the twenty-five buck toy chest

I found this very ugly, beat-down, grimy toy chest at DI one day while I was searching for some furniture I could re-do. I've been wanting to get a toy chest for Jayde (and my future children) to hide their mass of toys in so they weren't seen in the family room. The only ones I've liked were over $250 apiece, and that wasn't going to work. So - when I found this beauty for only $25 I snatched her up to make her over!

After some majorly cleaning the chest, priming, sanding, painting a couple coats, putting a clear topcoat, reupholstering the seat with cute fabric; our family room toy area went from the above picture.... to this next one:

and LOVE how it turned out! I wanted it to be general neutral and match with the colors of our family room. The fabric is here and I got a yard to be on the safe side for $7.50, the paint was about $8 total for both cans and I already had the topcoat on hand. I seriously need to get a staple-gun because I keep having to borrow Tyson's grandpas which I'm super grateful for. The drawer in front is supposed to pull out, but I like it better the way I have it where you can open the seat portion. I can stow away all of Jayde's toys in there and will leave the top open for her to grab whatever she feels like playing with.

She approves.... and her favorite thing is to climb on top of it to play. When she gets up there she has a huge grin on her face and claps because she's so proud of herself.