Look no further than Sheela’s home for some serious DIY inspirations…

A BIG hello to my creative tribe. It’s been a while since we had a rendezvous at Ritu’s gorgeous and arty abode. If you couldn’t make it there, you can check the link here.

Recycle, Up-Cycle, Repurpose or just simply call it Do-it-yourself – DIYs aren’t just tools to satiate your creative hunger, but they are a gentle nod to our environmental concerns and budget constraints. The world of DIYs is interesting, intriguing, and brimming with creative ideas that sometimes make you land in a dilemma on up-cycling a particular thing various ways.

Today we take a quick look at a Desi Canadian whose approach to DIYs is simple, yet enchantingly effective.

Meet Sheela Ravi Kumar, who stays near Toronto in Canada with her lovely family which includes her husband and her two kids. Sheela is a work-from-home professional and revels in the glory of her minimalistic home. Interiors and decor are her passion and she lives them to her fullest. A self-confessed DIYer, she loves upcycling and ends up turning all good, old stuff into brand new and pleasantly usable things. She has been documenting her journey of renovating and decorating her home on her Instagram page ‘diyhome99‘ so you know where to head to if you need some serious DIY inspiration.

I approached Sheela beacuse I was really impressed with her up-cycling skills when it came to upholstering her 6 year old entertainment unit from IKEA. Sheela was quite happy to share her DIY with my readers as it had turned out quite well. So, lets hear it right from the horse’s mouth:

Sheela says – “This is my one of the DIY projects which came out very well and it took just an hour, no sewing at all, other than hemming the edges by hand at the end to give that finished look. It’s a simple project and anybody with a little bit of effort can do this. It just took only four materials to transform our once old and not so useful entertainment unit into a cozy window seat/ extra seating in our living room”.

Materials needed:

1. Foam
2. Fabric of your choice (here I used Ikat prints)
3. Glue gun
4. Scissors

I bought the foam from Lens Mill store and for the fabric, I used one of our curtains which we no longer needed, so frugality was the keyword here.

How to:

First thing is that you need to cut your foam to the required measure of the entertainment unit. Since most of Ikea furniture have these sharp edges, I left an inch extra on both sides in length so that it gives that extra cushion on the edges.

Place the foam on the fabric and it should just be enough to overlap on each other to give that finished look and using your hot glue gun you just have to make sure that edges of the fabric seals together and covers the foam in the back.

Finally on the edges I did not use glue gun to fold the fabric but hemmed it with a needle and thread. But you can used hot glue if you can control your hand to fold them to give the right finish, for me I was sure that it’s hard to fold the fabric before the hot glue becomes hard and ending up giving a rough finish.

Here in this picture, you can see the edges folded, hemmed nice and neat. And also one inch extra foam at the edges just enough to cover those sharp edges.

Once the cushion was done, I just used hot glue to keep the cushion on top of the unit in place. Also it’s a good idea not to use nail gun in case you want to change the fabric of the cushion it’s very easy to take it out and less damage to the unit. Please be sure to add support in the middle for the weight to even out, (just like how I used metal bars in the middle) when people are seating on it.

Sheela bought a few crates from Walmart to fill up the space underneath the bench for additional storage. She not only upholstered the bench, but also the bar stools in the same fabric.

So, what do you guys think of this easy, breezy, wonderful DIY? Sheela has spelled her DIY magic onto other mundane things and completely transformed them. Like this ladder, that was made by her husband for their daughter’s bunk bed when she was just a toddler and then given a new lease of life by Sheela as a piece of wall decor.

Also, these other pieces of wall art she made with reclaimed wood will definitely inspire the budding DIYer in you you to embrace this big, beautiful world of creativity.

Do let me know your thoughts on this short DIY post. Have a great week ahead you all!

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