The other morning I went down in the basement to start the big project of painting the new patio door that was installed in March!

This is a big project….
We love the door and it needs to be done “just right”…with white enamel paint….

which is why we have been putting it off!

On my way to get the masking tape and start masking….

The bench along the wall caught my eye!
I thought to myself…”Self…do you realize that bench has been in the same spot for more that a year?”  
Then I thought to myself….”Self….do you realize you still have about 4 yards of that blue and white fabric sitting in the closet?”
And so it began….
the “restaging” of the lower level family room for the summer!!
Read on to see how I AVOIDED painting the patio door and accomplished another Use What I’ve Got Challenge 2012!

The couch in the main floor family room already got this treatment!
Last summer I made small couch cushions out of the blue and white fabric.
But remember….I had LOTS more of that fabric…
So….I made gigantic pillow shams for the big couch cushions on the back of the couch!
But….NOW the little red pillows looked really out of place….and not at all summery!
 They got covered with a little remnant of white fabric with a rope design that was in the “fabric stash”!
I was ON A ROLL…..remember it was all about moving the bench with the box cushions!!!
Bummer….I needed to wait until Mr. S. was around to help move that heavy sucker!!!
Now….Mr. S. is not a big fan of furniture moving!!!!  In fact he gets this “LOOK” on his face whenever I ask…Maybe it is because when he asks…”Where is this going?”  My answer is “I won’t know til we try it!!!!”
But….he was game….and only grunted and complained a couple of times….
Mr. S:  “Are you sure this is gonna fit under here?”
Me: “Yeah it has been here before, don’t you remember?”
Mr. S: “No…but we are going to have to move the bookshelf so I can get the chest in! “
Me: “I know…just go to work and I will do it!”
Mr. S.: “Are you sure?  It is pretty heavy!”
Me: “Yeah but not as heavy as the sighing you are doing!!!”
Mr. S: “FINE!  I am leaving then!”
 So all the stuff on the bookcase needed removing and I huffed and puffed and got the chest in!!!!
TOLD YA it would fit!!!
It almost looks like a built in window seat with the cushions and a couple of pillows…
You can’t see out the window….but the view isn’t too bad either!
The rest of the room was a gigantic mess…..the way it always is when you rearrange….
I won’t bore you with the details…..but after about 2 more hours….the room looked like this!

This post is getting awfully long…but I will bore you with some  “Use what I’ve Got” details.

The red ottoman was totally out of place in the new room….but we really like to put our feet up on this, so I didn’t want to move it out of the room!
I found a blue and beige patterned tablecloth in the closet….
 
 I like the tablecloth and didn’t want to cut it up….and I think I might want to actually recover the ottoman if I ever find the perfect fabric….
So I just used that masking tape I was supposed to be using to get the patio door prepped for painting…..and taped the tablecloth around the ottoman….
It’ll do for now!!!!

I wanted a “beachy” look for the mantel…
We had a rope hammock in the closet that we weren’t using to lay around in….
“Who has time to “lay around”?
I think it kind of looks like fisherman’s netting….
So….to make a long story even longer….I hope this gives you the inspiration to take a look around your house and find a way to freshen things up without spending any money…
OR
At least it will give you an idea of how YOU TOO can find a way to avoid a job you don’t want to do!!!
Oh….and I DID start the painting job…..and it IS as big a pain as I thought it was going to be! 
Wow….I was selected as the featured blog on Mikki’s Flock Together Tuesday Blog Hop!
Hope you can take a minute and check it out! 
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