Tifmurray

On Thursday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren slammed Republicans for blocking a bill that would give Americans relief on their student loan debt.

Student loan interest rates are set to double from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1 unless Congress acts. Warren has introduced a short-term plan that would drop rates on federal loans for needy students to near zero for a year, and Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI), and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have co-sponsored a bill that would freeze interest rates at 3.4 percent for two years. But the GOP has other ideas. Yesterday, Senate Republicans blocked passage of Reed and Harkin's bill, arguing instead for plans that Republicans in both chambers have introduced that would increase interest rates on student loans.

Warren suggested the GOP was morally bankrupt for blocking the student loan proposals. Here is part of her speech:

There are strong proposals on the table that would keep interest rates low while Congress has time to work out a permanent solution. And yet, Congress fails to act. Why? Two issues: money and values.

First, money. Some have argued that we can’t afford to keep interest rates low. But let’s be clear: Right now the federal government is making a profit from our students. Just last month, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the government will make $51 billion this year off student loans…

[Yet] two weeks ago, House Republicans passed a plan that would produce higher profits off the backs of our college students. And here in the Senate, Senator Coburn has introduced a similar bill that makes student loans more profitable…

The second issue is values….Have we become a people who will support our big banks with nearly free loans, while we crush our kids who are trying to get an education?...This is morally wrong, and we must put a stop to it.

Guys! Me and Jeff (aka Waff) just got back from a long weekend celebrating our 10 YEAR anniversary!! It sounds insane to me to say 10 years, that’s a crazy long time, isn’t it!?! It was a really nice weekend and we got to spend time together, uninterrupted reflecting on all the crazy shit we’ve done together over the years.

It was the best!!

We got married 10 years, we were 21, in love, and a little stupid. We didn’t really think about the logistics of being married or the details of life as a couple, we just wanted to be married, duh. I think a lot of people thought we were crazy, and we probably were, but it seemed obvious to us that it was the right thing to do. Since then we’ve grown up together; instead of pushing us apart, going through those 20-something years together has made us a better, stronger and even more happy couple than we were when we started out 10 years ago. It’s the best to have someone so close in your life that you have made it through college with, experienced a “party prime” together, traveled the country (and parts of the world), survived night-grad-school and opposite working schedules (with a baby), successfully had another kid without losing our minds, and at the end of the day, we still know how to just hang. I feel so lucky to have Jeff in my life, and I feel proud of all the things we have done and accomplished together over the years.

We spent the weekend celebrating in Chicago. We decided to go all out, I mean we even flew there! Chicago is practically a second home to us, so instead of doing the usual touristy stuff we went nuts and ate the most amazing meals, drank the most delicious things, and stayed at the fanciest hotel. We also spent a bit of time catching up with some old buddies and hanging on porches and roof top decks. Nothing was hard (except the hangovers) or stressful, it was all easy, relaxing and enjoyable to the max. It might have even been the best weekend ever.

All things we did:

▽ Bavette’s ▽ Longman & Eagle ▽ Saki Records ▽ The Aviary ▽ The Publican ▽ Chicago Architecture Boat Tour ▽ Marias ▽ Balena ▽ Bar Deville ▽ Twisted Spoke ▽ Rooftop Hang Sesh

Oh by the way Chicago, why have you been hiding the best breakfast in the world from me?

One thing you should probably know about me is that breakfast is my all time favorite meal ever! You Chicago people are lucky to have Longman & Eagle (aka home of the best breakfast in the history of breakfast). So GD good, you guys.

Related posts:

• Me, Waff, Bruce Springsteen, Irelan...
• Best Bruce Weekend Recap!
• It's a Snow Day!
• Obsessed

Antonella Di Luca, a young designer from Bologna, Italy who previously worked with at Iosa Ghini Design Studio decided to begin a new design practice with Ubaldo Righi called MR.LESS & MRS.MORE. Focused on tableware and home decor, they presented a product during Milan Design Week at Ventura Lambrate called Citybook.

