Piano Bench Re-Purpose

A little bench for our new front door area  has been a project I wanted to work on for a while, and have been keeping my eye out for a good deal for months.

Salvation Army came through again with this cute little piano bench!

Just need a little love, right? That I can do. :)

I bought some upolstry foam from WalMart for $7.50. I didn't have a tape measure to know how much I needed, so I just eyeballed it.

Perfect amount! I took the lid off, as it's hinged so I could more easily work with it.

I had some brown twill left over from a different project. I laid it all out and stapled the fabric right to the wood, it worked well! My sweet husband helped me finish it up, turns out he's an excellent upholstery re-doer helper. ;)

Just like that! Easy, easy project!

The inside of the bench has some useful storage space, as well. I told my husband that amount of space will work until we have like one child's worth of hats and mittens. ;)


Love how it finishes off our hallway, and it also matched the little hutch I redid a couple months ago.

Almost the same exact shade of brown, with black. :)

Total project cost: $12.50

Pretties.

A sneak peek of my next projects. ^_^

Baby Project: Changing Table

We were given this changing table by my husbands boss, and while not bad as it was, of course I couldn't just let it be. :P

Pretty much before, minus the different colored knobs. They were all the same color as the rest of the table, as seen as the door.

I replaced the knobs with silver from Martha Stuart Living and applied some Simply Said I had on hand already to the door.

I will be buying this pad with this cover for the top eventually.

I had just enough fabric left over from my rocking chair project to cover the shelf so it matches. :) I was agonizing over what to do with the shelf. I knew I wanted to jazz it up a little, and had bought shelf liner and other baskets, but when I realized I had this perfect-sized scrap, my decision was made. I love how it looks! All the baskets I already had.

(and yes, that is my baby stuff so far. :P Most of it I had before I was married, some has been gifts so far, and the rest was from garage sales)

Little baskets in the drawer, which I lined with some cream shelf liner I had.

Matching nursery pieces so far! :)

Baby Project: Rocking Chair

this...

to this.

 

                                                             

While ticking off the days of my second trimester (can't believe I'm coming up on half way already!), I have been getting a little stir crazy and looking for something to keep me busy.

Solution? Re purpose three pieces of nursery furniture that were free/given to us!

First on the list was the older rocking chair and ottoman set from my in laws. Not in terrible shape, but I thought it could use a face lift.

Some wood damage.

The little ottoman, which had been at our house in the midst of construction for two years!

I removed the covers from the foam pads, ripped the seams out, and measured out what I would need for fabric.

Fabric and spray paint I *finally* decided on. :P 

Sanded down and ready for...

Painting!! :)

The painting took a couple days, and I believe about 5 cans of paint (still less then $20). The fabric and pillow form were around $40.

The cushion covers were a little more difficult then I figured they would be. :P I haven't tried anything like this before, and I was completely winging it. The ottoman was super easy, I ended up just covering over the old fabric and stapling it down.

The bottom cushion was a pain because of how the pattern was. I'm sure if I was a more experienced seamstress, it would have been a breeze. But alas, I am not.

After a frustrating afternoon, though, I figured 'em out.

Hubby kindly finished the ottoman for me. He's a good spray painter. :)

Isn't that better? All ready for some baby rockin'. :)

I wanted to add a little more pop and color to the chair, so instead of making it all chaotic, I just accented.

Love the ottoman. 

I had some scraps left over from the pillow, and decided to dress up the sides a little. I just attached them at either end with adhesive velcro.

Mini Vacation!

My husband and I were to get away for a long weekend and much-needed vacation! :) We spent two days at water parks, ate lots of yummy food, slept in, explored the Dells, and rode the Ducks!

We had so much fun, and it was wonderful to get away together before I'm hugely pregnant! We were both not feeling our best this weekend, so weren't as active as we might have been, but I was glad we were on vacation and could rest all we wanted! :)

Here are a few shots from the weekend...

My faithful driver! :)

Exhausted after a day in the water park!

Yummy pizza dinner! We love Pizza Hut. :)

Downtown Wisconsin Dells.

Sandstone valleys while riding the Ducks.

Entering the water!

Annndd... it floats! :) So fun!

Sandstone cliffs along the river.

This is what the Ducks look like in water. :)

Amphibious landing!

Office Organization

Warning: some images in this post may cause anxiety and stress to more organized viewers...

I often skip the office when I clean the house... And considering the fact that the rest of the house has pretty much been skipped for the last six weeks, let's just say the office was a sad state of affairs.

I had moved the desk, it was under the window before, but this is pretty much how it looked!

Blocked in. :P

Mess mess mess...

I started by sorting through everything, moved the craft/sewing table to the other side of the room, and added a shelf unit made up of a shelf and two crates. The hanging organizer I hung from a plant hook nailed to the wall. ;)

Some progress being made! I sorted through all my supplies and sorted them by type of project.

I have stuff for jewelry, scrapbooking, card making, sewing, crocheting, and wood crafts all in one area, so the baskets and drawer units are a lifesaver!

Finished! I'm still going to label the bins and drawers, but haven't decided if I want to do chalkboard labels, or something else. I may print them. :)

I sorted my ribbon into a glass jar instead of using a bin, all my ribbon is on the rod. Scrapbooking is in one the drawers and in the right hand crate, and jewelry supplies in basket on the left. The other drawers have card making supplies, general craft supplies, and glue. Spray paint and brushed on are the top shelf.  The bins hold mending projects, yarn, scrap scraps, and fat quarters on the bottom. I used an old oatmeal canister to keep my rolled larger scraps from escaping. :) I also have a sorted bin of larger pieces of fabric under the table.

I also hung a curtain to give it a more finished feel, and hide the old nasty window. :P

The desk, dresser, and bottom of the cabinets hold my business supplies. :) I also moved the hedgehog to the counter to block junk-collecting. To the left (not pictured) is hubby's computer area, which I did not finish all the way because I didn't want to completely disorient his current projects. :)
I didn't have a matching curtain for this side (I was sure I did when I hung the other.. pregnancy brain I guess) so I'm keeping an eye out at sales and second hand stores for a matching pair.

What organization projects have you done lately?

Small Projects :)

As I finish up the first trimester, I have started to gain back a little energy. :) I have been doing some smaller projects, but have been terrible at pictures/tutorials.

I made this necklace quick using some charms I had laying around, and gave it to my sister-in-law for her 17th birthday.

I also made her this picture using a Simply Said design I had on hand, some ribbon, picture corners, and scrapbook paper. She loves polka dots, so I thought it would match her style. ;)

(excuse the off-center photo...)

Next up.. my organization project! :)