexist stereotypes!  It helps make up for those times when I'm not the best feminist.

Did I mention it's a sparkly dark grey with a hint of blue?  I bet you like it now, too!

Gushing aside, what I hate about the truck are the storage compartments under the rear seats.  We love that the seats flip up because it's a perfect spot for Szuka to ride, but then the random little in-floor storage compartments make putting any type of cargo in the back (like groceries) a nightmare because the surface is uneven so nothing stacks, piles or sits neatly.  We have to squash stuff into gaps.

Plus, it's lumpy for poor Szuka.  We tried to pile up a bunch of blankets to even up the floor, and then laid an old dog bed on top of the blanket heap, but after a bumpy ride to town and lots of squirming, she ends up with this (please ignore the mess - we cleaned it after I snapped this photo, I swear):

To solve the problem, Hubby and I came up with an easy solution: an upholstered platform to place on the floor of the cab.

Now when we flip up the backseats, we have a perfectly flat surface which is also cushy for Szuka.  In a pinch, we can flip down the seats and someone can sit back there without us having to remove the platform - it just means that person's legs will be a bit higher than normal.  We rarely have passengers because we almost always have Szuka and she's a space hog, but we wanted a solution that wouldn't negate the possibility of giving someone a lift somewhere.  For longer car rides we can easily remove the platform and stash it somewhere.

Basically, we took a sheet of 3/4" plywood and cut it to fit the shape of the area.  Then we attached some wide legs with wood glue and screws so it wouldn't be tippy, and then attached  some brackets to catch on the cargo compartment edges, so the whole thing can't slide around.  Here's a peek at it's underbelly, and my explanation will all make sense:

After building it, Hubby and I slapped on some quilt batting and then upholstered it with a durable fabric from Mom's fabric stash.  An outdoor fabric would work perfectly, but we had this on hand already.  We just did it quickly, but you can check out this post for a better upholstering tutorial.  One thing I did differently: once everything had been stapled tautly, I folded over the edge of the fabric and added some more staples so the frayed edges are hidden.

A friend suggested we sew a quilt and then attach it with velcro so it's removable, but for now we just stapled it.  Next spring we'll likely remove the fabric and try my friend's suggestion (because it's genius!), but we have been itching for this solution and wanted it done right. this. minute.

Know the feeling?

I actually lost my cool bringing home groceries last week after the bags went toppling every which way.  I'm not even sure I put away the eggs before whipping out the staple gun.

In all likelihood, none of you will benefit from this project idea.  I almost didn't share but I thought that if there's even one person out there, at some point, who is looking for a solution to the same kind of problem that aggravated us, it will be worth posting these photos.  You could easily adapt this to fit any vehicle with flip up seats and under seat cargo nooks.

But, more importantly, I like that this project reminded me about the spirit of DIY.  Doing-it-yourself isn't always about knocking off someone's idea (although I love a good knock off), or trying to copy something less expensively.  Sometimes it's about finding a personal solution to a problem - making something when you can't find what you need or want on the market.  This isn't an incredibly pin-able project, or an especially genius one for that matter, but it's made our lives so much happier and simpler.  Now, if only we can DIY a way to keep Szuka from getting into trouble back there...

Now it's your turn: what's the weirdest, most personal, maybe most creative DIY project you've tackled?  I'd love to hear!!

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The Velvet Chair is Done

Oh my.  Hubby picked up the velvet chair and it looks incredible.  We've been referring to it as "the garbage chair" but that name no longer seems fitting (even if I did pluck it out of a trash heap). 

I have tried my best, but I just cannot capture the richness and intensity - or even the accurate colour - of the velvet in photos.  It's a very luxurious turquoise/teal in real life, and it beckons you to sink into it.  In the photos it's paler, duller, and bluer.  Hopefully when it's in the lakehouse, I can snap a better photo.  Right now it's chilling in the townhouse, but at the lakehouse I think it will fancy up the living room, popping against the crisp white walls and the soon-to-be charcoal grey fireplace (we successfully convinced Hubby to paint it!). 

I can't even believe this is the same chair:

Kessels Upholstering did a beautiful job.  Every seam is perfectly placed and the removable seat cushion has velvet on both sides and a zipper as well, just in case someone gestures a little too wildly with a glass of red wine.  This chair needed a professional makeover to look right - it required some repairs to the springs and, of course, all new foam.  We paid just over $600 for the labour, and I think it was worth it.  We saved some money refinishing the arms and legs ourselves (and the chair was free).  More importantly, it was the style-savvy gals at Kessels who convinced me to consider velvet in the first place.  The fabric I chose for this project is Elite Textile Renaissance, the colour is 760.   

P.S. Kessels is offering 10% off fabric to Dans le Townhouse readers - just let them know you and I are buds.  This is the same discount I was offered.  I was not perked to work with Kessels, they have just been my go-to for DIY upholstery projects (the houndstooth fabric for the vintage teak kitchen chairs was from there) and professional makeovers (like the minty chair). 

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Velvet Volition: Teal + Aqua Velvet Chairs

Hubs and I went to our favorite upholsterer on Monday (the same folks who did the mint chair - Kessels, for Ottawa readers) and short-listed some fabrics for the mid-century chair we found curbside.

We debated fixing it up but we finally decided to go for it, for four simple reasons:

1. It has such a sweet and funny memory attached to it.
2. I figured out it will work with our new living room floor plan (details Friday)!
3. It was free!  We're already ahead of the game cost-wise.
4. Hubs and I both love the lines of the piece.

I decided I wanted a turquoise tweed, like the turquoise Papa I mooned over.

Midcenturia

I brought in a snippet of the turquoise and mint fabric from our other mid-century chair as a guide for the shade of aqua I was after.

Together with the gals at Kessels, we rounded up a healthy selection of tweeds, but also a few velvets.  I never would have considered velvet because I thought it was too traditional and hard to care for.

BHG - Velvet too traditional??

Turns out some velvet can be 100,000+ Wyzenbeek double rubs and lots of upholstery fabric is only 15,000-20,000 (basically, the higher the number, the more durable the fabric).  As soon as we got home with the samples I axed quite a few for being far too blue, too blah, too bold, to printy.

In the end, one tweed remained but because it was shot with navy, it was a smidge too blue.

The velvets won our hearts!  Surprise, surprise.  I just love the sheen, the way the fabric catches the light, and the gloriously saturated hues of my two favorites.  We're still going to sleep on it some more, but it looks like I might be adding a little velvet to my plans.  Unfortunately, my favorite pick is impossible to photograph.  Can you believe the two photos below are of the same fabric?!? And neither is accurate!

In real life, it's similar to this one but a tiny smidge more blue:

BHG

To be sure I'll like the look (it's easy to love a swatch, after all, but a whole chair is another story), I rounded up some inspiration.  Why have I never considered velvet before?

Nate Berkus (via Love on Sunday)

Nate Berkus

via Dust Jacket

Emily Henderson

via Song of Style - also very similar, but a smidge bluer than mine.

The Design Files

Bjork Studio

What was the runner up you ask?  In the store I fell in love with a pale turquoise, almost robin's egg blue that reminded me of this chair . . .

Apartment Therapy

. . . but once home, it really dominated the space and made our artwork look dull!  It's also a lot bluer than the turquoise art and accessories we have, and so it clashes a bit.  It also has such a crazy sheen that it almost looks bridal.  It photographs really nicely though.  I kind of want it more as I type this . . .

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