Mr D and I have been in our little house for over a year now. Since moving in, we have spent a lot of time decorating, picking new furniture and creating a cosy, comfy living space. It has been great fun! However, it is lovely to finally be nearing the point when the house just works.
Out of necessity, our bedroom was one of the first rooms to be furnished. We paid a visit to a contemporary home furnishing shop in Glasgow’s West end (Galletly & Tubbs) to search for bedside tables and were really pleased to find solid oak pieces, which can be seen peeking out from behind this patchwork cushion by Mrs D.
We also invested in a matching unit which could double up as a dressing table for me! Everything was falling into place. However, I did need a seat for the dressing table. It took me a long time to find one as it had to fit neatly into a relatively small space beside the dressing table.
After a few months of keeping an eye out, I was beginning to think that the awkward space meant I would have to resort to making a stool. My Dad is always a great source of DIY knowledge and so I decided to seek some assistance. I had my eye on his garage full of all manner of useful (and not so useful – sorry Dad!) tools and materials and planned to take a look one weekend. However, before I had a chance to search for suitable pieces of wood, Dad appeared at our door one night with Mum’s old dressing table stool (which I think he had indeed found in the garage) to check whether I could use it before he took it to the local rubbish dump. Amazingly, it was a perfect fit! It was, however, not quite the right colour for the room and the cushion pad had definitely seen better days. And so… my first ‘freecycle‘ project was born! Not sure what ‘freecycling’ is? Essentially, it means passing on unwanted items to someone who has a use for them, with the aim of preventing usable items from reaching landfill sites.
Here’s the before…
… and now…
What do you think? I am so pleased with the results of my first attempts at re-upholstery! As you can see I added a lick of white paint to give the stool a more contemporary look and re-covered the cushion pad with a simple modern woven fabric from one of my favourite shops – Mandors in Glasgow!
Happily, with this ‘freecycle’ project it seems that I have stumbled upon a new crafting craze championed by one of my idols, Kirstie Allsopp. Did anyone else see Kirstie’s ‘Fill Your House For Free‘ on Channel 4 on Tuesday night? It’s definitely worth a watch on catch-up if not!
Now I’m off to find something else to re-style… Mr D, where are you?!
Mrs D xx
by Mrs D 