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!

Old Art Easel = Recycled Jewelry Holder

My friend, Jodie, found this old art easel in a thrift store for $20 and had the most wonderful idea to turn it into a jewelry holder!  She got the idea when she was shopping in Urban Outfitters and saw these:

If you ask me, our version is way better AND it cost a lot less!  Here is how we did it:

Logan and I had some old chicken wire left over from the garden last summer, but you can buy it any home/building supply store (Menards, Home Depot, Farm & Fleet) for about $15 a roll. We took a wire cutter and cut the chicken wire to fit the back of the easel.  We then took a power stapler and stapled the chicken wire to the back of the easel, trimmed up the wire around the edges and we had ourselves a very unique jewelry rack!  You can do this same thing with a vintage picture or mirror frame.  It was super easy and took about 20 minutes!

Here are some other images for inspiration:

Image 1&2: A Paperless Scrapbook, Image 3: Recyclart, Image 4: ModCloth Blog, Image 5: Cameo 24, Image 6: Easy DIY at Home

EVERYONE needs a hobby!

My husband, Logan, and I are pretty much complete polar opposites. Some might think that is a bad thing, not me! Yes, it can have its challenges, but in the end we make a great team. We make up for what the other one lacks. That is how I look at it.

I will not list all of our differences because neither you nor I have the time it might take; I will name a few though. I have creativity coming out of my ears. I love out of the box (or shall I say blue) ideas and creating something beautiful and unique out of something worn out, boring, and ugly. I simply love to create. My husband, on the other hand, might not have a creative bone in his body. Although, when it comes to CRAZY organizational skills, some of the best people skills I have ever seen, and being an all around good person, he takes the cake. My life would pretty much be chaos without him. I also tend to get overly excited about things, where he is as laid back as they come. He needs a little energy (me) in his life and I need a little bit of organization (him) in mine. All in all, we seem to fit just right.

Our very different hobbies
Logan comes home from work the other night and says to me, “You know how you have all these projects you are working on, well I have one of own!” He then whipped out this:

It is his father’s model aircraft from the early 80s. I guess it has only been flown twice successfully and during the last attempt there was a bit of a mishap. It needs some work, but my husband is determined to fix it and learn how to fly it. From what we hear, it is pretty hard to fly.

I come home from work the next night and say to Logan, with my over-the-top excited voice, “I think I bought all of craigslist today!” The look on his face didn’t exactly reflect the same excitement I was feeling, to say the least.

So, the next night we headed out to Columbus, Wisconsin in the middle of a snow storm. His father lent us his giant SUV to pick up what was posted on Craigslist as, “white cupboards on wheels,” aka a PERFECT storage unit for my creative workspace in the basement! Yippee! Our next stop was on the east side of Madison where a man was clearing out his grandfather’s old workshop. To sweeten the deal and convince Logan it was a perfectly sane idea to drive an hour in the middle of a snowstorm, I did not forget to mention that the man had a whole bunch of metal shelving units that would be perfect for ORGANIZING the basement. (That word wins every time.)

I was like a kid in a candy store in that workshop. It was full of junk, junk, and more junk. The quote “One person’s junk is another person’s treasure” might sum it up. It was full of old vintage orange crates, metal baskets, old wooden doors, bookcases, storage units, antique metal filing cabinets, and the list goes on and on. So, we DID come home with a metal storage unit, but we also came home with this:



1.) An old makeup display case from an American Eagle store
2.) One side of an old wooded shipping crate
3.) An old pink metal bookcase
4.) A long wooden bookcase
5.) The side to an old wooden crib (strange, I know)
6.) Old wooden filing shelves that used to be in a post office years ago
7.) And, as a bonus, the guy threw in an old window washer squeegee thing….. HAHA!
(Logan thought that was pretty cool!)

As we packed everything in the back of the SUV and tied the shelving unit to the roof rack, Logan asks, “what are you seriously going to do with all this junk!?!” I replied, “No worries, Hun. I will make it all beautiful!” That comment was closely followed by a semi-sincere promise not to look at craigslist for another 3 months. (Shhhhh!)

What I am trying to say is that I might not care about airplanes and he might not care about refinishing old furniture, but we both realize that making something work again or making something your own, can make a person really happy. So I encourage all of you to find the DIY project that works for you. I believe everyone needs a hobby, an escape from the every day grind of life.

I will keep you updated as to when my husband’s DIY project takes flight and my many transformations of trash to treasures!

I hope you all have a lovely weekend. I plan on making my favorite white bean chicken chili and corn bread this weekend, so look for the recipes on Monday!

Old China Cabinet = Shabby Chic Linen Storage

I am finally done refinishing the old china cabinet that has been sitting in my basement and I couldn't be happier with the outcome!  I cannot take all the credit though.  My husband and I worked on this project together.
I had originally thought I would use it as a china cabinet, it's original purpose, but after thinking about it, I have decided to use it as storage for linens in the lower level bathroom we are planning on finishing off this summer.

