Reading Area

Another project finished: The Kids Reading Area

I love having the kids coloring corner so much. We've had that area designated as our coloring area for a long time. But once I finished it completely it functioned so much more efficiently...and most importantly it stays clean. So I've been meaning to re-do our little window seat in the kids room. It honestly became the dump all for clean baskets of clothes, things needing mending, things I was too lazy to hang, and the kids toys and games stacked and stacked there. I've always thought it would really be the cutest little reading area. Chad went deep sea fishing yesterday. It was our father's day gift to him. While he was gone all day we made the reading area without him even knowing.

Before:

This isn't the best picture but you can see the window seat in the back. We had curtains on a tension rod with the traditional cheap plastic blinds that came with the apartment. They kept getting stuck since they were too big for our window...it was a pain and I hated them. The hard wood seat wasn't very enticing for the kids to sit on.

After:

Chad had taken down the cheap blinds and put up this cute bamboo roll-up two weeks ago.

Yesterday, I shopped for foam to make a window seat. Only to find out the sheets (that were too small anyways) started at $30. I would have needed two of them. And although I had my 40% off coupon I wasn't about to spend that much to make a window seat. So I found out about a place in Santa Ana where they sell duds of foam for $4 a sheet. They weren't all the same size and all of them had something wrong with them...but I didn't care if would cost me $8 for 2 sheets. Then we headed off to the fabric store to get a cute green corduroy fabric. I glued the foam together to make the size I needed then sewed a cover. Somehow I measured just right and it fits perfectly. I also hemmed the curtains for the closets on each side of the window seat...so now they don't drag on the floor. I've been avoiding that since the man who built this area made the closets a different width and height.

I was going to sew burlap curtains but it made it look too chaotic once I put up the fabric to see what it would look like. So instead, to keep a more simple clean look, I re-covered some red throw pillows we no longer use with burlap. I may make more pillows when I find my random stash of throw pillows in the garage.

Now, the kids want to hop up on this cozy seat and read all the time. Just what I hoped for! I like how it turned out. And bonus: I scrubbed and cleaned their carpet the night before. So it looks and smells sooo clean! Hmm...someone's nesting!