From Stained to Sensational

On my 16th birthday, my parents gave me a Lang hope chest.

It is a pretty traditional gift; the hope chest was to hold

all my most personal mementos.

That was almost 2 decades ago

(wow..getting old!)

If you peek into it today you would find high school photos, school albums,

dresses, photos and other nostalgic items.

Not much has changed over the years.

What has changed is the fabric covered cushion.

For some reason my cats are drawn to the hope chest..

and so is their puke and excessive hair.

It's more than a little gross.

And the fabric cover is stapled on, so there is little ability to clean it well.

In the past years, I have covered it with towels and blankets.

Nothing too fabulous to look at.

I've wanted to create a slipcover for it for awhile now,

but like lots of my projects.. it remained on my to-do list.

Thanks to The CSI Project and their upholstery challenge,

I finally got on the ball.

It took me all of 60 minutes.

Wow..

Wish I had found those 60 minutes years ago..

BEFORE - YUCK!

Here is the fabric I picked out.

Our bedroom walls are mint green & lavender.

This was a great way to pull out more green from the room.

I love the modern touch.

It's not too feminine - so my husband won't balk.

(or complain about yet another fabric purchase...)

AFTER - SENSATIONAL!

It literally took me 60 minutes.

NO pattern, NO muslin.

Just a lot of measuring and fitting.

The back and sides are fitted.

I inserted elastic into the front - I wanted the front to lay flat and tight.

Ahh..

And the best part is when the cats attack my beautiful work,

I can toss it into the wash.