My first DIY reupholstering project!!

So while I was pregnant with Taitum we were in the process of moving so that "nesting" period never really took full effect.

Well we were in our new place by June and that's when I started googling things like "DIY furniture" and watching the DIY Network and lots of HGTV!! I stumbled upon my first blog Centsational Girl and then found Curbly. *SPARK* literally went off in my head...like a little part of my brain emerged & I am now realizing how to turn my furnish and decorate my house in the shabby, eclectic, vintagey style I looooooove but am not a fan of the price tags.

The big baby girl (ok not totally big. She's just huge now haha) came June 15th :-) so I started my projects that next month.

The project...turn my Salvation Army $20 coffee table into a bench/shoe storage for the entryway!!

This was the entryway before...it just didn't work.

So I found the best tutorial on Curbly for reupholstering and appropriately titled "How To Turn an Ugly Coffee Table into an Upholstered Bench"! I was a beginner so I just had my husbands power tools which are not handy for this project. Off to Joann's Fabric for the fabric and foam and batting and long needle, Home Depot for the paint & brushes, and Wal Mart for a staple gun and buttons. I received an awesome power sander from my mother in law for my birthday so that was first...sanded the whole thing!

Sorry...I forgot to take a picture of the before and after sanding BUT you're going to want to sand the area you want to paint.  If you want to give it that "tuffed" look with buttons make sure you drill your holes now.  Drill exactly where you will be putting them.  I put 5; 2 on the side and 1 in the middle.

Now..I have no patience especially when it comes to letting paint dry so I always get the paint with the primer at Home Depot..and another note...I am TERRIBLE at painting so the shabby/vintagey look I LOVE is really easy since I am definitely NOT a perfectionist hahaha.  Here's a picture of what my bench started to look like with some of the fabric (minus the foam).

I LOOOOOVE!! Yes I forgot to tape off the legs so I did get some paint on them...it comes off easy...no biggie.

Now I did sand the top because to put the the foam on you are going to want to spray adhesive to the top (like in Curbly's instructions)..it works fantastic and of course I did not take a picture.  Now here's a hint...make sure your foam is centered or at least even haha.  I ended up putting the foam on the ground and flipping the table over so I could place the table on top of the foam...side note: this table was HEAVY!!! But again...I do things the hard way.

Next (again no photo sorry...), you will want to cover your foam with batting.  Cover the foam and then make sure you have at least a couple inches more on each side (you can trim it after you staple)...Now get out your staple gun!!

Pull...Pull..Puuuuuuullllllll the batting so the foam bends creating that "bench like curve"...make sense? The batting also lets you make sure it's nice and smooth.  Start stapling in the center of each side and then pull the batting diagonally.  Do the corners LAST.

To give the corner that stellar wrapping look...fold the batting like you would wrapping paper..easy peazy, lemon squeezy!!

Now the fun part!! Grab your fabric!! You're going to want to staple the fabric on the same way  you did the batting. Now once you get your fabric on grab your buttons and hook them up!! Poke your needle through the holes you drilled in the beginning.  PULL the string and secure.  This will give it that "tuffed" look.

And this is my finale!! VOILA!! 

I just recently changed the handles to these spiffy, not matchy matchy knobs I got in my super awesome Pick Your Plum mystery box!!

Here is the entryway after!!  I already have ideas on changing it since the amount of shoes out-weigh the amount of space I thought I created haha.  And no I am not done with my door turned chalkboard hanging thing hahaha...yes those are spoons :)

For my first upcycle/reupholstering/painting project, I don't think it's half bad!...I 

Things I have learned:

I need to shorten my tutorials.

I need to make my tutorials easier to follow but shorten them at the same time.

I need a better camera hahaha...sorry my pictures are not fantastic haha.

Thanks for reading my essay!!

~ Lisa