On a whim, my husband and I decided to build a very large structure in our living room, and it is looking like it was always meant to be there! Since we were taking away two chairs in order to make room for this, we decided to incorporate a bench for extra seating. After researching bench cushions, I deemed this a project I could make myself to save some money, and I thought I would share just how we did it so you, too, can make one if in the market!

Materials:

-1 piece of 5 mm plywood cut to size (Home Depot or Lowes will cut this for you if you’re not able to do this from home)

1 piece of 3″ foam cut to size (I will show you how to cut it down to the exact size you need below) (The cheapest I found this was at Joanne Fabrics. They sell this by the yard, AND if you wait for the right deal, you can get it much cheaper. I waited until it was 70% off, making it much more affordable. This stuff can be pricey! Also make sure you download the Joanne app! There are more coupons you can stack that are only offered on the app; thats how I was able to get the foam for 70% off!

Material of choice- I used a drop cloth that I had previously bleached white. You can see the tutorial for that HERE.)

Staple gun

Directions:

1. – Cut your material to size and set aside. This will be the size of your bench, plus at least 6″ on each side. You want to have enough to be able to wrap around the cushion and staple to the back. Because I had an entire drop cloth to work with, I had a little more fabric on the back of mine, but that isn’t necessary.

2. Trim your foam to the exact size of your bench. The easiest way to do this is with an electric carving knife. Make sure you have a piece of wood underneath where you are cutting so that you don’t accidentally cut into your table or floor. We just used excess plywood.

3. Place your cut foam piece in the middle of your fabric (if you have a printed fabric, make sure the print side is facing down, and place the plywood on top of that. Then, fold one side of the longer pieces of fabric over the plywood, pull tightly, and start stapling it in place. Act as though you are wrapping a present. Then, do the same to the other side so that both of the longer sides are wrapped.

5.) Then, wrap up the shorter ends, just like you would a gift, and staple into place! That is IT! I did give my bench cushion two coats of

Easy, right? Please tag me in your photos on Instagram if you end up making one of these! I would love to see them! You can find my Instagram handle HERE.

As always, thank you for stopping by!

<3 Shannon

The post DIY No- Sew Bench Cushion appeared first on Living with Lady.

I had been looking for some tall, black, simple candlesticks for quite some time now before coming to the realization that they are super hard to find! And what I did find was pretty expensive.

No thank you!

So instead, I decided to make them myself! Below is how I did it. SUPER EASY and CHEAP!

Materials:

10′ piece of 1/2″ black iron pipe (cut to desired lengths) OR, you can buy smaller individual pieces.

3/4″ threaded coupling (s)

1/2″ to 3/4″ union fitting (s)

1/2″ flange (s)

Directions:

I gathered most of my pieces at Lowes in the plumbing section. The threaded coupling I found in the electrical section.

First, I had an employee use their super handy machine and cut down a piece of pipe to my desired lengths. I ended up with two 20″ pieces, two 14″ pieces, and two 9″ pieces, and I had leftover for future projects.

TIP! Measure twice, cut once!  I originally cut the candlesticks a bit longer but decided they were ultimately too tall. So I went back and asked if they’d take a few more inches off, and they did! Bless their hearts…

TIP! You can save a lot of money by buying one long piece if you plan on making several candlesticks. If you only want one or two, then it may be easier to just buy the smaller, individually packaged piping as-is.

Yes! Under $9 for a 10′ piece!

Then, once I had all of my pieces, all I did was screw the 1/2″ to 3/4″ union fitting (the piece that looks like a big bolt) onto the 1/2″ pipe. Then, I screwed the 3/4″ threaded coupling (the silver tube-looking piece) to the top of the union fitting. And then I screwed the 1/2″ flange onto the bottom of the pipe to create the base.

I then used sandpaper to roughen up the coupling because I was worried the paint wouldn’t adhere well with it being so smooth. I am not certain if this made a difference or not since I did it to all of them, but the paint adhered well!

Next, I spray painted the candlesticks with this Krylon High Heat black paint.

And that’s it!

Once dry, I put them in a couple places to see what they looked like, and while I was considering them here at our table, my husband pointed out that it looked like a huge organ. Ha! So, they didn’t stay here.

