My mother law Candis recently passed on this deacon’s bench (little church pew) she found at a local thrift store.

I loved it immediately and while she had not had it forever I knew it had a story to tell.

The part that means the most is not the little wooden pew but the person that gave it to me. Candis has dedicated her life to being on the mission field and traveled the globe. Even after “retirement” she’s as active as ever seeing a meeting the needs of young mom’s in her town. So she’s pretty amazing, and I’m very blessed to have her as my MIL 🙂

The hard part was figuring out what color to paint this little pew and I landed on this saft, pale grey. I’ve never used this chalk paint by Kilz and I’m super impressed.

I did two good coats and the coverage was perfect. It’s very smooth and easy to apply, I’ll use it again for sure.

A little distressing, and since there will not be food or cups set on her I didn’t use a sealer.

I like the mix of the light grey with warm old wood popping thru. We are always moving things around to make room for the next find but I have a feeling this little bench will be here for a while. It fits perfect here!

A little spot to pull on boots and head outside, or flip-flops, we do get sun here sometimes in the PNW 🙂

I figured it must have turned out ok when Candis came over and announced that she now wanted it back ha!

She was kidding of course, but it meant a lot to me. And now each time I come home or walk by our little entry she makes me smile.

And because no wall in my home feels complete without 50 baskets on each wall lol, I added the obligatory baskets.

And a plant, are you addicted to plants by chance too? I love them, especially pothos, jade trees, snake plants and all those other hard-to-kill varieties!

I’m super excited about my blog makeover too, coming soon a much needed boho-farmhousey refresh for this little corner of the web. Cant wait to reveal it!

I hope this finds you well, at peace, and eeking out even a bit of time to create. I seem to be short on that creativity time too but it’s so important for our spirit!

Hugs & blessings from casa twelveoeight,

Xoxo, Tanya

You know how you see something for sale and you think to yourself, I could pay $24.95 a piece for those.

I could.

It would be easier.

And then something kind of clicks and you realize that you don’t have to.

You could make those for a few bucks.

Maybe even with scrap wood from other projects and paint you already have.

Welcome the simple diy corbel.

I kind of have a thing for corbels right now, they are my jam.

I have this spot where the long dining room flows into the front living room. The front living room is my fave space to be. It is the only room with super high ceilings in our 1970’s mid-century modern home.

We have added a lot of our own style while still trying to keep much of our home’s original vibe.

Lots of paint, wood floors, white-washed shiplap fireplace surround, and a wood wrapped beam at the peak with exposed electrical.

Add a whole bunch of baskets, swivel chairs, and a mix of vintage and modern and this is our home.

I saw corbels very similar to these online and thought I might just order them.

But Troy likes to make stuff (yes this is very convenient and I try to not make the hey can you make/fix/build this list too long) 🙂 and he gave them a go.

These are actually leftover bed rails from a dismantled bunk bed. He ripped the pieces down to 2″ x 5″ size for the top and back. For each corbel the top piece was 14.5″ long and the vertical piece 16″ long. The angled piece we cut to 17″ end at 40 degrees and the other at 50 degrees as we wanted the bottom of the corbel a bit longer.

The ends we rounded off a bit and used a wire wheel on our drill to create some lines and texture.

I painted them with an off-white paint and sanded them until I felt like they could of come off an old porch.

They just just the perfect amount of architectural interest in this spot, I just love them!

They were very quick to make, the longest part being the time for the paint to dry!

I don’t know about you but when the world is crazy and there is so much uncertainty around us home is where I like to be. I always want this little spot of the web to be uplifting and encouraging, and that wont change. But for all of us I wish for some peace. That we would look at our own hearts and choose grace and kindness to be our creed. That we would help a stranger, hold a door, pay for someone’s coffee, smile when we don’t have to. The power of being kind and doing the right thing costs us nothing but the difference it makes cannot be measured.

Thank you friends for reading and as always, you are appreciated more than you know!

xo, tanya