Coming from homes where we didn't have much and knowing how hard it was for our parents to get one step ahead, my hubby and I both shared the attitude that when we got something new we would take care of it to make it last. Hanging on to a TV for twenty five years before replacing it and still using furniture we've had since we got married thirty seven years ago is a testament not only to how well things were made back then but also to the care we took...perhaps not much fun for the girls to grow up with fussy parents, but they survived and along the way learned how to respect their own belongings as well. Some things do wear out and need replacing, like the fifty year old couch we bought second hand and used downstairs for my daycare kiddies. When I retired, the old furniture in the basement took a trip, not to the dump, but to a new home, and the furniture upstairs migrated downstairs to make room for new... all but a gigantic coffee table and two end tables.
So, while we saved money over the years, here is the downside of taking too good of care of your stuff:
1. You end up with a coffee table twenty five years later that is too big and out of style.
2. You can't get rid of it because it's in excellent condition, not a scratch or mark on it, and in the hubby's mind...why would you even consider it!
3. Forget about touching it with a paint brush or distressing it... the hubby would slit your throat first.
4. Even if I could convince the hubby to replace it...no go... the coffee table has been sitting in the same spot since we bought it, and moving it would reveal indentations in the carpet that no amount of steaming or brushing would remove...
Which leaves us only one option...replace the carpeting
..."the original 27 year old carpets"...
but wait...we've taken such good care of the carpets, they're still in perfect condition!
...and so stays the carpet,
...and so stays the coffee table.
What I really had in mind was replacing the coffee table with a smaller, more modern
looking storage ottoman, something to add some color to the room and
something you could actually put your feet on... and it would be OK! :)
While I've accepted that the coffee table has to stay,
I still wanted to make some changes,
especially to the wasted space at both ends of the table.
Not able to find something in the store that suited me,
I had made up my mind that I would have to make my own bins by covering boxes with fabric
then I found these boxes with covers marked way down at Superstore
right price...right color but too plain...
I have a "love anything burlap" thingy going on right now
so used 5" burlap ribbon the,
turned one edge under 1/4 of an inch, pressed and stitched along the edge.
Next, I used dark blue yarn to make two rows of running stitch.
I folded the other edge down and pressed it.
I allowed for three inches to show on the outside of the box,
and measuring carefully as I went, I hot glued
the folded edge inside the box.
I used the back of a spoon to press the folded edge into the hot glue.
...glued on some snazzy buttons and
...ta...ta...I had the boxes I wanted.
...one for magazines,
the other,
a place to throw the mending
...out of sight
...and out of mind! :)
Now...to come up with something for the top of the table!
...and wait for the late 80's-early 90's style fads to come around again.
