Hello again! It’s been a long week, but I finally have some time to update on our DIY adventures. After last weekend’s foray into basement fixing, we scaled it back a bit and worked on the yard instead. It’s not anything special, but Scott mowed the lawn (the unseasonably warm weather has really spurred on the grass and weeds) and I ripped out some of the overgrown plants in the raised garden bed in the backyard.
We also ordered six of the twelve trees we have available through the city’s Trade a Tree Program. See, there were apparently a crapload of pine trees in our backyard at one point and they all grew into the power lines. The previous sellers had them removed, but they never got around to picking out the replacements. It’s a pretty awesome program, though; once you choose the trees, they’re not only free, but the garden center even comes out to plant them for you. Exciting! You know, if gardening was exciting.
Finally, I got the best news on Saturday night. The Creative Bloggers Got Talent contest is in the last stages and I am in the top five! For that project, I decided to tackle the cheap – but very unattractive – ottoman in the living room.
Yeah, that one.
Scott and I scoured Joann’s for the perfect fabric and decided on a beige linen. Why beige, you ask? (since normally I recoil at such a blah color choice). I figured it was the best neutral for an ottoman, particularly since an off-white tablecloth had originally inspired this whole living room switch, and with two messy pups in the house, I was too scared of full on white. So far the fabric has held up pretty well and even the few imperfections from overly-zealous scratching blend in.
When we got home, I jumped right in. Of course, I turned on Scrubs first, since it’s my go-to background noise. But after that, I carefully unscrewed the hinges and legs, then started stapling.
It went fairly fast and I finished in about three hours. The hardest part, by far, was making the covered buttons and tufting the top. There were already holes in the lid so I just had to find them and thread an upholstery needle, but there was more than a little bit of trial and error (and finger pricking). Scott helped me out with the buttons since I couldn’t find matching ones and all Michael’s had were these weird button kits that required a pressing machine and I was not about to shell out $30 for a one-time project. Needless to say, Scott’s thumbs were very sore after serving as my makeshift pressing machine. He did a great job though 
The finishing touches were definitely the new legs. They’re still a little wonky (hey, I bought the ottoman on clearance so some of the “architecture” isn’t exactly perfect), but they match the legs of the Karlstad sectional almost perfectly.
How’s that for a quick and easy transformation?
So now I just have to persevere through this week and crank out a winner for Amanda’s contest! As always, voting starts next Tuesday, but don’t worry, I’ll remind you
