Design on a Dime: Project Two

Here is project #2 in my Design on a Dime series: a book sling. Ok, let's start with the back story and before photos:
Ok, that is the BEFORE before. When we first put the 2 girls into one room. Completely unfinished (notice the missing crown molding, blank walls.) I then painted it a color of Ariana's choosing, finished the crown molding and put some stuff on the walls...


I am not a fan of this color, but I did keep the taupe on the lower half of the room to cut the girlishness back a little. This photo is Annika's side of the room- I had thrown a tapestry up since I just didn't have enough stuff to fill her walls. And then I saw the coolest project idea on Ohdeedoh... a book sling.

Every night, Annika takes 15 books to bed that she wants to read. They inevitably end up behind the bed or she is sleeping on them or they are strewn all over the floor next to the bed. That book sling looked like a great idea to keep her bigger books close by and out from under her while she sleeps. AND, I have plenty of fabric scraps hanging around so that it would be a cheap project. I am not going to rewrite the tutorial here, you can go see it at Ohdeedoh, but I will throw in my own hack tips and photos...

First off, I would install the hardware first. This way you can get an exact measurement before you sew the sling. You only need a couple of tools, two 5/8" dowels and curtain rod hardware...
Although the rod hardware comes with anchors, I highly suggest hanging the hardware on wall studs since it will be in a childs room and they will most certainly be hanging on it or using for other than suggested use.

Oh, wait... you will also need one more thing...
Because, if your house is anything like mine, the second you are all set up to start a project with a cordless tool, you will realize that not only is the battery dead, so is the backup battery. At which point you will need to make an additional trip to the shed through the snow to get the charger.

After you install the hardware, you will then need to sew the sling...


(Yes, my sewing station doubles as a computer work station- cozy, huh?) This is really easy, even with my limited sewing skills. It only took me around 20 minutes to sew it all. And then... Ta Da!!!!

Isn't it cute? Annika loves it. I took the opportunity to change things up on her wall as well. I thought the black frames were just to heavy and dark for a little girls space. I put up a shelf I had hanging around in the shed and put one of my vintage records and an old Winnie the Pooh on it. I printed out some free artwork from Indiefixx and Modgepodged them onto canvasses. I also put up a couple of photos for her in some salvaged frames. It turned out pretty cute, huh??? And the book sling only cost me $13 and one hour of time (since I used fabric scraps, add a little if you are purchasing fabric.)