It has been a beautiful weekend--65 to 70 degrees by noon. It's easy to forget we've got another month before spring. So today Al and I took three projects outside: a side table, a tufted bench, and a piece of Masonite.

Samantha created a list of house rules that she and Alyssa decided needed to be displayed on the wall. We had a piece of Masonite lying around and two cans of chalkboard paint. The girls helped me lightly sand and then I started to spray paint. I don't know if we're going to apply a border, but it will be ready to write on tomorrow.

The HOUSE RULES are as follows:

1. Do not say "I won't be your friend."
2. Do not say "I do not like you."
3. Do not say "I do not want to play with you anymore."
4. Do not say "I hate you."
5. Keep your hands to yourself.
6. Share your toys.

Al and I think it's pretty awesome that a 6.5 and 3.5 year old came up with the rules and agreed on them. They've even been referencing them today. How could we not post them?!


Years ago I bought an ugly gold tufted bench. It was $20 and worth if for the wood and the tufting buttons. We covered it with a scrap a few years ago, but it was a quick fix. It was disintegrating underneath so we really needed to take it apart. Today we took it outside and dismantled it. Five hundred staples and a few blisters later, we are down to the bare wood. We took off the tufting buttons and saved those. Hopefully we'll be able to get the fabric off of them.

The bench legs need to be painted. We're not sure what color yet. And we thought we would do black or gray pleather or leather (see what I can afford) and then some nail head trim. But then I stumbled on this gray velour tufted bench. We aren't changing the legs to Lucite, but this looks pretty cool.

Bench inspiration:


The side table is a piece from our room. It was stained brown but we needed an accent color. We're painting it turquoise and then we'll glaze it. A long process . . .