Here are a couple pictures showing the process.

First, take the entire piece apart.  Take all knobs, screws, nails, pulls, hinges, and doors off.  Remove all drawers.  Put all of the hardware in a plastic bag so you do not loose anything.

Fix any broken parts. I had to repair the cross bar between the legs.It had been broken completely in half. 

I used wooden pegs, wood glue, and wood putty to repair the cross bar.


After you have repaired all broken pieces, you will need prepare for priming by lightly sanding the surface of your piece.  After you have sanded, take a damp cloth and wipe down your piece to get all of the sawdust off.

You are now ready to prime. After the primer has completely dried, lightly sand and wipe it down with a wet cloth. You are ready to apply the paint.

I decided to roll on the paint b/c it is less messy. I would have sprayed on the paint if it were summer and I could have been outside, but b/c I had to refinish the piece in my basement, where there is little ventilation, I decided to go the safer and less messy route. Rolling on the paint worked really well.

Refinishing: The right tools for the job

For those of you who have never refinished a piece of wooden furniture, I thought it might be helpful to go over just what supplies you will need.  You will find it to be rather expensive when you first purchase your supplies, but most of it will last you quite while.  Therefore, you will be practicing “design on a dime” starting the SECOND time around.  

Here is what you will need:

1.  Stripper…………………………………… $7.97 (1 qt)
2. A stripping tool…………………………… $2.99
3. Wood filler………………………………… $2.98
4. Sander (with sanding pads)…………….. $29.97
5. Primer (2 cans)…………………………… $6.20
6. Spray gun w/ extra aerosol (optional)…. .$8.94 (can:$4.97/refill:$3.97)
7. Spray can comfort grip (optional)………..$6.29
8. Paint………………………………………..$12.48 (1 qt)

                                     GRAND TOTAL:       $77.82

Stripper: You will only need stripper if the piece of furniture you are refinishing has been previously painted.  You apply the stripper to the surface of the piece and after a few minutes it will start to bubble. You can then scrape off the old paint using the stripping tool.

Wood Filler:  You will need wood filler if there are any scratches or dings in the piece of furniture you are refinishing.  It will act as a patch.  Because I am painting my china cabinet, I do not need to worry about matching the color of the stain on the wood.  If you are trying to match stain, you can mix different colors of filler to match your stain.  When painting, I always just buy the natural color filler.  After it is applied and it has completely dried and hardened, you can sand it.

Sander:  You can sand your piece by hand using sandpaper, but if you plan on doing a fair amount of refinishing, I would suggest investing in a hand-held power sander.  They can range in price from as little as $15.00 to over $500.  I bought a Ryobi 240v Corner/Detail Sander for $29.97 at Home Depot. A Random Orbit Sander will work too.

Sandpaper: My sander came with extra sanding pads, but sanding pads run about $5-$6 a pack. The lower the grit, the rougher the sandpaper and conversely, the higher the grit number, the smoother the sandpaper.  Here is a table I found on woodzone.com that serves as a general guide to the proper uses.

I just use two different grits – 80 when I first start sanding to get all of the old paint off and then I switch to 220 for the detailed sanding. 

Primer:  Primer is applied before the paint.  It ensures better adhesion of paint to the surface, increases paint durability, and provides additional protection for the piece being painted.  You must lightly sand the wood before you apply the primer to ensure that it sticks to the wood.  It comes in all different colors, but I always buy white.

Spray gun:  A spray gun is only needed when the color you want to use isn’t available in a spray paint form.  You can always hand paint your piece, but I prefer to spay on the paint.  It goes on much more even.  I have chosen to paint my china cabinet cumulus blue from BEHR paint. It isn’t available in a spray can, therefore I bought the spay gun.   You need to thin your paint before you use it so it can be sprayed through the gun.  Because the paint I bought is water based, I will need to thin it with water at a 3:1 ratio (3 parts paint to 1 part water).  There are instructions on the side of the box that will tell you what ratio to thin your paint to and what to thin it with according to what kind of paint you are using.

Below is a picture from Better Homes and Gardens that inspired me to choose a pale color of blue.  I love this armoire!

Comfort Grip:  It is simply a piece that fits on your spray can that makes it easier and more comfortable to spray.  This is optional.

Paint:  Pretty self-explanatory.  For my china cabinet I only bought 1 quart.  Depending on the size of your piece, you may need to buy more.

Always ask for help!  When you are at Menards or Hope Depot buying your supplies, do not hesitate to ask for help.  I ALWAYS do.  They are always super helpful and nice, plus it beats buying the wrong thing.  

Hopefully all that wasn’t too boring.  I just figure it is all good stuff to know, especially if you are new at this.