Mudroom {Revealed} and DIY Pillows

It’s been quite a week for our little mudroom or mud “hallway”.  My goal was to transform this transition space into something a bit cheerier since it’s the way we enter our home from the garage.  We started with this:

Cleared the decks and began fresh:

Painted some stripes and inserted decorative storage baskets {Target $9.99} into the cubbies:

Made a no-sew bench seat and added a mirror {Hobby Lobby- $25 on sale}:

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

{mirror before a couple of coats of white spray paint}

And finally, adorned the bench with a few pillows made from scratch with my brand new sewing machine!  I’ve never sewn before, so this is a new adventure for me.  Be kind. 

HOW TO SEW A PILLOW

I basically followed the tutorial by Janell at Isabella & Max Rooms, except I didn’t use a pillow insert, I used poly stuffing.  And although I did iron my fabric before sewing, I didn’t iron the seams. 

1.  Lay the fabric inside out, use chalk to make an outline for where to sew, and secure with straight pins.

  

2.  Sew your stitches leaving a 6-inch opening to insert the stuffing, trim the excess fabric.

    

3.  Turn the fabric right-side out and stuff the pillow full being mindful of lumps.

 

4.  Pin the final opening and handstitch closed while watching Top Chef.

 

After adding a few more pillows, our mudroom now looks like this:

 

And because I love a good “before” and “after”:

 BEFORE

AFTER

 

Now that’s a space I’m happy to come home to!  Have a great weekend y’all!  I’ve got fall decor on my mind for the weekend, hmmm . . . .

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I’m sharing this post with these fabulous blogs:

It’s So Very Cheri * A Few of My Favorite Things * All Thingz Related * Blue Cricket Design * C.R.A.F.T. * Fingerprints on the Fridge * Infarrantly Creative * Just A Girl * Keeping it Simple * Mad in Crafts * Me and My Bucket * Miss Mustard Seed * New Nostalgia * Remodelaholic * Seven Thirty Three * Serenity Now * Super Stinky Boys * Tatertots and Jello * The Inspired Room * The Shabby Chic Cottage * The Shabby Nest * Thrifty Decor Chick * Today’s Creative Blog * Under the Table and Dreaming

Mudroom in Progress {No Sew Bench Seat}

In an effort to beautify my mudroom, I painted stripes on the main wall, added some baskets, and decided to make a seat cushion for the bench.  I could have agonized over the fabric for days!  I actually did go to Hobby Lobby three times, Joann’s three times, and briefly scoured the Internet.  Can you believe I’ve never bought fabric before??  It was a whole new wonderful world for me:)  I bought about ten samples but ended up deciding on this, (which, by the way, my husband said was too “floral”).  It’s from Joann’s and was on sale for $5.00 a yard.

To make the bench seat, I used these tools/supplies:

• Lumber (2 @ 55 x22 inches)
• Fabric (4 yards)
• Saw (only because we had to make an extra cut in the wood due to a weird corner in our bench)
• Poly foam (3 inch)
• Batting
• Wood glue
• Scissors
• Serrated knife
• Staple gun
• Iron

Step 1:  Measure the bench to determine how much wood you’ll need for the seat.  My bench is really long (111 x 22 inches)!  So I decided to make two bench seats. 

Step 2:  I went to Lowe’s and they cut two pieces of plywood for me.  We have an annoying angle in one corner, so my husband had to cut a corner out of one of the pieces for me.

 

Step 3:  Cut the poly foam with a serrated knife to fit on top of your wood.  My project required 2 full (22x22 sheets and a half) per board.

Step 4:  Use wood glue to glue the poly foam to the wood.

Step 5:  Once the glue is dry and the poly is secured to the wood (I didn’t wait that long), cover the foam with batting and trim to fit.

 

Step 6:  Use a staple gun to staple the batting to the underneath side of the wood.  Be careful to smooth the batting before stapling so that the fabric can lay smooth and flat without wrinkles when it’s time to cover.  Trim the excess batting.

 

Step 7:  Iron the fabric to remove any wrinkles or creases.

 

Step 8:  Lay the wood, batting side down on top of your upside-down fabric. 

 

Step 9:  Pull the fabric taut and staple to the wood.  After stapling the first side, I stood the wood on it’s side so that I could smooth the fabric very well before stapling the second side.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 10:  Fold the corners and staple closed.  I folded mine like a gift because I’m good at wrapping presents.  I’m sure there’s a better way to do this. 

Step 11:  Trim the excess fabric.

And there you have it! 

By the way, if you’re interested in seat recovering, Ashley at The Hillside Home recently recovered her dining room chairs and they came out great.

