We had an empty wall in our living room which was straight across from our couch, which meant that each time I sat on the couch I looked at the empty wall and thought “I need to do something with that”.  If you’re anything like me sometimes these projects take a long time to go from a thought to action!

One day as I was looking at the wall I thought of how an old church pew with pillows would look really good on that wall and at the same time provide some more seating.  I tried to explain my vision to my husband, Paul. Somehow I don’t think he could quite see that vision but he was willing to trust mine!

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So the search began for a church pew. I went to a couple local antique stores and then started calling around to antique stores, finally moving on to Craigs List, where I found an antique store that said it had 40, yes 40, church pews and they were only $75.00 each.  This place was in Pennsylvania, about a two-hour drive from us.  It was decided that we would enjoy a day out and make the trip on Saturday.

Paul and I love to go for drives so making the trip was fun.  (Do you find that being in the confined space of a vehicle provides the perfect opportunity to get each other’s undivided attention for a while?)  BUT, when we arrived at the antique store we were told that Craig’s List had not been updated and there were zero church pews left.  I couldn’t hide my disappointment!  They said one lady had come in and bought 30 for her daughter’s wedding.  I should have called first and next time I will.

We took the time to look around the store and it was fantastic. It was in an old factory, so there were lots of things to look at.  Our prize discovery was some old theatre seating and it was in beautiful condition.  The price tag was $135.00 which seemed very reasonable to me. They fold which made them easy to lay in the back of the truck and secure them for the trip home.  My wall vision was changed a little bit, but these are unique, so I was excited.

The Seats were placed on the wall and as you can see it still looked empty and plain.

Next step was adding pillows to the seats.

I always like to have somewhere to set my glass, so next, I placed a matching foot ottoman on each side of the seating. I debated it for awhile, but it just seemed to be too organized of a look.  I moved one of the ottomans and replaced it with a unique table we had. I liked the look much better.  I also set a pretty round wooden tray on the remaining ottoman to provide a smooth surface for a glass.

And there they sat with a big empty wall space over the top of the seating.  Something definitely had to be added to the wall and my thought went to adding a shelf.  I wanted it to be at least as long as the seats and that wasn’t easy to find.  I ended up ordering this one from Home Depot.

(If you’re wondering about the tape, my husband measures and gets everything level, then uses painters tape as his guide.)

And it still wasn’t right.  I decided I needed to add some hooks so I could hang a few things to take up some of the empty space from the top of the seats to the shelf.  It wasn’t going to be possible to find something the exact length of the shelf, so I approached my dear, sweet hubbie, Paul and asked him to make one for me.  I’m always pulling him into my projects!

He made it, painted it white and I found hooks with a rustic look at Hobby Lobby.

I had seen a long wooden bowl at an antique shop and I knew it would look just perfect.  It seems I never buy things I love when I see them.  I hem-haw around thinking about how expensive it is (this really wasn’t, it was $45), anyway once I decide I want it and go back to get it, it’s usually gone.  But my bowl was still there, so “yeah” for that. And while I was in the shop I happened to see the mineral jar on the shelf that I loved and I knew I needed to add some height, so I bought it too (for $20).

I found my “S” at Marshalls or TJ Maxx, I can’t remember.  They are two of my favorite stores!

I moved a  little bird potpourri that had been in one of the bedrooms to the shelf for a little pop of orange.

I wanted a wreath to hang from the hooks, but not anything too fancy or too big.  I found this one at Kirkland’s and was so excited when I did!  It was just what I was looking for!

The next addition was some dried foliage I picked up at Michaels.

Now for my macrame!  When I started making this it was supposed to be a garland but I made it too wide. It would not hang right from the hooks.  So I placed it along the edge of the shelf with each end hanging over.  I think it looks great this way, even though you can’t see the pretty beads I knotted in along the middle section.

And now my empty wall is no more!

What do you think, do I need to make any changes?

Thank you for reading about my wall transformation.  I hope it gave you some ideas!

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