10 Dollar Bench Refab

Hi Everyone! I wanted to share with you my recently completed project, my first bench refab. This refab project only cost me some time, fabric, and a can of spray paint! How you ask? Well, the bench was given to me by a family member that was going to get rid of it! Let me give you my best advice people, if someone is offering you a piece of furniture and you take one look at it and turn away, you could be making a huge mistake. Just because it is a little outdated or has a scratch, or torn fabric doesn't mean it is no good...it means that it is ready for you to transform it into something lovely, that reflects your style. It's not ready for furniture heaven, so save it and reinvent it! And, that is exactly what I did with this guy!

Unfortunately I started this project before I entered the bloggy world, so I had already painted the legs. So here's a pic of the before that I do have (it is just the top of the bench with the old fabric).

Before it was reinvented, it was used at the end of the bed for a place for their cats to sleep on. It was a tad hairy and clawed up a bit, and the fabric was not my style at all.

My first thought was to use this in a similar way, at the end of the bed as a place to put pillows on at night, or to sit down and put my socks and shoes on in the morning. In order for it to work with our master bedroom, I had to find a fabric that flowed nicely with our room, a grey would be perfect. After spending some time in the fabric store and unable to decide on a pattern, I threw my hands up. Well, if you can't bring a pattern into a room, then you should bring in a texture. I found this grey fabric that resembled corduroy, perfecto!

Well, the night that I decided I was going to sit down and finish this one off, my eyes began to wander. I was thinking about how we are always bringing out our fold out chairs for dinners and get togethers and dragging them outside or end up with them around the table, and I didn't realize until that moment how much I loathe those folding chairs.

I broke out the tape measure and realized this bench would go so great under the large window in our dining room. It was a perfect fit, and when the hubs sat down at it, it was a surprisingly good height for the dining room table. This could provide 2 extra seats as well as some aesthetics, SOLD! There is only one problem with this scenario, I used the gray corduroy to cover it and my colors downstairs are very earthy with tans, greens, and oranges (it is very fall oriented). In the end, I think it will be used in the master, but I know what the solution to my folding chair problem is, so I am on the search for a new bench that needs a breathe of life, that I can incorporate into the function of our dining room.

Here's a look at the finished project, under the window. Soon to be moved to the master...

My simple instructions:

• removed the legs and sanded, primed, and painted white
• removed the bottom layer of fabric and all of the staples
• cut my fabric to size (I bought 1.7 yards for 6 dollars at Old Time Pottery, and I have plenty left over..pillows?)
• wrapped the bench and stapled the fabric on the bottom with my staple gun
• The corners were a little tricky (as you can tell..hey, it was my first bench)
• screwed the legs back in and it was ready to go

Thanks for reading! :)

Challenge Day 7 - Wants

Everybody wants something, here are my 7 current wants.

I want

1. New Car! My #1 want right now is pretty much a need. My current ride is a gas gusseling machine, whose AC goes out at acceleration. Not too much of a looker either. I  hope to upgrade to a smaller SUV, like the Ford Escape, Kia Sportage, Hyundai Tuscon, etc. (you get the idea) I want a white one.

2. Good Health for my family and friends. Some of my family has had a rough couple years, some just months. It is so hard for everyone that cares about someone who is battling an illness. In my perfect world, everyone would be healthy and happy!

3. Debt Free. To never have to have a credit card payment, a loan payment (other than the house) or any of that nonsense....keep dreamin'

4. to be able to sell my wonderful home someday to a new starter family. I hope that someday the hubs and I can upgrade and we can find a home that is a little a lot closer to his job. Poor thing has to commute an hour and a half each way. No plans to sell now, we love our home. But I hope that the housing market can come back enough in the next couple years so that we will be able to resell without too much agony.

5. a finished craft room...we finally have the empty room so that I can create my own (here are my dream plans). Hopefully after the next 6 weeks of weekend travel are over we can begin to transform the room for my special space.

6. have a super successful blog. I hope that my blog is successful enough to inspire lots of different people all over the world. I LOVE checking my stats and seeing how many people all over the world are reading my ideas and projects, and I love when I get nice comments from my readers. I hope that I can keep this up.

7. a long and happy marriage. I love my hubs and our little family. I hope that one day soon (couple of years) we can bring some little kiddos into this world. I just want a long happy marriage full of love and life experiences together. 

Thanks for reading! :)

Challenge Day 6 - 6 Places

6 Places - 3 places I LOVE, and 3 places I want to visit.

Places I LOVE:

1. Our Home

2. My Grandma's House in PA

3. Hilton Head, SC

Places I want to Visit:

1. Alaska

2. Australia

3. Europe - everywhere

Thanks for reading : )