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I’m sharing this post at these fabulous blogs:

{M} Between Naps on the Porch * Making The World Cuter * The Girl Creative * Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * Thrifty Decor Chick * Skip To My Lou * Keeping it Simple * Mad in Crafts * Super Stinky Boys * C.R.A.F.T. {T} Tip Junkie * Today’s Creative Blog * All Thingz Related * Sugar Bee * New Nostalgia * I’m Topsy Turvy {W} Blue Cricket Design * Me and my Bucket * Someday Crafts * Domestically Speaking * My Backyard Eden * The Thrifty Home * Women Who Do It All * Gettin’ Crafty on Hump Day {Th} House of Hepworths * Somewhat Simple * The Shabby Chic Cottage * Beyond The Picket Fence * Life as Lori {F} Serenity Now * Infarrantly Creative *Just a Girl * Chic on a Shoestring Decorating * Decor Mamma * Remodelaholic * Fingerprints on the Fridge * Fun to Craft * Miss Mustard Seed * The Shabby Nest * The Inspired Room * The Girl Creative New Friend Friday * A Few of My Favorite Things * My Romantic Home {S} A Vision to Remember * Funky Junk Interiors * A Little Lovely * Tatertots and Jello * Be Different Act Normal * Perfectly Imperfect {S} I Heart Nap Time * Under the Table and Dreaming

Mudroom in Progress {Painted Stripes}

We don’t have a mudroom per se, it’s more like a mud hallway.  An area off of my garage, across from the pantry, that leads to the kitchen.  It’s a great place to load James in and out of his car seat, kick off my shoes, set shopping bags, store keys and future backpacks.  Here’s what it looks like most of the time.

It definitely needs a little sprucing up, so the game plan is to paint stripes along the wall and hang that starburst mirror, place some baskets in the cubbies, and make a seat cushion for the bench.

PROJECT #1:  Paint Stripes

To give the walls a bit of subtle personality, I decided to add a couple of white stripes to the already creamy/tan painted walls.  As I mentioned, this hallway leads to our all white kitchen, so I didn’t want anything that would clash.

Step 1:  Clear the clutter.  Ahhh- a fresh slate feels so good.

   

Step 2:  Measure the walls vertically to determine how wide to size your stripes.   I wanted sizeable stripes (about 6 inches), but only wanted to paint two in the middle so I didn’t have to paint near the bench or hooks.  The bottom tan stripe would be about 8 inches, but that’s okay with me since I plan to put a bench seat there anyway, which will cover some of the tan, making the stripes look about even in height. 

Step 3:  Use a laser leveler as your guide for taping.

  

Step 4:  I placed the green Frog Tape just above the laser mark and a second layer of blue tape for added protection and to ensure that I knew to paint inside the green lines.

Step 5:  I removed the tape as soon as I was done painting and had even lines without much seepage under the tape.  There are a few tiny areas that aren’t perfect, but I don’t think anyone but me would notice.  I read on All Things G&D, that you can paint Behr Faux Glaze over your tape and wall to “seal” the tape to the wall to ensure that no paint seeps through.  We have “orange peel” textured walls, so the glaze probably would have ensured perfect results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 6:  Add some decorative woven baskets from Target ($9.99 each).

 

BEFORE

AFTER

 

Next up, a no-sew bench seat cushion!  Have you tried using the glaze that Dusty recommended to seal the tape to the wall and prevent seepage?  If so, how were your results? 

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I’m sharing this post at these fabulous blogs:

{M} Between Naps on the Porch * Making The World Cuter * The Girl Creative * Sumo’s Sweet Stuff * The DIY Showoff * Thrifty Decor Chick * Skip To My Lou * Keeping it Simple * Mad in Crafts * Super Stinky Boys * C.R.A.F.T. {T} Tip Junkie * Today’s Creative Blog * All Thingz Related * Sugar Bee * New Nostalgia * I’m Topsy Turvy {W} Blue Cricket Design * Me and my Bucket * Someday Crafts * Domestically Speaking * My Backyard Eden * The Thrifty Home * Women Who Do It All * Gettin’ Crafty on Hump Day {Th} House of Hepworths * Somewhat Simple * The Shabby Chic Cottage * Beyond The Picket Fence * Life as Lori {F} Serenity Now * Infarrantly Creative *Just a Girl * Chic on a Shoestring Decorating * Decor Mamma * Remodelaholic * Fingerprints on the Fridge * Fun to Craft * Miss Mustard Seed * The Shabby Nest * The Inspired Room * The Girl Creative New Friend Friday * A Few of My Favorite Things * My Romantic Home {S} A Vision to Remember * Funky Junk Interiors * A Little Lovely * Tatertots and Jello * Be Different Act Normal * Mural Maker {S} I Heart Nap Time * Under the Table and Dreaming