I built that...

Kevin is pretty certain that my desire to build and be crafty is some sort of nesting hormone kicking in. He is sort of right, but sort of not. You see before my only job was to tend to the children I was busy, like really busy and had given up any desire or idea that I had the energy to actually decorate my home. Especially our new home. Then when I did give up my job I was still pretty sick. And when I got relatively better I needed to just sit in the bare spaces and figure out what I wanted to do.
I figured it out and let's just say it's been one "project" after another accomplishing the ideas in my head.
But seriously, I'm having so much fun!
So I started in my front room, and when we moved here there was no furniture in it. My dad would come over and tell me he was leaving because he their wasn't any place for him to sit. So we searched and searched for a couch, one that would work in our price range and in the room. I found it. It's the most comfortable couch you've ever sat on. It instantly became "my couch, in my room". I had my little bowl full of necessary things, (chargers, notepad, pencil, nail file, chapstick, basically the essentials). I had become my mother. Then I painted a bookshelf that I already had and the room was feeling more pulled together. The walls were bare, but I had a few grand ideas. I convinced Deb that I had been a really good contributor for long enough and I commissioned her to paint me the most glorious painting. She was nervous, but her palette knife was ready.
(So much paint, it's awesome!)


It is a four foot square version of Monet's Water Lily's. The same ones I fell in love with at the museum in Paris. I stared at them for nearly an hour before I had to get back on a train.

It's the greatest thing I could ever hang in my house. Seriously. When Kevin hung it up I just stared at it until the wee hours of the morning, mesmerized by it.

My room was coming together, like really coming together. But then I found this other couch, (Thanks Heather!) and the room I thought I loved, just got so much better! I moved that really great snuggly couch downstairs in front of the TV and my sitting room became the sitting room I had imagined. (And the TV room became the TV room Kevin had wished for. Win Win!)
Except I needed a place to put my feet up.
Then it dawned on me, I could build an ottoman! (Who thinks like that?)
Before even turning to Pinterest I dreamed up the perfect idea. I needed a piece of wood, table legs, brackets, foam, batting, fabric and a staple gun. Easy right? Totally.

Here's how I built an ottoman:

First, I went to Home Depot and found a piece of wood and asked the nice gentleman to cut it for me. Then I found 4 table legs and brackets.

Kevin and I debated back and forth on 9" legs or 14" legs. He won.

I screwed the brackets on the wood so the legs would have a way to dry after I stained them. It was quite handy.

I marked the bottom and then drilled holes so I could tuft the ottoman. Something I decided not to do while I was in the middle of stapling the fabric on. (OK so I forgot to tuft it and didn't remember until it was done. Whatever.)

I cut my foam that I had left over from the girls headboard project. I had 5 inches of foam on top of a1/2 inch piece of wood.
Wanna know the best way to cut foam? Old school electric knife. You know the one that your mom got for a wedding present 30 years ago? That's the one and it works like a dream. I used a spray adhesive to glue to the layers of foam together while I cut it. It sort of worked...

Then after a two week fabric debacle, I put my big girl panties on and went to the fabric store. (I had fallen in love with a print and ordered it online, then two weeks later after numerous phone calls with customer support I got a lame email that said, "Sorry we don't have it anymore." I was not so happy.)  I survived the fabric store and found a second choice that worked just as well.

I wrapped the foam in cotton batting. I had ordered a batting online and it was much thicker than I had wanted it to be. It worked, but I wouldn't use it again. The cheap stuff I used for the girls headboards was much better. After I added the batting around the foam, I then covered it in fabric, stapling every inch to make sure it was tight. (I must have gotten so caught up in doing the project that I forgot to photograph it. Sorry...)
Then I screwed the legs on and the whole thing looked terrible. Like the mix between a bench, ottoman and a table. I couldn't decide what it was that was throwing the whole thing off. After a few text messages with my mother, we confirmed that the ottoman was too leggy. Luckily she has a chop saw and we know how to use it.  4 cuts later the legs were 3 inches shorter and rather perfect if you ask me.

The finished project!

I looked over the receipts of everything and this bad boy cost me a total of $65.00. (I'm sure I could have gotten it down cheaper had I paid more attention...) Not bad right? Kevin asked if I had calculated my time into that cost and no I did not. My time does not have a financial value anymore so therefore it was a great deal! It works great in the room and I'm excited to make a few more footstools around the house. I learned a few things a long the way, but this was a great starting project!

You wanna see the rest of the room??? Okay, Okay...

I had these chairs from our previous house. They were the only furniture we had in the entire room for about 5 months. Comfy right?

The desk in the entry way was mine when I was a little girl. I have since painted it several times...

(Guess what? I built that bookshelf too! I built two of them a couple summers ago and I officially like the one painted green.)

 Here it is all together! I sort of love it. Like a lot.

My lists of projects are slowing down and it's about time I start thinking about a babies nursery... Until then I am going to be snuggled in with my feet up.

Love Love