Storage Bench Makeover

Ahhhh, sorry for not posting anything DIY/decor-ish last week. I took this vacation thing very seriously. While I worked on a project every day, I couldn't motivate myself to write about them. 

But now it's a new week and I guess it's time to report in.

Do you have one of these chest/benches? 

I think almost everyone has one, or has a friend that has one. We bought it once upon a time to use as a coffee table. But things change, furniture arrangements change, tastes change. I wasn't in love with the faux leather material, and the top sagged because there wasn't any support in the lid. I was afraid someone would sit on it and fall right through.

It sat in a storage room for nearly a year, but this week I dragged it out and gave it a makeover.

First I removed the lid from the body, and then I removed the staples holding the mesh-type fabric to the bottom of the box and the lid. Every.Single.Staple.

As you can see below, there was just some webbing and padding in the lid. I measured and cut two pieces of 1x6 to provide support. The frame has a bit of a lip so I was able to slide the two pieces of wood in snugly underneath without having to use any screws. The top has plenty of support now and the sag is completely gone.

I bought some grey wool suiting fabric a long time ago, specifically for recovering a few of the benches and stools we have that came with less than stellar original coverings. I wrote about the one at the foot of our bed here. This wool fabric is so beautiful. It feels soft and expensive, and I just want to pet it all the time.

I started by recovering the bottom part first. I cut four pieces of material, one for each side, with a couple of extra inches at top and bottom - some to fold under the base to be stapled, and some to fold over the top and inside the box. I had originally planned to staple the material inside the box, but after putting in a few staples I realized that it looked just awful. Tom suggested I use velcro instead. I bought the kind that is sticky on the back even though I planned on sewing it on. The stickiness allowed it to stay in place on the material without having to pin it.

I sewed down both sides of the velcro just to make sure it was secure. For the inside of the box, I stuck it on and then added staples at each end and in the middle.

For the material on the top, I wanted to add some visual interest. Before I attached it to the lid, I sewed a tiny hem, almost like piping, in each direction across the top.

I stapled the material on to the lid and replaced the mesh. I then painted all of the visible staples with black paint to help them blend in. The final step was to replace the feet and the hardware, reattaching the top to the base.

It ended up being a two-day project, what with having to go out and get velcro, but I'm glad I took my time to do it properly. Before it was recovered, Tom wanted to get rid of it, but now he's thinking we just might be able to find a place for it.

Vivian Forest (Autumn is Here)

I have some vacation time to be used up so I booked this week off from work. While I should be working on projects around the house (and I have, a bit), I've mostly just been hanging out with the dogs. Today was such a beautiful day that we couldn't stay inside, so I took them for a hike in York Regional Forest (aka Vivian Forest). This is the same forest I scavenged the branches from for my "wall tree" last year.

We weren't disappointed. Well, the dogs are never disappointed to go there, but I was even happier to see that the leaves have all changed colour and started to fall from the trees. They blanketed the paths, muffling our footsteps, and because it was the middle of the day and deserted, it was like we were the only ones left on the planet.

I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

(Out of focus, but the joy still comes through.)

More Lighting (Because I'm a Liar)

So, I am a bit of a fibber. Yes, I'll admit it. Do you remember when I said I can never find light fixtures that I like? Well, right after that I found two in one week.

First we found one for the master bedroom:

It's this light from DVI (and it's on sale right now - 47% off!). There is an inner ring of frosted glass and then an outer ring of clear glass, joined together by metal pegs. Putting it together was a bit terrifying.

I was so afraid that the glass would crack if the peg put any extra pressure on the it. This was definitely a two-person job; you had to keep the glass nearly level the whole time. It's pretty though, right? A huge improvement over the flying saucer-looking light that was there before.

And if I could remember to take pictures on the weekend, I might get some with natural light.

The second light was for the front room. There was track lighting in there before and it was horrible. Again with the spaceships.

We tried to arrange them so that everything was evenly lit, but the lights were either directly in your eyes or not lighting an area up enough. This new light is from Rona. It's just a single bulb with a faux wooden drum shade.

I like the wood grain - I think it coordinates perfectly with the tan furniture and the matting in the framed pictures. Tom's not completely sold on it yet because he thinks it's too big for the room. I like that it makes a statement.

But with two more rooms that need new lighting, we can always move it if he finds something he likes better. (He's not going to find anything he likes better.)