DIY Ikea Kallax Storage Bench

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I have to admit, I can no longer walk into a store and just purchase an item for my house without thinking "could I make this myself?"  crossing my mind.  Thank you, Pinterest.  With that being said, I have thoroughly enjoyed researching how to personalize our home and to do so in a way that satisfies my husbands request that the things in our house be functional...men.  :)  Which is what led me to our Ikea storage bench.

We're renting a town home that has this cute little window cut out.  As soon as I saw it, I knew that it would be a perfect spot for a storage bench/window seat in our living room.  After a tedious trip to Ikea and trying to explain my vision to my husband, we ended up purchasing and putting together the Kallax storage unit.  I have to admit, it sat in our living room for weeks before I finally decided on colors and baskets.

Today I'm going to share with you how we put ours together and provide links and information, in the event that you decide to make your own.

Materials:

• Kallax Shelving Unit $59.99 (see current price here)
• Particle Board cut to 57 7/8" by 15 3/8" ($9.00 for a huge sheet.  I purchased mine at Lowe's and they cut it to size for me for free!)
• 3" foam pieces (I used 3- 15"x17" sheets and then 1 sheet cut to15" by 7 7/8")
• Fabric of choice
• Quilt batting
• Staples
• Staple Gun
• Baskets (mine: here, other options: here, here and here)

I have to confess, I was initially very overwhelmed by this project.  The original shelving seen in many of the posts on Pinterest was no longer available, the price of foam seemed through the roof at Joann's and it was so difficult to find baskets that weren't from Ikea that would fit the look and style that I wanted for my project. 

Thankfully, a very kind gentleman at Lowe's helped navigate me through some of my pitfalls.  

I began having my husband put together the Kallax Shelving Unit and I took measurements of the length and width of the bench.  I had originally read that MDF was a great option to use for upholstery, by I couldn't find it at a reasonable price for the size that I needed.  So, the kind gentleman at Lowe's suggest the particle board, which they cut to size for me.  He also suggested a basic staple gun and staples which cost me around $10.  

That part felt overwhelming enough, so it took me a bit longer to get to the fabric and the foam.  After pricing items on the internet and in store, I actually decided to purchase my foam and fabric from Hobby Lobby.  I waited until their foam was on sale for 30% off and then used my 40% off one item coupon for my fabric.  

To upholster:

To cover my particle board, I used 3 full sheets of foam and about half of the fourth sheet of foam.  I wanted to lay them out on top of the particle board to make sure that I had enough foam before I began upholstering.  

First, I laid down my quilt batting, making sure it was tight and smooth.  Next came the foam pieces, which I placed end to end.  I made sure that they were placed together as tightly as possible so that there were no spaces or gaps once the fabric was stapled down. 

Then, I laid down my particle board on top of the foam pieces and made sure everything is centered. Carefully pulling the batting so that it was tight and smooth, I worked around the perimeter of the bench, adding staples to secure the foam to the particle board.   Hint: Try not to bulk up the corners of the batting.  If it is too bulky, it will make it difficult to staple down your fabric.  

Finally, take your newly created bench and lay if face down on top of your fabric.  Staple along the length of the bench top and then work on folding the corners in and stapling the width of the bench.  

For tips on upholstering the corners see my step by step pictures below: 

1. Pinch the corner of the fabric and pull snugly.  

2. Pull up on the fabric so that it is perpendicular to the bench.

 3.  Pull it towards the middle of the bench center to create a fold. (Imagine you are wrapping a present.)

4. Staple it down.

5. Fold excess fabric over top and staple down. 

After I had finished with my bench top, I carefully laid it on top of the the Kallax shelving unit and added the baskets and some decorative pillows.  I was quite pleased with the way it pulled our living room together. 

DIY Boxwood Wreath

It's been awhile since I shared a DIY, and a cheap one at that!  I was on Target's website a few months and was looking at their Smith and Hawken Boxwood Wreath.  It was absolutely gorgeous and something that I was crossing my fingers that we would get off of our registry...but we didn't.   Here is the lovely beauty.

