Storage Bench.

This was my fun New Year's project. I actually made it til midnight on New Year's Eve because I was priming this beauty. My grandfather made it in FL and my dad drove it all the way across the country for me, lovely man or men rather. He and my brother drove out to visit over Christmas and meet up with my mom and sister who flew in from Hawaii. The original vision of this bench was this gorgeous Herman Miller bench, which was only slightly out of my reach price wise...just a bit. My grandmother ended up seeing a picture of the bench over Skype, told my grandfather what I was wanting, and he surprised me with this in about one afternoon! I had no idea I was going to be able to have a new piece of furniture for Christmas! It was such a fun surprise.

I primed the wood, then painted it with a few coats of high gloss (wipeable!) warm white, and painted the inside a pretty blue (leftover from my bathroom).  It took some time but I love how it turned out and it gets everyday use. We so needed a place to store diapers and wipes and blankets and books and all those things that pile up when you have six people living together. Plus the extra seating is awesome! I'm planning on making a removable cushion for the lid of the trunk space. And I have visions of a pretty tray with a little vase of flowers and a strategically stacked set of well designed books decorating the tray sitting beside the cushion. Perhaps that's a bit unrealistic with a near 1 year old, 2 year old, 4 year old, and 6 year old. More likely it will be a little spot to draw or build Lego towers. I'm good with that too.

*Side note: I made the pillows out of Orla Kiely for Target place mats.