Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Bench Makeover

I scored this bench at a yard sale for $5! I didn't know what I was going to do with it right away, but everyone is soooo into the distressed furniture look, so I thought I would give it a try. The technique itself was actually pretty simple, and I do like the way it looks, but I definitly don't think I'm going to distress every piece of furniture I re-do. So here it is before: First I just sanded it down, but didn't worry if I didn't get every little dent out (I mean, it is supposed to look old and a little beat up). Then I put my first coat on. I used American Accents, java bean. It looks kind of purple in the can, but goes on more like a brownish stain. I let that completely dry before rubbing my candle on the areas I wanted distressed. Then it was my first coat of antique white. Between each coat of white, I rubbed off the wax, and applied a new layer of wax before the next coat. That way I didn't get a thick layer of paint before I tried to rub the wax off. I think it took 4 coats of the anitque white. I rubbed off the last of the wax, then lightly sanded it for even more distressing.
And this was what I got! Like I said, I do like it, but probably won't be doing much of it. I need to do a coat of Minwax Wipe on Poly, and then it will be finished. But I'm toying with the idea of putting a big "G" on top of it, so I haven't put the finish on yet.



Here it is from the top. There's no distressing on top. That's how I wanted it. It's long enough though to put our entire last name on it. What do you think? I'm entering this in Kimba's DIY day on Thursday, so look for it there! http://asoftplacetoland-kimba.blogspot.com/




3 comments:

  1. Love it! A great redo!

    I think I like the idea of putting your last name on it....Can't wait to see what you decide!

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  2. I used to have that bench! Sold it with my dining table ages ago.

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  3. Beautiful!
    Can't believe you found that for only $5 - great buy!

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