The making of the perfect place for a nap!

I had my family read my first blog yesterday and they were actually impressed.....except for the one mistake my hubby had to point out!   Such is life.

As I said earlier, the porch is my haven but the best part is the bed swing.  I love perusing the web and had seen many kinds of these bed swings but with very hefty price tags.  After seeing my husband build a very cute changing table for our new granddaughter and seeing how well he did building the porch, I thought to myself.......why not get him to build the bed swing!  That turned out be a great idea and this is what came of the idea:

The perfect place for a nap

Mind you, it didn't always look like this.  It was just a basic swing with nothing on it.  Hence, the next dilemma......how to make it look pretty.  I continued my perusing of the web and found several sites in which I could order mattresses with fabric for the outdoors as well as pillows, etc.  Did I use those sites.......NO!   They were super expensive and I wasn't willing, nor prepared, to spend that kind of money.  The perusing continued and I had a great idea.  What if I could find a mattress and put a waterproof cover on it?  This area of the porch doesn't have any rain or wind issues so that has worked like a charm.  I found a nice mattress at IKEA and a waterproof cover at good ol' Wally World.   I was making progress.  

Next came the pretty stuff.  If you live in the Charlotte, NC area and you can sew (or know someone 

who loves you a lot and willing to sew for you), then this is a must go-to place, Mary Jo's.  I found outdoor fabric for $11.99/yard and made my own mattress cover with piping and Velcro closure for easy cleaning.  Viola! The beginning of the pretty stuff.  But, I still needed pillows.....lots of pillows.  Besides, I am female and we do love our pillows.  I ordered some bolsters the sizes I needed, found coordinating outdoor fabric at Mary Jo's and made the bolsters and two 26" pillows.  I pulled the smaller pillows from other parts of the house and ordered the beautiful "Bee" pillow from Ballard Designs (a favorite catalogue of mine ).  So, there you have the bed swing!  By the way, I'm not the only one who loves it......check these pics out:

This is the precious angel that calls me Lolly

Lucy with her favorite person in the world, Papa - AKA my hubby!

Our daughter using the swing for naptime!

This bed/swing is truly a place for rest and relaxation.  As soon as the awful heat and humidity goes away, you know where you will find me!

Have a blessed day everyone!