Inspired by a previous popular product, Housebook, they took that house form and created a modular unit that can be configured just about any way you’d like, creating tons of bookcase variations that are an attractive alternative to the traditional square and rectangle shapes.

Different bases can also be purchased and the house units come in white or gray sheet iron.

A yard is a terrible thing to waste. There are so many great ways to turn your yard, garden, or patio into an extra outdoor living space. Like this one. A simple stack of concrete blocks, topped with a cushion and throw pillows, and you’ve got yourself a bench for hanging out outside.

• Crust
• 5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup dried coconut (unsweetened)
• 1/2 cup white chocolate,  chopped 
• 2/3 cup cashews
• Filling
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
•  2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice (or regular lime juice)
• Zest of one lime
• 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar and extra dried coconut for dusting

Organizers of TEDx Indianapolis have put out a call for people to share their big ideas at this year's October event. The theme for Tedx Indianapolis 2013 is Mix It Up and the final lineup will include national and local speakers from fields including business, education, industry and science.

Indianapolis-based Citizens Energy Group is seeking approval from the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission for a steam rate increase of an average of 12.9 percent. The utility says the bump is "unavoidable," and would pay for the conversion of its Perry K Steam Plant in downtown Indianapolis into a clean-burning natural gas facility.

The Indiana Attorney General's office says it has received 80 gas price-related complaints so far this month, compared to 15 in all of may. The office says Indiana currently has the fourth-highest gas prices in the nation, due in part to disruptions at seven of the Midwest's 10 largest refineries.

A France-based company and the city of Indianapolis will highlight a partnership today involving an electric car sharing system. Bolloré Group is bringing its concept already operating in Paris to Indianapolis. The $35 million investment is the company's first expansion outside the French city. The program is expected to eventually involve 500 electric plug-in vehicles along with 1,200 charging stations.

A southern Indiana coal gasification plant has started commercial operation. Duke Energy Indiana President Doug Esamann says the Edwardsport facility is a "key" to filling the gap of plant retirements in the state.

Question from Tolo: “there’s a song that’s been hunting me for days, I think you wrote about it but my memories are hazy. It’s a funk soul number (early 70s?) that DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist used to play. I remember the lyrics saying something like “he’s number one.” Sorry, I realize this is pretty vague.”

A: That’s actually more than enough info, you’re talking about this song:

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Have a question? Ask us.

In a small kitchen, you don’t need a lot of equipment to cook great food. Still, you do need some pots, pans, utensils, and dishes–obviously. In the BGSK book, you’ll find a bare bones list of necessary equipment, but I’ve long wanted to bring you a similar resource on the web.

So we’re going one by one, stocking up our virtual pantries and maybe our real ones too.

Today I want to talk about the electric kettle. I own a DeLonghi Kmix Kettle. I use it every single morning of my life to boil water for coffee. That’s a no brainer, not having to deal with fire before having had my caffeine. Water comes to a boil quickly, even when watched. And that means the kettle comes in handy for other reasons, too.

Along with the mini food processor, the kettle sits out on our counter. When I know I’m making pasta or blanching kale for dinner, I’ll fill the kettle up with water as soon as I walk in the door. By the time I’ve changed into sweatpants, the water is boiling, and I can go onto the next step in my dinner plan.

Since a lot of electric kettles are plastic, and I don’t like to mix plastic with hot things, I also love that this kettle is made from stainless steel.

Here are some of the dishes where you’ll find that near-instant hot water makes following the recipe much easier.

• Iced Chai Tea Latte
• Chocolate Mousse Pie
• Couscous with Sausage, Greens, and White Beans

(For the chai, you’ll have hot water to steep the tea and spices; for the mousse pie, you’ll make coffee really quickly, which you need to amp up chocolate flavor, and for the couscous, you can pour hot water right over the grain and let it rehydrate while you sauté the sausage, saving a pot.)

