And it only costs $574.00 + plus tax!  I guess I could pay that.

Heeehehaha hahaha. Hah. Heh. No.

So in true DIY knockoff fashion, I wanted to make one similar. Here’s how I did it:

Start out by drawing half of the demilune shape on a big sheet of white paper.

Trace the template onto the MDF, then flip it over and trace the other side so it will be symmetrical.

Next, plot out a couple points on the paper that will be the tufts.  Repeat the process above: copy the pattern to one side, then flip over the paper and copy it to the other side.

We used the jigsaw to cut the MDF and then we drilled holes on the marks.

I had some leftover bed foam sitting in our attic, so I used it for the cushion.  Just double it up, cut it to match the shape, and use a knife to cut holes that line up with the holes in the board (use your paper template again).

Now for the tufting. The buttons will be just for show as they aren’t meant to hold this much tension.  So hold off on the buttons for now.

I used my upholstery needle, doubled-up my thread twice (quadrupled-up?), and tied one end to a washer.

Starting from the bottom, go through the drilled holes…

through the foam and fabric…

then back through the other way (back down to the bottom).  Pull it tight (I found it useful for Jon to hold it tight on the front) and tie it to the washer.

…and repeat until all of the tufts are done!

Then staple the surrounding fabric to the underside of the bench.

Now that the tufts are done, you can attach the buttons.  Do the same process with the tufts, just add the button at the top.  I bought  this button kit from the fabric store:

I bought 4, 16″ table legs from Lowes. To attach the legs, I used my 1″ spade bit to drill holes in scrap 2×4 blocks.  I then screwed the blocks to bottom of the bench.  Then I put the legs in the drilled hole and secured it with wood glue and screws from all sides.

And now for the skirt. Ugh…the skirt.  The bane of my existence.  You know the scene in Julie and Julia where Julia ruins her Boeuf Bourguignon, falls on the kitchen floor, and pitches a fit like a two year old?  Yeah I might have had one of those moments. Or two. (ok maybe three).  So I will skip all the gory details and just show you what finally worked. (dramatic much?)

It needs a skirt since you can see the 2×4 blocks without it.  After a short brainstorming session with my dad, we came up with garden edging.

I know it sounds weird. It kinda is.  But stick with me…

It’s the perfect pliability. And it’s cheap.  And we had some laying around. Perfect!

I cut a strip long enough to cover the front. Then, I wrapped it in fabric and nailed it to the front with small tack nails.

Under this scrap piece of fabric is the trim….

so I just flipped it back over and stapled the excess fabric to the underside of the bench.

I painted the legs white (Benjamin Moore’s White Dove in semi-gloss).

To give it the aged look, I wiped some glaze (custom tinted to a muddy brown) on it, let it sit for about a minute, then wiped it off.  It’s hard to tell from the pictures below, but it gives it a great, antique, worn-look.

Budget breakdown:

• MDF (already had)
• foam (already had)
• garden trim (already had)
• paint and glaze (already had)
• 1 yd of fabric: $9.99
• button kit: $9.99
• 4 table legs: $11.64
• Total: $31.62

I actually had a gift card to the fabric store that I used for the fabric and buttons, so this bench actually cost me $11.63 + tax. Score!

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Savvy Southern Style

House of Hepworths

I have a quick little project to show you today.  I wanted to some low-maintenance small plants for our front porch table.  Low maintenance because of my green thumb.  Or my lack of a green thumb.  In fact, my thumb is quite withered and yellow.

Sorry for that odd visual. my thumb is actually pretty normal. As far as I can tell.

So anyways, low-maintenance plants are my thing.  While I was looking for a plant like this, I passed by the succulents and saw a sign talking about how easy it is to keep succulents alive. Sign me up! I came home these three guys for $1 each…

The one on the left is a Spekboom.  Did you know that the Spekboom “can be 80% of the elephant’s diet”?  Well nooow you do.  And I thought the only animals I had to worry about were deer.

I was at a yard sale awhile ago and saw these three small dishes for $1. I didn’t know what I would use them for, but I knew they would be fun somewhere…

They looked like they would be a good size for the wee little plants…fun little holders for them.

Since there had to be some form of drainage, I drilled little holes in the bottom of the dishes.

And here they are in their new shiny containers.

At least I know if an elephant ever shows up, we have his appetizer taken care of. Good ol’ Spekboom to the rescue.

And It only took me a year to get to it! At this rate we should have a clean garage sometime before year 2792. Stay tuned!

-sigh-

This is the only before picture I could find.  The poor guy was an ugly green, had a warped top, peeling veneer, and was falling apart structurally.

I started trying to scrape off the existing veneer but eventually I decided that even if I could scrape it all off, it would still be warped and in pretty bad shape.  So I just decided to take the top off and make a new one.

I bought a couple 1×6 boards and cut them to size for the top.

I joined them with braces and wood glue.

Then we flipped the dresser over and attached the top from the inside of the dresser so we wouldn’t see the screws.

See that stripper in the window?

…wait, what?

No seriously. This sat like this for a couple months before Jon pointed out the humor in it.

The conversation went something like this:

me: “Can you hand me the stripper please?”
Jon: “Sure, where is it?”
me: “In the window.”
Jon: “Seriously? You’re joking right?”
me. “why would I joke about the stripper in the win….ooooohhhhhh”

I had big plans for this dresser.  I had envisioned stripping it down to the natural wood, re-staining it, and having a beautiful natural wood piece.

After stripping it 5 times, this was as nekked as it was gonna get.

I ended up painting it a color I had on hand.  It is a gray/blue mis-tint that I got from the Habitat for Humanity Re-store. After the first coat, I decided on a non-distressed, smooth finish. Then, I put the drawers in.  After one pull, it scratched the paint on the sides off.  Welp, guess I’m going with a distressed look.  Heeeeeere’s your sign.

I stained the top with a couple coats of English Chestnut and sealed it with poly in semi-gloss.

The hardware on the bottom two drawers is original with the piece.  I had to buy hardware for the top two drawers, so I bought some that I thought went with the original ones.

It still has the original wooden casters.  And I love love love them.  I’m gonna hug them and squeeze them and call them George. (name that movie)

I painted the key holes white to tie in the white hardware.

I think this piece would look super cute in a kid’s room. Since we don’t have kids yet, someone with kids should come get this.  Just sayin.

So this piece went from being stripped to the natural wood, which changed to a smooth painted finish, which changed to painted and distressed. Just gotta go with the flow sometimes I guess!

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happy hump day,
suzie