Instead, they found their final home on our mantle. Which I love!

AND YOU GUYS! I was watching Fixer Upper with my husband the other night when I immediately noticed the decor Joanna used in one of her episodes! So of course I went and found it on Instagram. Great minds think alike! I actually took one of my candlesticks away so that it wasn’t so matchy-matchy after seeing this episode. ( I originally made six.)

There you have it. A super simple and inexpensive DIY! What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

The post DIY Metal Candlesticks appeared first on Living with Lady.

I have had my eye on faux olive trees for quite a while now, but those little things are dang expensive! I’m talking around $100 for ONE! Nooooo thank you. So, I found a photo of one I liked and set out to make them myself for so much less. Below is how I did it. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Materials: 

• Two olive branches per tree ( I originally bought three per tree and returned two) (Michaels has these for 40% off right now!)
• Brown floral tape- you will only need one little roll
• Pot (s) (40% off the ones I bought right now at Michael’s)
• Floral stake (one per tree)
• Styrofoam – I bought a small square to put in the bottom and then a circle to top it with
• Small rocks to cover the foam

Most of these supplies I got at Michaels, but they were out of brown floral tape, so I bought this kind from Hobby Lobby.

This bag of rocks was enough for both trees, and I even had some leftover.

A closer view of the foam and pots I bought.

Directions:

Start by trimming the lower branches off of the stem.

Use the brown tape to attach the removed stems to the higher stems to create a rounder “tree.”

This is a photo of all the lower branches from one stem attached higher using the tape.

Then remove the branches from the second stem and start attaching to make the tree fuller.

Then, to make the tree sturdier, hold the wooden stake next to the stem and wrap the floral tape around the stake and the stem to create one larger “stem.”

That’s it! The tree is finished.

I then put the square foam at the bottom of the pot and pushed it down firmly before topping it with the circle piece of foam.

Push the tree down to the bottom and it should hold firmly.

Then, cover the top with the rocks and you’re finished!

The floral tape I bought came with two and this is all that I used for both trees.

That’s it! I LOVE how they turned out and I saved so much money making them myself. And they didn’t take long to make, either!

Pretty pretty.

Thanks for stopping by!

(See how we painted our brick fireplace HERE and how we added shiplap above it HERE.)

The post DIY Faux Olive Tree Tutorial appeared first on Living with Lady.

Something I have been wanting to do for a while now thanks to my secret BFF, Joanna Gaines, is to add shiplap to our home. I didn’t really know where to put it, though, until one day I was sitting on the couch and noticed how much empty drywall we have due to our tall ceilings. It just kind-of made things look a little “blah” since I can’t really decorate that high up.

That’s when I realized shiplap would do the trick. Not only do I love how it brightens a room, but it gives so much texture and personality. So, knowing how much I wanted to do this, my husband made it happen for my birthday. Below is a tutorial for just how we made it happen for CHEAP, and the tips and tricks we suggest to save you time and money!

Materials:

Underlayment (We bought eight 4×8 sheets at approximately $4/board and had leftover)

Trim (1″ 90 degree)

Sandpaper or Random Orbital Sander (sander is much faster- we used 100 grit paper)

Paint in color of choice (We bought a gallon of Behr “Dove White” and had some leftover)

Roller brush and foam insert

Painting tray

Miter saw or skill saw (we recommend miter saw)

Square and tape measure – to take accurate measurements if you have any angles like we did

Stud finder

Lazer level (optional)

Pin nailer gun and 1.5″ pin nails

Nickels

Jigsaw – optional (If going around outlets or light fixtures)

Spackle/ joint compound and putty knife  (optional if you need/want to fill in the lines/nail holes)

Some before photos…

TIP: We originally bought these 8′ MDF boards but quickly realized this was not the way to go. They were too thick, plus quite a bit more than using underlayment. We had read mixed reviews about underlayment, but we ultimately decided to give it a try. We really could not beat the price.

Directions: 

So, back to Home Depot we went, and we bought eight of these underlayment boards and the best part is that the nice people at Home Depot ripped the boards (cut them) at our desired widths (8 inches) for FREE! This was a huge time-saver and was so nice to have done for us.