This reclaimed picnic table comes courtesy of the Instructables Green Design contest. Katie Jackson and Lilah Crews-Pless submitted a tutorial for a table and bench set made entirely of scrap wood (minus the table legs, which were purchased new). Besides the simple and sustainable design, the best feature of this table is what's inside it...

More

A major entertainment convention is set for Indianapolis next year. Florida-based Action3 Events and Promotions LLC is planning the inaugural Indiana Comic Con for March at the Indiana Convention Center.

how charming is this home from elle decor España? i know this is a lot of color, but i think they’ve pulled it off quite smashingly! even the patio is bright and cheerful, not to mention the pink and black kitchen with all their cookware and eclectic treasures on display. for the whole tour and a ‘get the look’ visit elle decor España.

Back in 1962, drum teacher Jim Marshall opened up a small music shop in London. Fast-forward to now, his shop has morphed into the iconic global brand, Marshall. The company is known for their awesome amps that churn out their signature Marshall “crunch.”

The Marshall Fridge is the company’s way of bringing the essence of their amps to any pad—no guitar skills necessary. You get Marshall’s classic style—in refrigerator form—that stores sodas or ice-cold beers (Gin, for me).

It’s made from materials that Marshall often turns to for their amps including authentic logos, brass control panels, and fret cloth. It also has a small freezer, interior lighting, and tempered etched glass shelves.

You’ll even save a few bucks on the energy bill since it has an A+ energy consumption rating. Now, that’s what I’m talking about!

He will urge Congress to stop rates from doubling at an event at the White House on Friday.

On October 3, 2012, in Denver, Barack Obama almost threw his presidency away. His disdain for the requirements of politics, his ill-disguised contempt for his opponents, and his complacent cockiness caught up to him in a listless and bewildering debate performance in front of 67 million people. The

One of the coolest NYC design stores, The Future Perfect, launched a new private label furniture collection at ICFF with seating and lighting design by Lindsey Adelman, Charles de Lisle, Jason Miller and Russell Pinch.

The collection begins with three sofas, a chair and a chandelier that are more transitional than cutting edge modern, with a focus on traditional craftsmanship and methodology. Much of the inspiration came from 19th century upholstering methods and early 20th century lamp making.

The work consists of a blend of soft, natural materials like sustainably-harvested hardwoods, horsehair, coconut fiber and solid brass. A nice balance of hard lines and soft curves, this is a new modern that looks back to the past: Founder David Alhadeff says, “The Future Perfect is about modern. I believe what’s very modern right now is honoring tradition… I looked backwards to make work that was uniquely forward thinking.”

Tardi Sofa by Lindsey Adelman

Linden Chandelier by Charles de Lisle

Kent sofa by Jason Miller

Goddard sofa and armchair by Russell Pinch (top photo also)

Photos by Lauren Coleman.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the firebrand former presidential candidate facing a ferocious reelection race, announced in a video on her website Wednesday morning that she will not seek reelection to a fifth term.

American artist Soo Sunny Park took over Rice Gallery, part of Rice University in Houston, Texas, with a glistening, labor intensive, abstract installation called Unwoven Light. The suspended piece is made up of 37 individual units composed of chain link fencing that is arranged into a sculptural form that’s all about light.

As you make your way around the space, the ever-changing rainbows of color bounce off each piece of iridescent Plexiglas that has been wired into the openings of the metal fence. The coated Plexiglas causes the light to “unweave” making each shape turn from clear to colorful as light hits them.

From Park:

“Like a net, the sculpture is a filter that is meant to capture the light that is already there and force it to reveal itself. Now we can see it, the light, in purple shadows and yellow-green reflections that both mirror the shape of the fence and restructure the space they inhabit.”

Unwoven Light is on display at Rice Gallery through August 30th, 2013.

All photos © Nash Baker.

Courtney Kaplan, a 42-year-old mother living in Oakland, California, knew from experience that the first couple years after having a baby can be "rough." So when she had her second child in late April, she wanted to make sure that she had enough time to physically recover from birth, adjust to a brand new family member, and find the right childcare.

