Toy Bench Makeover

Hey everyone!

Today we had the perfect day! It was in the low 70's, zero humidity, sunny & breezy! I could seriously live like this all year long and it definitely doesn't help me to be any more motivated about wanting to go to work!

But it does motivate me to get painting! I've spent a majority of the last week in the garage working on projects that are way overdue. Here is a toy bench that is the newest addition to our entryway/mudroom area {I'm not sure it's big enough to call a mudroom!}

Here is the before. I got it at a garage sale for $3.00. The lady selling it said her dad was a woodworker and they had an overflow of wood furniture in their house. The kids had drawn with crayon all over it, but I knew I'd paint it so it didn't matter. 

 The only part I wasn't a fan of is the random open space in the bottom. It looks fine, but I wanted it to be functional and I can't imagine piling stuff in here and letting everyone see all my junk! 

First I made a cushion for it. I don't have a great tutorial... but here is the one picture I did take. I made the cushion out of my old memory foam that went on top of my mattress when I was in college & lived in the dorms. I cut a strip of it to fit the top of the bench and then took this upholstery fabric and sewed a cover for it. The memory foam was 4 inches thick, so it is super comfy! 

 And here is the final product. Please don't look too closely... I truly do not know how to sew. at all. 

 For the weird open area, I took a strip of fabric and stapled it from the inside.

 Our entryway is off of our kitchen so it is super nice to use this as extra storage! It's the perfect size to hold my crock pots, patio dishes & extra grilling utensils {that are too gigantic for my cupboard drawers}. 

 I'm not sure why I'm so terrible at taking pictures today... but you get the idea. 

Well, I'm ready to get back to snuggling in bed. But a quick side note: Do any of you mommies with never-ending-sick-kiddos know if you can be a carrier or strep even after having your tonsils out? The husband had his removed when he was little because he was a carrier... but I'm on my third z-pack this year due to strep and I'm starting to think it might be him! Am I crazy? :) 

Linking up here this week: 

Hookin up with HOH, 20 Below at Christina's Adventures, Craft-O-Maniac Monday, Motivate Me Monday, I'm Lovin It Party @ Tidy Mom

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