Ottoman Makeover

Our coffee table has seen better days! We bought it for a whole 50 dollars 5.5 years ago when we got married. It has served us well but it was definitely in need of some TLC. I have always wanted to turn it into an ottoman but I had no confidence in my ability. Well, the combination of a new sectional making the coffee table look even worse and Lincoln becoming more mobile we decided it was time to make a change. We figured that even if we messed it couldn't look any worse than it did now.

I went searching on the internet and found this as my "inspiration" piece. The part I like the best is the type of fabric (looks durable) and the tufted style on top. The negative about this is that it cost 115 dollars and I'm cheap, working part-time, buyin' formula and I'm not interested in spending that much money on this piece. So, we set off to convert ours.

Here is the before picture of our coffee table:

Our coffee table has an edge around it that sticks up about two inches tall. In order to "build up" the middle we decided to purchase a piece of plywood that would help make the middle section level with the edges. We glued it down with some gorilla glue.


Next, in order to make the coffe table "tufted" we had to drill holes before we covered it in foam and fabric. My lovely assistant drilling the holes for me.

Next we covered the whole thing in foam. This is the part I would have done differently if 'do-overs" were possible. We bought a piece that was long enough but not wide enough. We cut the extra off our ends that we did not need and pieced it on the sides. In the end it made the sides a little lumpy and they are not the "lovely lumps" that the song refers to.






I covered the buttons with the same fabric, threaded them throw the pre-drilled holes and then used washers to tie them off underneath. And here is the finished project!

We did this project in October and we are so glad we did. It was right as Lincoln was learning to pull up. This has helped with some softer landings in his pulling up and now his walking. It has held up well too. After totalling the expense, I think this cost us about 50-75 dollars to make over. We are quite proud of our handy work.

Randomness.

I am L.O.V.I.N.G my summer of nothingness!! I have done some projects around the house, actually had time to stay on top of doing laundry and house work and just enjoyed the little things like getting to see Cory for lunch everyday!

This is what has been consuming the majority of my week last week. So good! This author is phenomenal. If you are looking for a good read -- I recommend it. It gives you a great glimpse into Afghanistan culture.

A couple of weeks ago we started the project of putting some shutters up on our house! The exterior of our house is BARE. It is naked and needs lots of help. We decided to start with shutter. Seeing as those are the cheapest way to get started on all the help it needs. We debated on the type of shutters but decided that the "board-n-batten" style seems to be in -- so we went with it. I decided on a chocolate brown for a little spark of something different. We took the shutters to Home Depot before we hung them up and put them in the color match machine so we could get a similar color to paint the front door. I think the shutters will look better once the front door is the same color (and once we get landscaping, gutters, a fence, and the list goes on and on!).

We also recently invested in a treadmill! We are loving having is since in our neck of the woods for about 8 months out of the year it is either 100+ degrees or there is snow on the ground. Nothing beats a walk outside with my neighbor Erin and her dog Annie but some days the weather does not permit. The only thing I don't love about the treadmill is its location -- our bedroom! But you gotta do what you gotta do!

This is about as exciting as the Calhouns get thus far this summer. I know -- fascinating!

We are very excited about the 4th of July weekend! I hope you all have a great holiday and be careful!!

Our Living Room

Welcome to the Living Room edition of Show Us Where You Live - Fridays!

This is the view from the back of the living room.

The brown chair was my grandparents from many many years ago! It has sentimental value but I really want a new chair and a half or love seat to go there! Just have to keep saving my money!

Another view
Here is a close up of our TV stand that we painted last summer. It was an out of the box light brown stand that we spray painted red and then we took a dark stain and put it on top of the paint and wiped it off to give it a wood grain look. I was really pleased with how it turned out.
Here is a shelf that we built last summer with the help of our step father-in-law. I found the plans on the do-it-yourself section on the Lowe's website.


Side view of the shelf.
Our fireplace (that is our bedroom in the background)
The other view of the fireplace and chair.
The backside of our living room opens up to our dining room, but I didn't want to post pictures of that until the tour takes us to our dining rooms. Plus, it needs lots of help so I will definitely need some tips for it.

CEC.

Hope you enjoyed your tour! I am always looking for new ways to decorate or new ideas so feel free to share!

Our Kitchen.

I have decided to join the tour of homes over at Kelly's Korner. She has started "Show Us Where You Live Fridays." However, I am just getting to it on Saturday. I have some pictures of my kitchen from about a year ago and then I took some more this afternoon. I'll list the older ones first and then the newer ones, although there is really only a slight difference between now and then. I am by no means a designer but I do love color (as you can tell by my bright YELLOW kitchen) and I love cute stuff. Enjoy!

Here is a plate that I have in my kitchen. I use to have this

written on it but now I have a Bible verse written on it.

Eat in kitchen area.

This is one of my favorite things in my kitchen. It is the flowers from my bouquet at my wedding along with my junior bridesmaid cousins flowers. My aunt had them dried and framed for me.

Here are the pictures I took this afternoon/evening.

We have plans to install some pendant lights over our bar area this summer and hopefully I will find some cute bar stools to put here too!

I hope you enjoyed your tour! I can't wait to see your kitchens as well.