Her husband, a paramedic, faced a benefits landscape familiar to many stretched American families. He took vacation time, plans to swap shifts with coworkers to get time off and will make do with the six weeks of partial paid leave required by the state of California.

But Kaplan was recently hired to do product design for Facebook, a company that has one of the best maternity leave policies in Silicon Valley. She has four months of paid leave and access to a host of other benefits, like $4,000 in baby cash and subsidized daycare. "Facebook's leave policy is generous and definitely made me feel good about joining the company," says Kaplan. "I don't feel pressured to return sooner and everyone has been really supportive."

America remains one of the few countries in the world without mandatory paid leave for new parents, but tech giants are jostling to attract and keep the best talent, triggering a benefits arms race in Silicon Valley that has led to longer leave, cheaper childcare, and perks like onsite doctors and dry cleaning. Even though millions of parents nationwide work at companies that don't offer any compensated time off, experts predict that the incentives offered by big tech companies will likely remain confined to that industry, and are unlikely to pressure other kinds of businesses to beef up their benefits.

The eight tech companies that Mother Jones contacted offer an average of about three and a half months of paid maternity leave, and 10 weeks of paid leave for a new parent that doesn't give birth—like dads and parents who adopt or use a surrogate. Facebook, Instagram (which was acquired by Facebook last month), and reddit have the longest leave policies, clocking in at four months of paid leave for all parents. Google offers 18 to 22 weeks of leave for birth moms, depending on whether or not a mom has complications or surgery, and seven weeks for parents who don't give birth.

Companies that don't lead on parental leave offer plenty of other kinds of support: Yahoo gives new parents $500 for household needs like groceries and laundry, offsets adoption expenses by $5,000, and gives Yahoo-branded baby gifts, according to spokesperson Lauren Armstrong. Google (which refers to employee babies as Googlets) also gives baby cash, backup child care for when the babysitter calls in sick, and adoption assistance. Pinterest also encourages employees to take advantage of Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts, which allow employees to spend pre-tax income on child care.

Fatima Goss Graves, vice president for education and employment at the National Women's Law Center, says "there is no question that" the tech-industry's generous emerging standard "is more comprehensive than what most US companies offer."

"I think tech companies are known for having comprehensive benefits and do so as a strategy to attract and retain top talent. That’s smart," she adds. "It improves workplace retention for new parents."

Many of the companies Mother Jones spoke with say they're already plotting how to make their benefits better—and one-up the competition. Yahoo! CEO Marissa Mayer extended the company's paid parental leave last month, after facing public scrutiny over her decision to ban telecommuting. Pinterest initially had "very minimal benefits" but announced an expanded package in the Fall of 2012, according to spokesperson Mithya Srinivasan. Pinterest is now "thinking about meal deliveries and other ways to show how much we value our employees," she says.

When reddit was a division of Condé Nast, the media conglomerate that owns magazines like Vogue, The New Yorker and Vanity Fair, it didn't have any parental leave policy, according to reddit CEO Yishan Wong. After it spun off as an independent subsidiary in 2011, he says, "We simply implemented our benefits structure...in according to how we felt was right in our tech startup industry." Mother Jones asked Condé Nast if it provides paid parental leave or benefits for its employees, and spokesperson Patricia Rockenwagner declined to "comment on details about our internal policies." 

The United States is one of very few countries around the world that doesn't legally mandate paid parental leave, holding company with Swaziland, Papua New Guinea, Lesotho, a handful of island nations, and Suriname—the smallest sovereign nation in South America.

According to the National Partnership for Women and Families, only 11 percent of US workers have access to paid parental leave, leaving the rest to rely on some combination of vacation days, sick and disability leave, and employer sympathy. The Families and Work Institute also finds that fully paid maternity leave programs are becoming scarcer: In 2005, 17 percent of employers offered new mothers paid time off; by 2012, the number was just 9 percent.

