Happy Easter

Isn't this the most perfectly beautiful spring picnic?  Wishing you all a very happy Easter! 

Image: flickr

How to turn an old coffee table into an upholstered bench

This is actually a project I did last summer that I am finally putting up a post about.  My grandma gave me this old Ethan Allen coffee table when I moved out of the dorms and into a house with four other girls my junior year of college.  By the time I graduated, that coffee table had been spilled on, stepped on and was basically pretty beat up. (not that is was anything great to start with)

I decided to turn the coffee table into something I would use, so I started looking online for inspiration and came across this tutorial on curbly.com that explained step by step how to turn an old coffee table into an upholstered bench.  So I headed to JoAnn Fabrics and Menards, bought the supplies I needed, and followed the directions step by step.  Here is the result:

This bench now sits at the foot of our bed and it works perfectly because out littlest pup, Emma, can now get up on our bed to snuggle.

Here is lil Emma.

And here is our other pup, Oliver.  He likes to sleep in bed like a real person.

Here are the pictures from the tutorial that I followed.  

To see the tutorial and make an upholstered bench of your own, click HERE.

Also, I would LOVE to see any inspiring furniture or room transformations that you have done, so if you have any that you would like to share, please email me at katieannebuell@gmail.com.

Eric – I cannot wait to see the craigslist dresser you and Aimee are working on.  You will have to email me a picture of the final product and don’t forget to take a “before” picture!

Forget that paintbrush and leave those walls WHITE!

If I were to do it all over again, I would have left most of the walls in our house white. I know that sounds boring, but after seeing so many BEAUTIFUL pictures of rooms where the furniture serves as that “pop” of color, it makes me wish I would have skipped the painful process of picking paint colors and painting and left my walls white. (I have a very hard time picking paint colors, so for me it was painful.  There are just SO many wonderful options.)  If you think about it, it is much more versatile to leave your walls white. You can switch up the throw pillows, a glass vase or your bedspread much easier than repainting the entire room every time you want to feel like you need a little change.  Check out these inspirational pics and maybe you will agree.
(click on the pictures to see larger)

Images: 1-3: Decor8, 4-5: Design Sponge, 6: Fiddlesticks and Funny Girls, 7-8: Furnishing My Home, 9-10: You Are My Fave Jr.