DIY Bench – A Diamond in the Stuff

Farmhouse Headboard Bench

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 11 May 2016 13:00:31 +0000

I had a show last month that I had to get tons of stuff ready for. I was running low on larger furniture items which meant lots of work needed to be done. So into the scary garage I went to start dragging stuff out and begin the transformations. One of the first items I knew that I wanted to tackle was a old wood headboard and footboard set. I had scored them for cheap but they were missing the side rails so it was time to get creative. That’s when the Farmhouse Headboard Bench was born.

Here is the headboard (and the footboard, I will get to that another day).

Step one was to create the bench structure. If you want a more detailed description you can visit my post about my Crib Bench. Basically we built a box out of 1×4’s, added legs, and 1×10’s across the top. Then we bolted the box to the headboard.

Now that the structure was built, it was time to make it pretty. I wanted the bench to have a farmhouse look to it so I chose to go with an antique white paint and stained seat. I used Dark Walnut stain by Minwax on the seat and on the “apron” and legs. I did the apron and legs too because I wanted the whole bench to be darker in color so that when I distressed it, everything would look uniform.

Once the staining was done, I painted everything except the seat top a creamy white. It took a couple coats of paint and then I did some distressing here and there. The dark stain beneath showed through beautifully. I used a clear coat on the painted parts and a wipe on poly for the stained seat.

Oh man, she’s a beauty! I love it. It’s simple and yet so pretty!

Before I stained the seat I had some fun ruffing the boards. I used a metal file, hammer, screws, and nails to give them a more aged appearance.

It has bench is rustic, but not too rustic.

It has an entirely different look then my Crib Bench and I love it just as much! The Farmhouse Headboard Bench quickly became one of my favorites and I’m trying to figure out how I need two upcycled bed benches in my house. But until then, this beauty remains for sale!!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

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Want another farmhouse inspired project? Check out this Drop Leaf Farmhouse Coffee Table transformation…..

Bench out of Chairs

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 07:00:00 +0000

Awhile back I scored some really cool old wood chairs. I shared them in a Thrifty Thursday post back in August. When I first spotted them I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them, I’ve just been waiting for the time to get to them. Well this past week was the time to make my Bench Out of Chairs.

The chairs were in pretty good shape….a little wobbly but we’ll fix that!!! I removed the seats and got started.

Ok I’ll admit….my hubby cut this plywood before he left. He’s pretty awesome, I know! I needed a solid base to connect all three chairs into one seating surface. This plywood did the trick. He cut it to fit around the backings of the chairs and the seats.

When it came time to upholster the plywood I grabbed some thick foam padding, batting, a staple gun, and some beautiful fabric. I layered each piece under the wood, making sure I had enough overhang of batting and fabric to wrap around to the other side. I stapled all around the plywood, making sure to pull my fabric tight as I did.

Once the upholstering was done, it was time to attach the new seat to the chair. The newly painted chairs I may add….I’ll get to that in a minute. I used the old holes from the old seats to screw in the new bench seat.

Ok, now lets talk about the color!!! I painted the chairs Aqua by RustOleum. Beautiful isn’t it? The color looks so pretty with the fabric, especially the blue bird.

Speaking of fabric, I purchased it from Fabric.com. I’ve been eyeing it forever and I’m so glad I finally had a project come along so I could use it.

There you have it! My Bench Out of Chairs. I love how it turned out and it seems so perfect to welcome Spring in!!!

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While your visiting, I’d love for you to stop by the Time to Shine party!!! Link up if you have a blog or just take a look around at all the greatness linked up!!!

Turn a Crib into a Bench

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:33:00 +0000

Ready for my super duper totally awesome project that I’ve been working on for awhile……..

I have an on going craft to do list, I’m adding to it constantly and trying my best to check things off the list. One of my favorites is a crib bench from Tatertots and Jello. Well last week while my Mom and Uncle were visiting we decided to tackle it! Jen gives a pretty good tut on how she did it, but I’m going to give you a little run down on how we did things!

A wonderful friend asked if I wanted her kid’s old crib…..I immediately said “YES” without hesitation or seeing it! I was thrilled once I laid eyes on it! As you can see in this “before” picture that we jumped the gun and started sanding before I could snap a picture! I decided to use the back of the crib, it has a pretty carved floral detail at the top.

We (and when I say “we” when it comes to the building of this bench I mostly mean my Uncle! He is amazing with woodworking projects!) started out cutting the wood planks for the top of the seat. My Mom and I were mostly his assistants through the building process.

Next we built a frame for the seat of the bench. We needed to add a middle board to give it more stability because of the length the bench needed to be.

Here are the seat slats attached to the frame….

Once the seat box was put together it was time to work on the legs. We needed to build an extension for the legs so they would be the same length as the legs on the crib piece.

Once the extensions were glued and dry it was time to add the leg attachment plates. All you do is simply screw the legs into the plates.

Ta da! We have legs!

To level up the back of the seat box against the crib we needed a little spacer to level things up. We just used some wood glue to attach this thin board directly to the back of the seat box.

Then it was time to bolt the seat to the crib and add some decorative moulding! It’s amazing how a little moulding can really transform a piece and make it look so finished!

Once the bench was all put together, everything was dry, and sanded; it was time to PAINT! I didn’t think to include the paint until after I painted it, but I painted the bench with Onyx Black in semi gloss by Glidden.

I also used DecoArt’s Glazing Medium mixed with some of their white paint to make a white glaze. I used it on the carved design and on the decorative mouldings.

Once I scrubbed off the black spots that were all over me from the paint sprayer spatter, I sat back and enjoyed our beautiful creation!

As you can see, in addition to the glaze I also did a bit of distressing. I hit the edges and exposed points with my hand sander.

The glaze turned out great, it is suttle but highlights some of the details wonderfully!

Beautiful moulding and spindles! Could it get any better? I gave the whole thing a layer of Polycrylic to seal everything up and protect it.

There has been a place in my home that desperately needed a bench! This fits perfectly!

A huge huge huge thank you to my awesome Uncle and Mom for all the help! It’s so nice coming from a DIY family!!!!

What do you think?

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