The 20-year-old Family and Medical Leave Act guarantees 12 weeks of unpaid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, but many US employees are not covered, including recent hires, part-time workers, or employees of small businesses. Add up the exemptions, and Vicki Shabo, director of work and family programs at the NPWF​, estimates that 40 percent of the workforce isn't covered by even the Family and Medical Leave Act's basic requirements for unpaid leave. She says those parents are more likely to be less educated, low-income, or blue collar workers: "It's these folks that need the protection provided by a federal policy." NPWF would like to see a federal law, funded by a payroll tax, that would mandate some paid leave for workers, modeled after state programs in California and New Jersey. The organization is currently working with Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) to craft a bill that would provide parents with 66 percent of their wages for a leave period of up to 12 weeks.

Goss Graves of the National Women's Law Center says it's possible that tech companies could ultimately influence other industries who are directly competing for the same kinds of employees, but notes that "we still have a long way to go in many places. Some workers lack basic paid sick days." Wong, the reddit CEO, also says that not all of Silicon Valley can jump on the benefits band wagon—or even wants to: "When you're a very small company, you often don't have the time or money to be able to implement a full benefits program," he says. "Also, some—many—tech companies are run by single young men, so it doesn't occur to them to offer progressive maternity leave policies."

Absent a federal law mandating paid leave, Kaplan, the new mom working at Facebook, notes there are still ways for small companies to support parents. Her previous employer, Hot Studio, which was acquired by Facebook in March, was much smaller than the social media titan, but still gave employees six weeks of paid leave, in addition to the six weeks mandated by California law. They also offered a program called "Babies at Work," which allowed moms like Kaplan to bring their infants to the office, and providing a separate, sound-proof space for when the babies got fussy or if parents needed privacy. 

"Smaller companies may not be able to offer the financial benefits of a large company but can try non-traditional benefits," she says. "I'm excited to see some companies offer better leave choices and better benefits for families—for mothers and fathers. I hope they set an example for more companies to up their game."

Dylan Matthews highlights a fascinating little chart today. Roughly speaking, it plots two things for 18 different countries: (a) how much the rich have gotten richer over the past 50 years, and (b) how much tax rates on the rich have gone down during the same period. Guess what? It turns out that in countries where the rich got the richest, they also enjoyed the biggest tax cuts:

How to interpret this is a difficult question to answer.... Lawrence Lindsey and Martin Feldstein have argued that cuts in rates led to increased economic activity among top earners, leading to more growth and income. That's the conventional supply-side story. But you could also tell a story where lower tax rates increased the after-tax income of the rich, and that in turn increased their political power, which produced still lower rates.

It's possible, of course, that there are data interpretation issues here, so these results should be taken tentatively for now. Still, the cross-section of countries is fairly large; the results don't depend solely on the effect of the United States; and the slope of the line is pretty dramatic. So there's probably something here.

But what? I can only guess, but I'd offer a third possibility. It's not just that low taxes produce harder-working rich people, or that richer rich people produce the political power to cut taxes. It's broader than that. Essentially, when an entire country gets persuaded that what's good for the rich is good for everyone, that creates support for a wide range of policies that benefit the rich. Low tax rates are one of them, but I suspect you could draw a chart like this for a number of other public policies as well (unionization rates, financial deregulation, etc.).

In the United States, the conservative movement has been astonishingly successful at persuading the public that "free market" policies which benefit the rich will trickle down to everyone. In Germany, not so much. As a result, public policies in the U.S. benefit the rich, and the rich also get ever richer. In Germany, they don't.

This is Barack Obama.

He rose -- from humble beginnings in the Hawaii-based marijuana smoking organization the Choom Gang -- through Occidental College, the Ivy League, and the U.S. Senate, all the way to the presidency, where he dreamed of redeeming the dreams of his father and repudiating his predecessor's policies.

This is Barack's predecessor:

His name is George 2.