Shopping buddies.

Once home, we sanded the raw edges of the boards using a random orbital sander. You can still sand them down without one of these, but you will save a ton of time and energy if you do have one.

Trick! We found we could save a lot of time during the painting phase by stacking all of the boards up and then painting all of the sides at once.

Then, I stood on the inside of the two tables and my husband on the other and we busted the tops out in no time.

Because we weren’t dealing with straight lines, using a square along with a tape measure helped us to calculate the exact angle we needed to cut our boards.

Then, we took our stud finder to locate the studs and used a laser level to help draw straight lines all the way up so when attaching the boards we knew exactly where to nail them into.

My husband then used a miter saw to cut the boards, and we then attached them using the nail gun on the lines we previously drew. 

To evenly space the boards, we used nickels! This made sure the boards stayed consistent throughout.

Each board got two nails, aligning with each of the previously drawn lines.

Going around the outlet and light fixtures required a few more steps. Definitely measure twice, and cut once! And my husband used a jigsaw to do this.

Once all of the boards were on, we attached the trim piece, again using the nail gun.

And that gave it a much cleaner look!

While I wasn’t looking, my husband drew this on the wall before attaching a couple of boards to cover it up. Since this project was a birthday gift, we will always remember it by knowing this is hidden beneath. Totally swooning! He didn’t show me until we were done. And how cool for someone to potentially find some day?

And this portion, complete!

Now on to the top portion. Crazy how different angles and lighting can make the boards look so different. Anyway, we attached the top boards just like the bottom.

TIP: And here is where it might save you some work! We didn’t really have a plan as to how the boards would go up in terms of placement on the top portion. Since the boards weren’t long enough to go all the way across as they were on the bottom portion, they had to be pieced together. So, that is what we did.

And it was about at this point that we decided we didn’t like it! Because we liked the way the bottom portion of the ship-lapped wall looked, with all of the boards reaching all the way across without being pieced together, we thought it looked strange for the top half of the wall to be pieced together once the boards no longer reached all the way across. You can see the various seams if you look closely in this photo.

So, we took all of the boards from this point up, off, and re-did them so that there was only one solid seam at the top of the staircase. Save yourself the work! Plan ahead

Because the wall is so high, my husband built this platform out of scrap wood we had in our garage so that his ladder would be able to safely reach the top of the wall.

And in this picture, you can see where our new seam is.

Now, I was NOT getting on that ladder, so this was ALL my husband, but he did weave the cord around the ladder, giving himself an anchor, which made me breathe a little easier when he was up there.

And finally, putting the trim on the edge with the nail gun.

Once all of the boards were up, we then used some spackle to fill in the seams. Once dry, we sanded it down, and then painted over the line.

TIP! Make sure you do the spackling well! I initially just slapped it up there, sanded it down to what I thought was “good enough” and then painted over it. It looked bad! And ultimately had to be redone.

But, once done, I was in LOVE! We added some new fixtures and it was everything I had hoped for.

TIP!! Use some heavier duty spackle when/if filling in any lines or holes, as what we used the first time fell out! And that line was back… Really, the line didn’t look bad. But I just had it in my mind that I needed to cover it up.

So, this time I filled it in with some heavier spackle.

Used the sander to sand it down…

And then re-painted, and finally, the wall was complete and is probably one of my favorite elements of the entire house!

After!

It really brightens our room immensely and gives off a nice texture.

And, the lights! Oh, I love the lights. I got them from HERE  for a great price, and I love the contrast they give against the white walls.

TIP! We had a hard time finding lighting that looked just right in these fixtures. Regular bulbs were either too bright or yellow, and the Edison bulbs looked too orange. We ended up investing a little more and got THESE bulbs, which you can custom create their brightness, and once we did this they were PERFECT and just what I was looking for.

Pictures with overhead lights turned on and fixtures turned off, and vice-versa, as well as some before and afters:

I hope this has helped those of you who are considering doing this to your own home. I highly recommend it and it didn’t cost us much at all! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

The post DIY Shiplap Tutorial (With Time-Saving Tips and Tricks!) appeared first on Living with Lady.