The Small Things - hinging the bench

Sometimes it's the small things that are really annoying.  And let's face it, we don't exactly have a "Project" boat, so we're able to make those small things a priority.  When a small, annoying things gets fixed - it's big!  One of the annoying things was the top of the bench in the salon.  It's a good spot for me to brace myself when I'm cooking underway (yes, I do cook underway!)  But if you know me, you know I can't stand certain textures - whether it's food or fabric, I'm just picky.  The fabric on the bench is some sort of velvety non-sense.  It catches on your skin, is ugly and completely wrong for a water environment.  In addition, to get to the pot/pan storage inside the bench, I have to remove the cushion, remove another lid, then rummage around to find what I'm looking for.  That means I also have to stow the cushion and stow the wooden lid while cooking underway...

Bench in it's original (to us) configuration

The velcro doesn't really work anymore...

Here's the plug-style lid you have to remove

This shot just gives you a better idea of where the bench is (yes, we still have the table down low and use it as an ottoman)

I was surprised at how easily the bench came up - once all the junk was removed

I was also amazed at how much the salon opens up without the bench.  Tempting to remove the bench entirely, but we have grand plans for that bench - and it's some of the best galley storage we have.

Mark took the wooden lid off and added hinges.  It took two sessions - turned out he needed the router to remove a bit of the lip on the back of the lid in order to get it to close/open properly - and of course the router was at the condo.  He got it finished up and it is a great improvement.

While he was working on his project, I was fiddling around with our existing cushions.  We got a bargain on a large amount of scrap IZIT (faux, buttery-soft leather) that I am going to use to recover the salon cushions - and anything else I can get my hands on!  I took the cover off of the bench - it has a zipper down the back, unlike the rest of the sofa cushions.  You won't believe what was under it

Why?!?  Why would anyone cover the matching cream bench with that ugly, nonmatching blue?  (no offense to those of you that like blue velour...)

And here's an updated pic of the galley/salon - starting to get cozier.

I am keeping the cover though - it'll be a nice template/reference for the new covers I'm making.  I like that it's zippered and has muslin as a backing.  I've got quite a bit of muslin on my hands from the hand-dyed fabric I sell in my etsy shop.  I plan to use un-dyed muslin, but I could always jazz the boat up with some tie-dye...  I also like the piping.  I've been researching cushions and have learned to make piping, so we'll see how it goes.  I think it would be a nice design element to have a contrasting piping on the sofa - but it will also add a lot of work/room for error, so we'll see.  

I also opened up one of the MANY cockpit cushions that came with Luna Sea.  Those are closed cell, I think.  But they are drying out some, so I'm torn on whether to reuse the foam or buy more.  From the prices I've seen, I'll likely cover the existing foam in that buttery soft IZIT and keep on truckin' with those cushions.

Off to the boat!  We're hoping to sail today - the weather's not been cooperating, so we'll see.  Happy Sunday!