Reclaimed and Relaxed

Many months ago my parents neighbors had two nice wood bookshelves on the corner ready for the trash! Much to my mother's dismay- I SAW THEM FIIIIRST! ha One bookshelf was in good condition to use as a bookshelf. The other was sorely in need of some TLC. Since we didn't need TWO bookshelves and my dad had the presence of mind to save the best pieces for spare parts and what have you, I decided, in the end, to make it into something new.

(I apologize in advance for the poor quality pictures- as with all great ideas, the thought to actually take pictures never happens until halfway through the process when its inconvenient to go grab an actual camera!)

Here you can see the 'end' result. A lovely new foot rest! YAY! I am a crafter, and therefore a horder, and I do not want to admit how long I've had this fabric tucked away for. I will admit by the time I went out and got supplies and actually made this... it took nearly a month.

Heres what you will need to make your own:
-A spare bookshelf ;)
       -The very top piece
       -the 4 feet- keep the screws!
-A screw driver
-Batting material- as much as you would like
-Enough fabric to cover the top
-small nails and a hammer
OR a staple gun (probably the easier method)

First, we took the top of the bookshelf and screwed to the bottom of it on all four corners. This was surprisingly easy, even without power tools. Then I strategically layed out the cushioning on the top, so it fit just so and was nice and padded (I didn't measure before buying it tho, and to be honest I should have bought more). Once I had it all laid out, I carefully flipped it back over and with the small nails tacked it in place. From there, we secured it all around with more small nails. I was careful not to use too many for this step, since the fabric still needed to be secured over this.

 

 

 

Once I was reasonably sure the cushion was in place I measured and cut my fabric. I folded it over the edges of the cushion underneath so the batting would not show. Here, I went crazy with the small nails- I wanted to be sure it would withstand being sat on and kicked during daily use.

 

 

Its been nearly finished for months now, the only thing missing is i thought it would be a nice touch to add some 'fringe' around it to better hide those loose ends. Sadly, I haven't found anything that will look right. But hey, I'm still pleased with the end result considering I've never done any uphostery or carpentry like this before! Also, it helps to have a handy man in your life. <3

Tell me- have you salvaged anything from the trash to turn it into something completely new?!

Now pardon me, while I enjoy the fruits of our labor.