I was once again perusing Pinterest and came across these super cool little stools made out of those ugly plastic bins everyone has as shelving in their dorm in college. I thought they looked like perfect seating for boys playroom, so I set out on a wild goose chase to find some of those ugly crates. Who would think they would be so darn hard to find? I looked at 4 different stores and didn’t see a single crate!
I remembered that when I was a kid we kept our kindling wood in these crates when we went camping. Sure enough, my dad had 2 of them sitting in his garage not being used! Yay!
After a trip to the fabric store for a nice remnant and 2 batted cushion inserts, the wheels in my noggin started turning. The crates I’d acquired were REALLY ugly. They were a weird mint green color and had splattered schmoots on them. Hubby said spray painting them would be a pain in the butt. I pulled 2 brown curtains out of storage and went to work “slip covering” the crates!
I don’t sew very well, so I used my trusty hot glue gun (a crafter’s best friend!) to cover the ugly crates. Very simple to do, just sit the crate in the center of your fabric. Cut 4 slits from base to top where the corners will be, then pull the fabric upward and tight and glue at the edges. To cover my corner seams, I glued a 1 inch wide ribbon over the raw fabric edges. Gives it a more polished look!
Next I stuck a left over peel and stick carpet tile inside so that if the boys put any little toys inside they wouldn’t fall through the holes and get stuck
Hubby cut pieces of pine plywood and fastened wood blocks to the inside of the lid so that when the boys sit on the top the lids don’t slide off.
I put some hot glue on the wood and stuck the batting on, then lay it in the middle of my fabric and used a staple gun to attach the fabric to the lid. Start on on side and work your way around every inch or so. ** If you are doing this, or any upholstering, make sure you pull the fabric tight as you go so that it doesn’t ripple at all. **
Now we have 2 cute little upholstered storage bins that double as seating for the boys in our playroom!
Total cost: $2.00 for fabric remnant $14 for batting $0 for crates $0 for “slip cover” fabric=$16! Can’t buy em that cheap!
About me: I am a mom of 2 boys and one furry doggy child. I love to craft, paint and draw and am always finding things at the store and saying “I can make that!” I blog my successes, an even my projects that go awry, at http://wrongwaydummy.wordpress.com
Leandrea is a married mom of two girls, ages 13 and 12, living in Atlanta, GA. She is passionate about helping people save money one coupon at a time. Read more