Have a garden bench that needs some TLC? Join the masses...
When the hubs and I wanted to fill an empty front porch space, we trooped off to one of the home improvement stores and brought back a standard park bench. We added a few hanging plants and, presto, instant atmosphere. Fast forward five years, a different porch (one that was open rather than covered), and lots of abusive weather later and you have a poor bench that needs some love.
I stumbled upon a darling picture on Shabby Soul's fabulous blog and an idea was born. Rather than an all over lilac as featured in Sylvia's blog, I opted for a sage and lilac combination (mostly because I feared my husband would refuse to sit on something so entirely pastel).
After moving the bench into the garage for disassembly, I sanded down the wood slats with my trusty orbital sander. (I have to say, there is something infinitely satisfying in watching old paint or stain give way to the brute force of spinning grit.) Previous homeowners had left behind a tiny quart of the most serendipitous can of paint that I have ever come across. I have used it on the secret garden door featured in this post, on this sadly neglected bench and on the newly renovated arbor (more on that project in a future post).
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| Before |
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| Before |
After spray painting the metal side frames with some Rust-Oleum in French Lilac, I let everything dry overnight. The wood slats got a quick coat of polyurethane and all was reassembled.
TA DAAAA...
Amazing, is it not, what a little TLC can accomplish? Now we can sit on our ever-so-chic new bench and I can show off my equally chic new summer sandals...
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| Fahrenheit Iplay Espadrille |
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Have fun with YOUR garden bench...
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