That Redheaded Sister

In the epic long journey I call decorating, I have hit a few speed bumps.  Things have worked out, things have failed miserably.  Other things have just needed a rethink.

Do you remember my Ikea Poang chair needing a redo?  I like browns and neutrals, but this was getting ridiculous. 

Everything in my living room has a brown overtone.  Even the walls (but its an apartment so Im not painting).
For a while I was looking for the perfect fabric, but I was stumped because I didnt want it to compete with the coffee table

I tried to solve this problem with something inspired me….fabric dye.  I was browsing Young House Love’s post on fabric dye.  I dont know why I didnt think of this before.  I headed to the store and pulled a color out of the coffee table that Matt and I both liked….blue.

Rit Royal Blue.  Matched the color blue in the fabric perfectly.  I was excited

Let me start out by saying I have NEVER used fabric dye before.  Stop saying UH OH!  I used the sink dyeing method because our washer stinks (rented from the apt) and I didnt trust it getting the dye out completely. 

You take the dye, dissolve it in 2 cups of HOT water and pour it in HOT water.  I used the bathtub.  Our water comes out scalding hot, so this worked out well.

I placed the cover of the chair in and stirred with my hands.  I flipped it around, mashed it, had it constantly moving. 
After about 30 minutes I took it out, rinsed with warm water until the water ran clear and threw it in the washer.

This is what the tub looked like:

Nothing a little Tilex didnt fix.  I wouldnt recommend using a much darker color in your tub for fear of permanent dyeing.  Our tub is no longer blue.

After a good wash and air dry here is the final result:

We hated it.  It was too light, the dye didnt cover it completely, It reminded me too much of blue jeans.  It was just a big fail.  Plus it didnt mesh with the room well. 

I walked away from this project hoping to come up with a better solution.  Im not going to lie, I liked the simplicity of dyeing.  Back to the store.

We decided the best color to take from the room is green.  I made took Matt with me because he seems to always have an opinion about what I pick out.  Now he can be part of the decision making process.  We liked all of the greens Rit offered.  We ended up picking a new color Rit has, Apple Green.  I was worried about how it would come out

We tried the bottle version instead.  Almost the same process again (no dissolving).  Shake, pour, mix.

I stayed with this for 30 minutes.  I did not stop moving it.  I didnt want spots.  I even took it out into the living room dripping wet to make sure it was covered. 

After a washing and patiently waiting for it to dry, here is the final result:

I love it!  It pulls the perfect green out of everything that is green in this room.  I liked using the liquid because there was more which made for easier coating. 

What do you think?