Sunroom revamp: the bench

Good afternoon friends!

I certainly hope my Monday afternoon is better than my morning. The little folks in this house are sick and grumpy and it's making me grumpy! Mila is currently on her third nap and I'm pretty sure Leo has an imaginary friend because he's yelling "MINE!" from his crib. Not sure who's trying to take his toys...

But I'll tell you one thing that's making up for it - my bench!

Remember this bad boy? 

Yes. Pretty awful. I had everything but the kitchen sink shoved in there and it was proving to be a major eye sore inside and out. We don't have blinds in this room yet, so every time I would walk by I could see all the junk from the outside too - not nice!

Anyway I made a plan which forced me to clean up the room and organize. I bought some nice fabric from Tonic Living, along with a long piece of MDF and foam and stapled away. 

Voila!

I got a sweet deal on baskets which was perfect timing - I bought some last week at Ikea and they were about two inches too long. These were $3.99 at Canadian Tire this past weekend and fit perfect. I even bought two extra for Mila's room.

Things are looking up in this room! I don't even know what to do with the cleanliness to be honest - what to do with all this floor (hmmm maybe a rug...)?

I'm currently waiting for some fabric I purchased for a bench pillow and I'm also working on a few other details on the other side of the room.

I will also be requiring a new light fixture since the one there now is a ceiling fan from the 1960s and doesn't work due to faulty electrical wires.

I'll show you the whole thing soon!

and the fabric winner is...

Waverly Cross Section!

I'll be honest, I prefer the Geo Maze, but I don't think the colour is right (might look more brown next to my grey chair), it was significantly more expensive than the Cross Section, and the Cross Section description says it has a soil and stain resistant finish, very important for a family with kids and a furry cat.

So that's the winner for my sunroom/office bench! I should get it this week and then I'll get to work!

Happy week!

new project: sunroom office

It's time to work on my next project - the sunroom! It's been a bit of a sore spot because it always seems to be the gathering place for everything that doesn't fit anywhere else. I'm always trying to keep stuff to a minimum, but it never seems to work. It's where I work so I'm looking to make it a place that's fun and inviting.

I'm pretty sure I know the culprit - the bench! 

It always looks messy because I've been using it as a shelf for some of my papers and things, but I'm ready to make a change. I'm going to put a cushion on it (a la this bench from I Heart Organizing) with pillows and find somewhere else for all the stuff (it's questionable I even need this stuff!).

I also want to get this room cleaned up because you can see it from the dining room so something a bit more inviting would be nice.

A couple more shots of the really neat space :).

I want to keep the bench fabric pretty neutral and I'll dress it up with some pillows. Here are some options from Tonic Living I'm looking at:

Courtyard, Oyster

Cross Section, Charcoal

Geo Maze, Ash

Graphic Fret, Flax

Small Ikat Dot, Buff

What do you think? What would you choose? Any others from the site? The Geo Maze, Ash and Courtyard, Oyster are speaking to me, but I'd love to know your thoughts!

ps-Thanks to Shannon for giving me some tips on taking pictures of windows! Getting there!

porch pillows part deux

Last night while the hubs was out for a bike ride, I set up my sewing machine on the dining room table, flipped on the computer to watch a few episodes of Glee and got started on my new porch pillows. 

A couple years ago I made pillows using some Ikea fabric I found for $4.99 a yard (so cheap!), but I left them out at night and some rascals got their nails into them. Plus they faded (the pillows, not the rascals).

I ordered the fabric from Tonic Living on Tuesday and got it in the mail yesterday - amazing. I love ordering from local companies!

Just realized this pic is a bit wacky - I feel like I'm a bit lopsided when looking at it!

I wanted something a bit brighter for summer so I thought I'd have some fun with the porch. I'm really craving colour around this house since everything is grey! The fabric is rated for the outdoors so they shouldn't fade and hopefully the little rascals will stay away. 

I've been keeping my eyes open for a little table to fit between the chairs for awhile now but haven't seen one I quite like yet.

Speaking of rascals... this is what I found in the kitchen when I came in from taking my photos. 

The little bum.