the time a neighbor placed an old chest on the street for garbage collection. The one drawer that still existed was retained at the bottom for storage of extra furniture. Some of the furniture in these photographs was mine (1940's). Other pieces were added in the 1970's for our daughter and some later than that. The drawer keeps the assortment available for redecorating. During its early years, Santa with his sleigh and raindeers sat near the chimney at Christmas.

PHOTOGRAPHS SHOULD EXPLAIN THE RESULTS:

The top of the chest is an attic room. The front side of the roof is built in two pieces and hinged so that the lower portion can be lifted. It is held in place with an attached wooden prop (see photo). The roof is made with latticed wood strips, the chimney is painted with a brick design and trees and flowers are painted on the outside walls. For the floors we used carpet scraps for the bedrooms and the bathroom and a Formica scrap for the kitchen. My husband cut tiny pieces of wood and created a parquet floor for the living room. There are doorway openings between the rooms and a movable staircase. We added wheels for obvious reasons.

cushions for them last summer at Target at 75% off! However, the new cushions really need to be protected from spring pollen and winter weather. With the cushions removed for storage, the chairs look as horrible as before...just wood frames with wire bands stretched across them! Not pretty! The cushions require more storage space than I had available and they need to be nearby so they are accessible when we want to use them. DUMPSTER DIVING!!While visiting friends at a motel, I saw stacks of heavy maroon colored material in a dumpster along with hinged slatted door sets. The only thing I had space to rescue in my car was the material. It turned out to be 27 identical pieces--they were covers that had been made to protect upholstered sofa or chair arms. Although they looked new, I tossed them in the washer and dryer. They washed and dried beautifully. I had no specific purpose in mind, so I put them aside. A couple of days after acquiring the upholstery, I realized a possible use for the hinged door units. My husband (halfheartedly, I think) suggested I call the motel to see if they were still there. They were and I was given permission to get them. Ended up with seven sets of doors. All of them had minimal damage, but for our purpose, they were fine! The Doors:He used two sets of the doors to make a storage box that fits a corner on one side of our front porch. All of the cushions (for four chairs and one lounge) fit nicely inside the box...(they are protected, out of sight, and easy to reach when we want to use them)! PERFECT! We made another one to go on the other side of the porch....We possibly will store the outdoor Christmas decorations in it! (Haven't made covers for the tops yet!)The chair arm covers:When I cut away the curved portion of one upholstery piece, a rectangle remains. The hemmed width is already EXACTLY the same as the width of our front porch chair seats! Three of the pieces, sewed together along the cut edges, make a perfect cover to lay across the exposed wire bands in one chair while the cushions are in storage! Total project use: five pieces for the lounge and three for each of four chairs. (That left ten leftover upholstery pieces for some other project!) :)