Today’s post is one that I’m very excited to share with you!  I was recently asked to help design a mudroom organizational bench for one of my very favorite people!  My cousin, Kristina, had purchased a white bench seat and matching white shelf, and she wanted to incorporate them together into one functional piece for her mudroom.  As soon as she mentioned the words “organization” and “bead board” I was in…but really just getting to spend time with her was enough.  (I mean really, we had way more laughs inside Home Depot than is normal I’m sure!)

The first step in this project was to create a cushioned top for the bench.  I knew I wanted to use foam and adhere it to a piece of wood with my staple gun.  Kristina had fabric in mind, so after a quick trip to JoAnn’s to get the foam we were in business.  This project was SO EASY!

This is the foam I used.  I got two pieces and cut it down to the measurements we needed.

Then I adhered the foam to the plywood.  Really, it didn’t stick very well.  I think next time I might opt to use another type of glue.  Once I wrapped the fabric though, it was tight enough that I didn’t think the glue really mattered.

I flipped it over and positioned the material.  My little helper for the afternoon wanted to help “measure”, so this one is positioned exactly perfect! 🙂

The rest was really just like wrapping a present, but making sure to pull it extra tight as I secured it with the staples.  I folded the sides up and stapled first.  Once I flipped it to be sure I liked it, I focused on the ends.  It took a few tries of playing around with it to get the tight corners.  I stapled it well and then cut any lose edges.

Here’s a picture of the corners…

And Addy took this one…she’s four…it was my favorite shot of the day…

Here’s our finished product, ready to be placed on the bench!  Stay tuned to see the final product…it’s coming to the blog next week!

And what’s a day of helping mom without getting a reward?  My little cutie wanted me to make her something.  It just so happened that this OH SO PERFECT corduroy was on clearance at Hobby Lobby this week.  I walked past it 3 times and knew I had to have it.  I wasn’t sure at the time why…but today a portion of it was sewn into a darn cute pillow.  She’s beyond thrilled, and I got my sewing fix in for the day.  It’s a win-win!