DIY Bench with Paintable Wallpaper

I was looking for a bench to put under the window in Avery's nursery. I couldn't find anything in my price range ($20 or less, haha) so I gave up for a while. And then I found this at a yard sale for $5

You know what cheap white counter tops are made out of? Its covered in whatever that is. :) I didn't want to just paint it because I didn't like the surface and texture of the bench. So I decided to try applying paintable wall paper to it. First, I measured the bench and cut strips of wall paper to fit. since I had 4 legs with 4 sides each, I cut one piece and used it as a template to do the remaining 15 pieces. Then I primed the bench so the wall paper would stick. After that, I just followed the instructions of the wall paper and cover the bench. It only took me a few minutes to do the wall paper. After the wall paper dried, I applied 2 coats of white trim paint. I used the brush to apply a lot of paint on each seam and then wiped off the excess. I plan on putting a foam pad on top with left over fabric from Avery's bedding. But for now, its in her room like this. I already had the wall paper, the primer, and the paint- so this project cost me FIVE BUCKS! yay:)

Here is how the rest of the nursery turned out ~ -Made the bedding for less than $60. Hit a big sale at JoAnn's for all the fabric. I still have a TON left over.
Baskets from the dollar store...And my lace lamp.

Simple wall art- stuck lace to the wall with a glue stick, stapled a fake daisy to the wall (yes I said staple- haha), and hung a plain black frame around it with no glass.

And my DIY mobile. :)

-LeeAnn

DIY...Bench Made from a Sofa Table

I saw this idea on a decorating blog that I LOVE. If you haven't checked out All Things Thrifty, do it! Brooke has some really awesome DIY home decorating ideas for cheap cheap!

My mom gave me this sofa table about a year ago and I knew I wanted to make it into a bench but just hadn't gotten around to it. I LOVE the detail in it and I knew black glaze would look awesome in all the carvings.

I took the legs off (I accidentally deleted that picture off my camera and didn't realize, DUH) and sawed each leg so they measured 16 inches long. I then put the legs back on.

I then primed the whole thing.

Here's the primer and paint I used. Walmart is the cheapest place to get the Krylon spray paint. I got the primer at Home Depot. It's the first time I've used this brand and I really liked it. It took 1 can of primer and about a can and a half of paint.

Painting's all done...

GLAZING...
It intimidates a lot of people but it's SO SO simple. I got this can at Home Depot about 2 years ago and I still have 3/4 of the can left and I have done a ton of projects. It last a long time! You get it in the paint department and have them tint it black. Make sure you check the color and it's black enough. You don't want semi black glaze. They will add as much black as you want.

Just paint it on (I do it in sections) with a paint brush and let sit for a couple minutes

Then take a damp rag and wipe off what you don't want. The glaze will stay in all the nooks and crannies.

Before the glaze...

After the glaze....(so much better, right?)

Making a NO SEW Pad...
Foam is so expensive! JoAnn's has a great selection but make sure you have a coupon so you don't have to buy it full price. You can join their email list to get coupons or FYI they accept competitors coupons. Luckily my sister had some foam she wasn't using so she gave it to me. :)

I traced the top of the "table" with a marking pen.

I cut it out with a big serrated knife.

I wrapped the foam with quilt batting and hot glued it to the back. Then I wrapped the material the same way. Make sure when you glue on the material pull it tight so you have a tight fit. I wasn't concerned about the way the under side looked as long as the top looked good.
Just wrap the ends like you are wrapping a present and glue as you make each fold.

TA DA! It turned out SO AWESOME!! I LOVE IT! I love how the glaze makes the details of the carving pop.

Adrienne