The Ottoman from Goodwill

I've been regularly checking in at our local Goodwill to see if if I could find any great pieces. Unfortunately our local Goodwill is normally not so great, but the other night I did happen upon this little guy, even though I walked past it nearly four or five times. It was an easy evening project, and I love the end result.

Here's what the little guy looked like when I bought him.

With a nice set of pliers I started ripping off the hot glued tassels and tons of staples.

After the pink was gone, an awful stained blue was uncovered

Under the blue there was some kind of pillow case holding the "cushion" into place? Either way it HAD to go.

A leather ottoman, who would have guessed? I could clearly see why they started covering it, because the corners were ruined and there were a lot of scratches.

Because is wasn't very comfortable by itself, I bought two bags of batting to stuff the top with.

Then I placed a large flat square of batting over the adding cushioning to hold it all in place.

Voilà! I covered it with a double layer of muslin first since I bought a sheer fabric for the final layer.

Here's it with our couch set up!

Spending Breakdown:

Ottoman ------------------------   $12

Muslin (2 yards) -----------------  $6

Fabric (1.5 yards) ---------------  $15

So a cute little addition to our house for only $33!

Gotta love doin' it yourself!

Our "New" Dining Room Set

What can you get for 6 Bananas?
A new dining room table, that's what!
My parents happened upon an old dining room set through some friends. Apparently they gave them a mere 6 bananas for the whole set. Either way, they had no need for it, and offered it to us, since Allen and I had been shopping around for a dining set anyways. So after a long hard day of sanding, painting and lots of staples, we gave new life to this little set. And I must say, I absolutely adore it!

Removing the previous fabric. Some of the chairs had 5 layers of fabric! Literally was like pulling teeth.

And the sanding begins. After one chair down, I already wanted it to be over.

I took my turquoise paint color swatch to the fabric store to help narrow down the fabric.

Before and After!

It was a fun weekend project and I've already started looking for more hidden treasures.
Here's a break down of my spending:
Table & Chairs ----------------- FREE
Paint  --------------------------- $12 x2 = $24 (I got an all in one Paint+Primer gloss, but unfortunately the sales rep convinced me into getting two quarts, so I still have one unopened)
Fabric  ------------------------- $15 (Joann's had a 50% off sale on all prints!)
High Gloss Finishing Spray------ $8
Already had the sand paper, and paint brushes.
So a grand total of $47 for a "new" dining room set.
Gotta love doin' it yourself! :)