Almost everything has potential...

When it comes to furniture, I think almost anything has potential. There are a few caveats...pressed board pieces are generally not worth the effort ...okay, so maybe there is really only one caveat. Anyway, when my grandmother offered me this ugly footstool I didn't hesitate to take it in.

It took me awhile before  I decided what I wanted to do. I've never really recovered anything like this before, so I was a little hesitant. I decided to tackle it using some nice, but cheap fabric I picked up at St. Vincent Depaul.

I originally going to sew a removable cover for it, but since I'm new to sewing, I made the initial part of the cover a little too small, so I decided to get out my staple gun (otherwise known as my BFF.)

 I stapled the skirt on. I also chose to do the fabric on the reverse because it was a little garish (which is probably why it ended up at the thrift store.)

I  was able to cover up my staples with a combination of piping and gimp. This was my first attempt at making my own piping. The single piping turned out great, but the double piping not so much.

It's a little wonky, but I'm pretty happy with my first attempt. I have a similar project waiting it's turn in the basement.

Now the real challenge--- finding  time for the piles of potential hanging out in the basement.

Ready to travel

I have a hard time passing up a suitcase, but you can only use so many...especially when you rarely go any place.

I decided to take this suitcase and

combine it with this ...



The combination equaled a cute little side table.

I don't know if it was the recent royal wedding ... or maybe my extreme adoration of Miss Mustard Seed ... but I can't get enough of the Union Jack right now. This looks much cuter in person... the background is actually a light blue, but in the photo it almost looks white.

I have a paint brush and I will use it....

So I repainted this cabinet a while back. (It had some veneer problems) When I did that I decided to remove the decorative element from the doors because I wanted an unobstructed view of what was inside the cabinet.

I hung on to them for awhile until I decided to use them as "paneling" in the little area outside our kitchen area. They fit perfectly. I painted them and the wall so they look like solid wood. I recently repainted the wall a green color to make them and my artwork pop more too.

Around that same time I made a "child/dog gate" out of an old frame and some chicken wire. It keeps the dogs out of the basement while allowing access for the cat (he goes right over the top.) It's also held up better than the child gate we use to use, which broke pretty quickly.