Creating a Custom Bed Cushion For the Kids

My upstairs has three bedrooms: the master, the children’s and the nursery. Since my youngest daughter is no longer a baby, we have turned what once was the nursery into the children’s library. The room has long been a favorite of the children’s due to the ample amount of light, the soft carpet (the only room in the house with it) and the proximity to our bedroom and bathroom.

We have several bookcases in the room, along with toy bins that slide into the shelves. Up until a week ago, we had two overstuffed Pottery Barn Kids Anywhere chairs that I had seen enough of and sold on a local community Facebook yard sale group (it’s the BEST idea ever and I highly recommend it). I also had purchased a cast-iron bed frame while at Brimfield that was to go in the room in their place.

 After bringing home the cast-iron bed frame, I began to look for ways to create a cushion/seat/mattress for the bed. Since it is an irregular sized frame, I was going to have a custom seat cushion made and upholstered in a fabric. I went to my local hardware store and had a piece of wood cut to make a platform to put the cushion on. 

After a bit of research, I have decided to have a foam mattress custom cut and covered by an online website since they offer organic and natural foam and materials. Foam is one of those products that can be quite full of nasty chemicals that cause breast cancer. The foam called “Natural Sense” is made from tree sap and can be made in any shape, size, firmness and is quite economical when compared to having a custom mattress made.

The last bit of information I need to select before having the foam made is what fabric I should have it covered in. The website offers to cover the foam in several different materials including Sunbrella and Robert Allen fabrics. I had the luck of attending the launch of the Robert Allen Naturals fabric line last week and pulled a couple of samples from their showroom to bring home and share with the girls.

I also remembered seeing some great fabric from the new Schumaker line by Lulu DK | Child that were so adorable and sweet, I pulled some of those too.

My one last thought on fabric selection that is if I am going to go through the effort to buy an eco-friendly foam pad, then why am I not covering it with an eco-friendly fabric? Well finding a fab, eco-friendly fabric is much easier than it sounds as eco-friendly fabrics are not that plentiful in attractive fabrics (believe me, I’ve looked). But I did come across Mod Green Pod’s Robert Kaufman line and there is some promise there too.

But if I’ve learned anything about fabric selection, I know I need to choose a central source for my inspiration and use it to select my fabrics. I have decided to use the Japanese paper lanterns passed on to me by my mom. I love the look of them hanging over the bed and the wall color compliments them nicely (score, don’t have to repaint)!

So most of my selections work with my central source colors. Now it’s onto the final decision and ordering the fabric to get the bed cushion made. Stay tuned for the updated room!

Comments

[Laminate floor]

Is it an empty bed in the 1st picture?