After trying to do our registry completion at Target, I realized that there were a few more important things that we purchased initially and that I probably wasn't going to get the wreath that I wanted, for $45, might I mention.  Ahhh!  However, I really, really wanted one for our new apartment.  

Which...led me to doing a bit of do-it-yourself research.  We all know that you can learn how to do almost anything between Pinterest and Google, so I started researching.  I ran across these amazing tutorials on House and Hone and Newly Woodwards, which inspired my plan. I made a quick phone call to my always dependable mother to see if I could take one a few of her boxwoods in her front yard and did a bit of research online for a grapevine wreath.  After calculating what I saw online, I figured my wreath would cost be around $10.  However, a quick trip to Walmart found me with $5 grapevine wreath, which I was stoked about.  

Here are some pics and a few steps.  Some blogs mention gluing the stems into the wreath.  I didn't have enough patience for that part, but you might want to try it!  

Materials:

• Grapevine Wreath
• Boxwood
• Shears

I was so excited to begin placing my wreath together initially, that I wasted a lot of time snipping little branches and then placing them in the wreath.  Wisdom told me that it would be faster to just start snipping and to place the boxwood branches after I had a nice pile, which is exactly what I did!

After I snipped a good pile of branches, I started placing them around my wreath.  I tried to fill in around the edges and to keep the leaves on the boxwood all facing the same direction.  Thankfully, I had a very snug grapevine wreath, which held the branches without any gluing needed.  

It took me about an hour to get all of the branches in the way that I wanted them to look.  After I was finished, I couldn't wait to get it home and hung up at my house.  I've read that boxwood wreaths can last awhile if you keep misting them with water.  I'll let you know how it holds up!

My finished product!  I just love how bright green it is and the whimsical nature of it.  What I REALLY LOVE is that it looks as good as the Target wreath and that I only spent $5.  Win.  

Happy Money Saving!

Katie

DIY Memory Board

Do it yourself crafts are definitely my favorite lazy weekend projects...especially when I can make something that I love for WAY cheaper than I could buy it or find it.  I've always been the particular sort that can find what I "sort of" want...but never what I exactly envision, which often leads me to making it myself.  I've been looking for a cute chevron memory board to hang it my classroom and wanted to share the fruits of my labor with you this afternoon.  This is a SUPER easy project that can be completed in an afternoon's time and will be ready to hang in no time.  I hope you enjoy!

Materials: 

• 1 medium size canvas OR 3-4 4"x4" cork boards
• Enough fabric to cover the area of your board and leave approximately an inch border around the edge
• Quilt batting
• Glue gun
• Stapler
• Ribbon
• Scissors

Constructing your Board

Begin by deciding the size of your board.  I decided to use 3 square cork boards due to the size of the fabric that I had purchased.  I laid them out on top of my fabric, leaving approximately 1-1.5" of fabric as a border.  This is important because you'll need to be able to fold the fabric over onto the back of the board.  

Once you've decided on your size, glue your boards together.  If you are using a photo canvas, go ahead and skip down to the section with quilt batting. 

Quilt Batting

Using the quilt batting, place your board or canvas on top to make sure that you have enough batting to cover the entire board.  Using a pair of scissors, cut the batting so that it is exactly even with the edge of your board.  After this step, place the quilt batting and the board on top of the fabric, leaving about a 1.5" margin around the edge of the fabric. I recommend making sure you have 2 layers of quilt batting in between the board and the fabric. 

Fabric

Using a regular stapler, fold the fabric over onto the back of the board and staple it securely.  It is imperative that you pull the fabric as tightly as possible or else the fabric will sag upon completion. 

Staple around the entire board.

When you finish, turn the board over and make sure that your fabric is smooth.  If you notice that the fabric is not smooth, remove the necessary staples and staple again until the fabric is even and smooth.

You can staple ribbon to the back to hang it, or you can leave it as is.  I also like to make boards with criss cross ribbons on the front to hold pictures.  It's up to you! :)

Finished Product: 

Happy Crafting!

Katie