The Making of an Ottoman

What do you do when you're Dutch and don't want to spend big bucks on an ottoman?
Make one.
As long as your husband has (or you have) a few tools, of course ;)
I bought an old ugly pine coffee table off Craigslist for $15, Jon resized the top and I sanded, primed, and painted the legs. I got some foam, batting, and a course linen from the fabric store, covered a few buttons, and we were off.

Fastening on the legs (or fitting), stapling the batting over the foam, underside of the tufting. (forgot to take a pic of the fabric going on--bad Elisabeth!)

Finished!

Genesis 2:24 on the lower section...hopefully it'll be hung in our room soon!

Almost done...I have the pages glued and mod podge-d on top...just waiting for the top to dry so I can do the sides. This was not a quick project. It took me forever to get the pages arranged "just so". And then I realized I had them on vertically and had to start over...but I really do love the little sketches...the man climbing up to her window is my fav.

It goes on and on and on

I know you all were wondering "How's that kitchen coming?" Well, I thought I would let you see some of my progress. The curtain is on the back door, complete with red rick-rack and the magnetic spice rack is mounted on the wall, thank you Moopie. You can see that I took the time and care to organize my kitchen before I took these, so please no looking for cake crumbs. haha! The cabinets are still waiting to be painted, but all in good time, my friends. This week my Moopie is installing new black outlets and light switches for me!

Our Kitchen Transformation Thus Far...

The ugly "before" tile

The new wall color with a primer on the tile (the sections of paint on the cabinets are just testers that we are not going with. Jon really wants dark dark blue lower cabinets and then cream uppers)

The shade of gray we chose for the tile. I am still not sure about it, as it seems a little dark, but I think it's just that the cabinets look hideous with it. Next step: paint random tiles fire engine red, green (like on the little cart in the above picture), yellow (same color as the walls), and dark blue. Oh, and paint the cabinets! Then get a new faucet and face-lift complete for a fraction of the cost of a new kitchen. Hopefully it'll inspire me to cook and do dishes without a blindfold on!