One time he dressed in a flight suit, landed on an aircraft carrier, and gave a speech beneath a gigantic banner that proclaimed "Mission Accomplished," referring to a war that wouldn't end for another nine years, at which point its staunchest supporters insisted the mission still wasn't accomplished.

Now he paints dogs at an undisclosed location:

Last week, Barack gave a big speech.

Roughly five years ago, when he took over for George 2, he'd promised to change course in the conflict formerly known as the Global War on Terror, which he still wages against terrorists all over the globe. Vowing to stop torturing people, he made good on his pledge, waterboarding zero suspected terrorists, but killing thousands without capturing them. Having assured a reporter, "I reject the Bush Administration's claim that the president has plenary authority under the Constitution to detain U.S. citizens without charges as unlawful enemy combatants," he killed four U.S. citizens without charges. Insisting that "it is illegal and unwise for the President to disregard international human rights treaties ... ratified by the U.S. Senate," he disregarded the Convention Against Torture, an international human rights treaty ratified in 1994 by the U.S. Senate.

He was reelected by a comfortable margin, in part because the hardcore fans who believed so fervently in his original project never gave up hope on Barack when it was abandoned. (They blamed it on Fox.)

Also, his political opponents were incompetent ninnies, led by a standard-bearer who preemptively insulted 47 percent of the country, presided over a get-out-the-vote effort that crashed on election day, and allocated a speaking slot at his party's nationally televised convention to a performance-art monologue by an octogenarian actor who addressed his remarks to an empty chair:

It's all darkly funny when you think about it.  

After spending Cuatro de Mayo 2013 on a friendly visit to Mexico and Costa Rica, Barack gave that May 23 speech. His earliest supporters received it as the thing for which they'd long hoped: a reprieve for the abruptly cancelled project to rein in the War on Terror. By coincidence, the speech was given around the same time that Netflix posted 15 new episodes of the groundbreaking tragicomedy Arrested Development, set in Orange County, California.

The events seem to have bled together for me.     

The show is known for its biting, absurdist humor. But is it any more absurd than the real-life characters and events I've been observing on the national stage my whole adult life? Hadn't George 2 nicknamed his top adviser Turd Blossom and declared that the lowest moment of his presidency was when he was insulted by luxury rapper Kanye West? Isn't Herman Cain every bit as ridiculous as Herbert Love, the Arrested Development Season 4 character he inspired?

Wasn't Barack ... well, we're getting to that.

After the speech, more than one observer grokked Barack's intended message: "Please don't worry, liberals. I'm not George [2]." Conor Friedersdorf of The Atlantic -- hey, that's me! -- called the speech a rhetorical victory for civil libertarians. Like me, James Fallows, who's been wanting to declare the War on Terrorism over and won since his excellent 2006 Atlantic cover story on the subject, celebrated the speech's nod in that direction (even as the Pentagon speculated about 10 to 20 more years of war against al-Qaeda and the White House finished institutionalizing its disposition matrix). Wrote The New Yorker's Jane Mayer, who has done pioneering work investigating the War on Terror excesses of George 2 as well as Barack's ongoing war on whistleblowers, "While [George 2] frequently seemed to take action without considering the underlying questions, [Barack] appears somewhat unsure of exactly what actions to take."

This is how desperate War on Terror critics are. Conflicted words from a man with a history of breaking his, and that man's apparent moral doubts about his own actions, are enough to make us cautiously optimistic. It could be worse. At least the teams of SEALs we deploy haven't gone rogue.

Until yesterday, the whole situation had me feeling blue. It took Rep. Peter King, a New York Republican, to get me laughing at the tragicomedy again. On one hand, you've got what Tom Junod calls "The Lethal President" ensconced in the White House, having asserted for himself the power to kill in secret (based on legal theories he won't share with the public) thousands of times. He gave a speech in which he indicates, with no promise of stopping, that maybe it would be a bad thing for America if we were permanently at war. And that proved to be too much for Peter. Does the drone program need to change? "If it does change it shouldn't change for moral reasons," he said. "That's what bothered me about the president's speech. It was moral anguish that he was going through." The guy killing in secret based on standards he keeps secret expresses "moral anguish" about a semi-targeted killing program that has killed hundreds of innocent people ... and Rep. Peter is certain that he's wrong to feel any moral anguish!

