• Put a bench outside by the front (or back) door as an inviting welcome for all of your guests and also a great pit stop for your housemates to put on their shoes. 
• Put a bench in the foyer to house essentials – coats, shoes & school work.
• Use a bench behind a sofa and pull it out when you need extra seating for movie night or in the dining room for pizza night.
• I could go on and on!!

I found some magazine tear outs this week of a few great benches – these are some inspiring ideas as you try to get your home back together after all of the Holiday Hoopla… (all of these are from the June 2006 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine - subscribe here to Better Homes & Gardens).

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Love the Mexican look and the distressed paint on this blue bench… and check out the burlap curtains for the bunks – great idea!! 

Gorgeous teak bench used outdoors with Turkish pillows – what a cozy spot to sit and stay a while…

 
Perfect in front of large windows to fill a space & provide extra seating for company.

So where should you look for your own fabulous bench??  Here are a couple of places that might suit your fancy…

Colonial Bench #104

Colonial Bench #102
Both of these Reproduction Mexican Antique Benches can be ordered in any size from MexicanStyle.com (**website and store by the authors of these fabulous books…)

One more idea…  Here is a gorgeous Teak Bench from South Seas Trading Company.  In addition to benches they have a large selection of teak furniture… check it out!!

Technorati Tags: mexican bench, teak bench

fSince Wyatt has acquired two little brothers (Gunner – 20 months and Cash – 6 months) in the past couple of years he has ended up permanently occupying our guest room. For Wyatt’s 4th birthday this past June I was compelled to give him the train room he has desperately wanted ever since his train passion/obsession has developed.

(The truth is that I was sick and tired of how awful the room looked and I thought the birthday thing was a good excuse to do some decorating.)

Before Wyatt inhabited the guest room it was one of my favorite rooms in our home – I totally dig the cowboy thing and this was the one space that wasn’t Wild West but instead my own spin on Shabby Chic…

Since Wyatt moved into the space I have removed all of the lovelies – left the rustic pine bed (straight from Cactus Creek’s inventory) and then… did nothing. (I had two babies 14 months apart – pregnant for almost 23 months straight – what’s a girl to do?)

My “Before” picture shows just how bad things had gotten in the room…

The day before Wyatt’s birthday he went to my Mom’s house (she’s my saint – truly!) and Wyatt’s room underwent an “Extreme Makeover”.

When Wyatt arrived home the next day the whole family was here to celebrate. We opened the toys then it was time for the big reveal… (Wyatt was impressed for about 30 seconds then he was off to play with his new toys. The fam’ knew that the new room was really all about me so they ooed and ahhed appropriately and we got on with Wyatt’s big day.)  I am sharing Wyatt’s new room with you because it has
SIX TIPS for decorating a kiddo’s space…

1. Pine Bed – If you are filling a child’s room with furniture use items that will last as long as your kids have a room in your home. In all of our boy’s rooms we have used furniture that will last them forever. I know that I some may think that I plan ahead too much but hey, I’m frugal to the core. I can’t stand the idea of buying a race car bed knowing that it will be in a garage sale within 5 years. I plan to keep their furniture in their rooms FOREVER – the wall art will change and the bedding probably will too. But I only have to invest in good furniture (did I mention that this bed is from Cactus Creek?) once.

2. Art – When choosing art for a child’s room consider something that will go beyond the days of Barney. This tip goes along with my philosophy about the furniture – there are some fabulous, affordable options for art easily available online or through your interior decorator (give me a call – make my day!). When ordering the train art for Wyatt’s room we only purchased items that Brent (he’s my hubby and the co-creator of the crumb catchers) thought he might use in his office if and when Wyatt becomes bored with the train thing. 3. Storage/Shelves/Nightstands - At the risk of contradicting myself I do have one exception to the “use real furniture” rule in a kid’s room – sometimes disposable furniture is essential in when you know it will undergo a lot of abuse. Kids are hard on toys and books – the storage of these items will get trashed. That said, I can’t give away all of my sources, but I can tell you that I only spent $45 on each of these shelves. They are very simple, they compliment the dark colors in the art and they look like they cost a lot more than they did. I went cheap because I knew that they would have books and toys and everything else thrown into them on an hourly basis for years to come. We’ve only had them for 45 days and they have already paid for themselves.

4. Focus on the Art – Paint a Frame. It’s an old trick but it worked great in this room and really made these small canvases pop. I just painted dark red squares on the wall, centered the pictures on the squares and voila’ – instant style! 5. Vintage Accessories – Cactus Creek’s signature style is to make something old new again. This classic Rail Road sign was a bargain at a local antique shop and added huge punch to Wyatt’s Choo Choo shrine.6. Character Bedding – Hide it!! I can’t bear character bedding (or character shoes, by the way). I have referred to Wyatt’s room as an ode to all things “trains”. If, however, it was up to him it would actually be all about Thomas the Train. But the decorator in me shrieked at the idea so while we do have the Thomas night light visible, all of the Thomas pillow covers and blankets are put away when the sun comes up.
The bottom line is that a kid’s room should be all about what they love but don’t be afraid to do it in a mature way so that you maximize your dollars and don’t end up having a room that looks like a day care center. So that’s it – my first blog. I hope someone reads this!!  Happy Trails… Fancy