Move Over West Elm!

I apologize to any of you who follow me on Instagram {retroranchreno} because you’re probably all “been there, done that” with the subject of this post, but forgive me.  I couldn’t restrain myself from taking so many pictures.  It was just so much prettier than it used to be!!

Yup, that’s right…I’m talking about the bench for the end of our bed. 

I was very excited when I first laid eyes on this guy, well over a year ago.  The outdated fabric and beat up legs didn’t do it for me…but the size and price of this thing could not be beat.  For $20, I was sold!!  

And then along with most of my Craigslist finds, this poor thing was banished to live in the basement {first at our in-laws and then in our actual basement} just waiting patiently until I got around to transforming it.

The bench would probably be waiting another year if my mom didn’t convince me it was time to get it done.  During one of their trips north, we pulled it out of the darkness and got to measuring.  After figuring out how much fabric we needed, we went shopping.  Of course, nothing I saw was “it”, so I started looking online.  Once I laid eyes on the Islander Ikat Silver fabric from Fabric.com, I knew I didn’t need to look any further.  I submitted my order and impatiently waited for it to arrive.  In the meantime, my mom and I tackled the “fun” part of the recovering process {couch…sarcasm…cough}.  We ripped out all the old staples and removed the old buttons and fabric.  

Lucky for us, these staples came out MUCH easier than when we recovered my dining room chairs.  Phew!

After that it was time to find some new legs for the piece.  I could have easily sanded and re-stained the original ones, but they weren’t the style I was going for.  

Instead of thick, block-like legs, I wanted curvy, romantic ones…a la West Elm’s Essex Printed Bench.  During one of our numerous trips to Home Depot, I was able to pick these pretty things up for under $10 a piece.  I wasn’t thrilled to spend more money on the bench makeover, but I knew adding fun legs would put this project over the top for me.

At least I already owned the stain and sealer I needed for them.

Finally my fabric arrived and we got to recovering!!  After some thoughtful placement {taking pattern and direction into account}, sewing and button covering…I had myself a brand new bench!  

Or should I say Perny has a new bed.  I’m pretty sure he thinks this we completed this project just so he has another place to lay. ;)

Here is the breakdown of what I spent to make over the bench:

-Ugly CL’ed Bench - $20.00

-3 Yards of Fabric {with plenty left over to make pillows or something} - $44.94

-Legs - $36.00

-(2) Button Covering Kits - $3.94

-Upholstery Needle - $4.99

-Stain and Sealer - $0 {already owned}

-Thread - $0 {already owned}

Grand Total = $109.87

Okay, so this wasn’t the cheapest makeover, but it was way more affordable than if I bought the West Elm version brand new!  Their similar bench is priced between $299 and $349, plus a $30 delivery surcharge.  So in that case, I saved myself $219 – 269 on this project.  And while my bench isn't as perfect or professional, I still consider this project a major success! :)

Dining Chair Re-Do

After the hubby and I found our house, I immediately began the hunt for some furniture to fill our home.  Most of our old furniture from the townhouse stayed with the townhouse after the sale.  The girl who purchased our old home was buying her very first place.  She didn't have much money to furnish things, and since she loved how I decorated the home, we offered to include most of our furniture in the sale.  {Plus, our townhouse was way smaller than the home we purchased, so the scale of the furniture would have been off.}

And I know it takes years to furnish a home.  There is no way we could buy everything to fill our place up, but I wanted to, at least, have the basics when we moved in.  We are definitely on a very tight budget, so I knew that what I did buy, couldn't all be new {nor did I want it to be...I really like re-purposing old stuff}.

I had a pretty clear idea of what my dining set would look like.  I wanted a chunky, straight-leg harvest table...with a leaf...that was made from solid wood.  I didn't mind spending some money on it because I look at it as an investment that will last through the years.  I found one online, for a decent price, and even scored 10% off.  Getting a solid wood table that opens to seat 10-12 people for under $1,000 was a major score for me.

And since I spent so much money on the table, I knew I'd be searching through Craigslist for the chairs to go with it.  I came across these chairs...a set of 6 {with 2 captain's chairs}, for $100.  Sold. 

Then I found two more chairs in a separate listing, that don't completely match, but are very similar for an additional $20.  Sold again! {I already sanded one, and removed the cushions at this point.}

So I ended up with 8 chairs for $120.

I did have to buy sand paper, primer, paint and fabric to transform them, but still...such a great deal for solid wood chairs in great shape!  Similar dining chairs could cost $120 or more just a pair!

Cushions all removed and sanding done on the back two chairs.

So after lots of sanding/de-glossing, priming, painting, staple removing {me and my Mom's hands still aren't back to normal...aka we have perma-claw-hand} and re-covering...the chairs now look like this.  Not too shabby!!

What do you think?!?  I hope you enjoyed their transformation as much as I did!

Happy New Year!!