Then there's Newt:

Here's how he reacted to the speech:

I think it's just stunningly, breathtakingly naive. He says at one point, wars have to end. Well, Trotsky said you may not care about war. But war cares about you. Right after you have somebody beheaded in England, you have a bomb go off in Boston ... and the president announces cheerfully that 'the war is going to end because I'm not happy being a war president.'

It doesn't really matter what Barack does.

Distilled down to its tribal core, the GOP's critique of The Lethal President has basically been this:

Thus the two choices before Americans in the realm of national security: A Team Blue that pays rhetorical lip service to eventually ending the War on Terrorism, at an unspecified date, even as Team Blue leaders openly plan to wage it for the foreseeable future; and an opposition party that also plans to wage it for the foreseeable future, but is dead set against rhetoric suggesting that it should end sometime. Says Glenn Greenwald, summing up American politics since September of 2001, "The cosmopolitan, intellectualized flavor of [Barack's] advocacy makes coastal elites and blue state progressives instinctively confident in the Goodness of whatever he's selling, much as George [2's] swaggering, evangelical cowboy routine did for red state conservatives."

And the cosmopolitan, intellectualized flavor of Barack's advocacy makes red-state conservatives confident in the Badness of whatever he's selling, even when he's doing what they're selling (though they'd do it with more swagger, costing them the support of coastal elites and blue state progressives). It's all very serious stuff with terrible consequences here and abroad. But without occasionally laughing at its terrible, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction absurdity, we'd probably be driven to Forget-Me-Nows.

When we left off in Part 1, I completed and installed the bench frame and added batting to the front edge of the frame. I gave you a sneak peek at the foam on the bench. So, let’s pick up there.

First let’s talk money.  The wood for the frame and furniture legs was about $50 total.  Add in the cost of foam, batting, and fabric and I built this giant upholstered built-in bench for under $300!  It is about 10 linear feet of banquette goodness!

Foam

When I made all the pillows for the bench, I casually mentioned my shock at foam prices. Several of you lovely readers jumped in to offer advice. Many suggested online retailers, but I was inpatient and preferred to check out the foam in person. One reader mentioned using foam mattresses from Ikea. I was intrigued and checked them out online, before heading to the store.  The next day I met my mom at the store to check out the foam, I mean mattresses, in person.

Compared to the hundreds of dollars it would have cost me at the fabric store, I spent just $129 at Ikea for the Florvag full size mattress.  It was a 74″ x 53″ x 4″ sheet of foam.  One full size mattress was enough foam for my entire bench.  The mattresses come rolled up, so we were able to fit it across the backseat of my car, with car seats still installed…that is a DIY mama’s dream!

The next day my mom came over to help me butcher, I mean cut up the mattress.  The cover has one giant zipper all the way around and comes off in two pieces.  Inside is a nearly 4″ thick slab of foam (it is actually a thick and thin piece glued together).  My mom brought her electrical knife to make carving the foam easy.

We put the wood pieces directly on the foam and traced around them with marker.

We cut them out with the electrical knife.  I was over-excited about this step.  I heard it was the easiest way, but never knew how gratifying it would be to cut through a huge slab of foam like butter.

We cut the two side bench pieces first, then we pieced together the leftovers for the corner cushion.  We had about a 5″ strip of foam leftover.

To soften the wood boards for the bottom of the cushions, I stapled some extra batting around the edges that would be on the front of the bench.  I used four layers, just like I used on the 2×4 frame.

Batting

With the foam ready to go I was telling mom I needed to go get more batting to wrap the cushions with. Then it struck us that the Ikea mattress cover was fabric and a waterproof layer with batting stitched in between. Perfect! I cut up the mattress cover to use as batting.

