UPDATE: CLICK HERE TO SEE THE ENTIRE REMODELED BREAKFAST ROOM.
The wall on the opposite side of my kitchen table, across from where the linen storage dresser resides, was screaming for something.
It took me a while to figure out what to put there until I remembered the black bench that resided in the foyer of my former home.
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Before we go any farther, let me tell you that you’ll have to ignore the unpainted woodwork and wall and lack of window treatments. They are one of many projects around our new house that are yet to be completed. If I waited until everything has been finished before I share anything with you, well, let’s just say that you’d be waiting a looong time!
This little bench is a classic piece and will fit in with most any decor.
It’s a great place to drop my pocketbook….
….and is a great place to display some pretty pillows too.
In case you’re wondering, the pillows came from a recent trip to Walmart and were very affordable.
A printable, that I created, fills a large frame above the bench and is a good reminder for me every day.
I removed the artwork from a frame that had been hanging on a wall in the office in our previous home and painted it black.
My plan was to use the same method that I used to repurpose an old piece of art and I was tickled to get it printed (on regular paper) at FedEx/Kinkos for only $3.11!
BUT, mounting such a large piece of paper didn’t work well for me. There were air bubbles and wrinkles all over the place that I couldn’t prevent from happening or get rid of.
So back to FedEx I went where they printed it again and mounted it on foam board for me. I had them laminate it with a matte finish to protect it. Even though it was more expensive than my original $3.11, it was still much less expensive than purchasing a ready-made piece of this size.
My framed piece measures 33.75″ high x 36″ wide (including the white space around the outside), which may be larger than you need. You can resize and print it yourself or download it to a thumb drive to take to an office supply store where they can print it most any size for you. We tried numerous sizes and the font never became distorted.
Below are the links to download each size of the printable. I keep them stored on Box.com, so you may have to signup for that site to get access to the printables. Don’t worry – it doesn’t cost a thing to use Box.com!
Click HERE to download an approximately 9 x 11 version.
Click HERE to download the large 33.75 x 36 version.
Click HERE to take a mini tour of our new house and to see more projects that we’ve completed.
Thank you for stopping by!
Nancy Carroll says
December 15, 2014 at 2:32 PMOh it’s perfect Suzy!! You can even pull it up to the table when needed for extra seating! And your oversized print is just awesome!!
Melissa says
December 16, 2014 at 1:28 PMBravo for posting it despite the visible flaws! Most of us do not live in picture-perfect homes, but they are home and posts like this reinforce that none of us have a pinterest-worthy life all the time. It is too easy to feel inferior when we are constantly bombarded with blog posts of perfect homes. Real life is messy and a bit unfinished sometimes…it is refreshing to see that things can still be beautiful despite the imperfections. Just one more reason I love your blog! The sign is great.
Suzy says
December 22, 2014 at 9:28 PMYou’re so right, Melissa. You won’t believe how long I debated with myself before posting a photo showing an unpainted/unfinished wall. But in the end, I decided that it’s important to me to keep things real (as much as I can!). None of us needs the added stress of comparison! Thank you so, so much for stopping by.
Barb @ The Everyday Home says
January 8, 2015 at 8:10 PMI adore your bench and remember it well from your old house. It looks great here and your printable is perfect. I just can’t wait to see our new home but most of all I can’t wait to see YOU again. Its been too long and I miss you. 🙂 xxoo
Christy @ Our Southern Home says
January 8, 2015 at 8:14 PMSuzy,
I just love this seating area. I can’t believe those pillows came from Walmart. Thanks for the printable and the instructions on blowing it up for wall art! Here’s to a fabulous 2015!
MaryBeth says
March 9, 2015 at 10:39 PMVery cute! Did you make the cushion on the bench?
Suzy says
March 10, 2015 at 6:44 AMHi MaryBeth. No, I didn’t make the cushion – I was too lazy. It came from At Home (formerly Garden Ridge).
Patricia says
July 9, 2016 at 8:08 AMWondering what kind of paint you used on your fireplace?
Suzy says
July 10, 2016 at 8:11 AMHi Patricia. Our fireplace is painted with just plain old white interior latex in a semi gloss finish. I didn’t prime it first, but I did try white washing it with a coat of watered-down white paint to see if I would like the white wash finish. So – you may need more than one coat to completely cover the brick.
Susan Allen says
November 26, 2016 at 8:45 AMSuzy, I love your style and look forward to seeing your emails on decorating ideas. I love to decorate my home and you are a wonderful inspiration. Thank you for your good taste and simple ideas.
Daphanie says
April 13, 2017 at 11:06 PMCan I ask how you made the printable to take to kinkos? I want to have some custom text/words printed on paper that large and I can’t figure out how to get the into a photo image to print at kinkos. Any advice would be helpful.
Suzy says
April 18, 2017 at 6:55 AMHi Daphanie. I created the printable that I wanted in PicMonkey, using their Design option where you can create any size image that you want. PicMonkey wouldn’t allow me to create one as large as the one on my wall, but Kinkos was able to enlarge it to the size that I needed to fit that frame. I loaded my saved image onto a thumb drive and took it them. They loaded it onto their computer and were able to show me a preview of what it would look like before actually printing. It’s hard to explain exactly, but I hope this helps!