I used a piece from each side to cover my two straight benches and then had to piece some smaller strips together to cover the corner piece. I laid my batting right side down, put the foam on top and then the board. I pulled the batting tightly around and stapled it to the wood all the way around. I wrapped the corners as neatly as possible.

Fabric

While I was at Ikea, I decided to check out their fabric options. I love how their fabric section is right next to the curtain panels. I have been known to upholster with curtain panels before. Since they don’t carry upholstery weight fabrics (darn, wish they did), I wandered right into the curtain panels. I was like a moth to a flame when I saw the Sanela velvet panels. They came in an amazing turquoise, which would have been way too much with my turquoise table. They also came in a dark gray. Sold! I bought a pair of 98″ panels for 49.99. For just under 6 yards of fabric, I think it was a good deal.

Before starting on the cushion upholstery, I covered the front edge of the banquette frame.  I cut long strips of fabric from the curtain panels to cover the batting I already stapled around the frame.  I tucked the ends of the strips in between the sections of the frame.  At the ends by the wall I folded the end of the fabric under to get a finished edge.  I stapled the fabric all along the inside of the frame.

Ana White did a little sewing to give her upholstered banquette a more tailored finish. I opted to go the no-sew route.

I covered the two side benches first. I laid my fabric out right side down and then put the cushion on top with wood facing up. I pulled the fabric tight and stapled all the way around. I always start with the middle of each side, then work out to the corners. For 3 of the 4 corners, I just wrapped as neatly as I could and stapled. I knew three of the corners would be hidden at the back of the bench or next to the corner cushion.

For the one completely exposed corner, I made a rounded corner with the fabric. The key to making them look as nice as possible, is to cut out any excess batting on the bottom of the board. You want everything on the bottom of the bench to be as smooth as possible.

First, I pulled up the fabric corner and stapled it in place. Doing this pulls the foam into a slight curve at the corner.

Then I pulled up the side fabric, carefully tucking in the excess fabric and creating fold. I repeated the same on the other side.

The resulting look is a bit more casual and not tailored at all. It makes the corners rounded and a little puffy. If I ever want a tailored look, I can remove this fabric and sew a seam into the corner.

I found out the hard way, that the fabric direction is super important when working with velvet. The fabric looks silvery in one direction and dark gray in the other. I had to un-staple, flip the fabric, and re-staple one of my cushions, when I realized I had the fabric going the wrong way. Make sure to cover each piece with the fabric in the same direction.

I probably should have bought the 118″ curtain panels, because once I finished both side benches, I barely had 24″ of fabric left from each curtain panel. I had to seam the two pieces to make a piece large enough to cover the large corner cushion. I used my serger to overlock the two pieces together and make the seam extra strong. Once the cushion was covered the seam is hardly noticeable. The seam is toward the back of the cushion. Once it is loaded up with pillows the seam disappears :)

Speaking of pillows…oh, how I couldn’t wait for this part! As soon as I tossed them all on it took every bit of my willpower not to just dive in and nap the rest of the day. The two turquoise pillows in the back corner are Sanela pillow covers from Ikea in the turquoise color I love. I made most of the pillows with my easy envelope pillow cover tutorial. The Love pillow was an Etsy find. The one yellow chevron pillow is a cover I made years ago that has been floating around the house. I think this is a good home for it.

Adding my DIY brass pendant light was the icing on the cake.  It feels amazing to have this space done. It really is a dream come true. Who doesn’t want a giant window seat overlooking the backyard with an inviting, colorful game table?!

From a mood board inspired by the turquoise pedestal table to the almost completed space, I am really happy with our casual comfy game room area.

The only thing left is a couple of chairs. Remember all the chairs I considered? I am still torn. I tried the teal ones from World Market, but the color was too green. I also thought they stole the show from the table. I worry the yellow ones I am pondering might do the same. Now that you see the space in real life, what kind of chairs do you think I should use? I am leaning toward understated white or wood chairs.

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