Bench Makeover

Remember my bench?

Uggh... it just didn't work, right?
Here's another photo. It's not bad, but it could be so much better!

So, I announced that I was going to do something about this eyesore.
Seriously folks, if I tell people that I'm going to do something, it kind of makes me a little panicky, because being the responsible person that I am, I do try to keep true to my word!


Here it is after I've sanded it down and put on two coats of primer:
This is when I start having second thoughts. It looked rough!

Uh oh, Su! What have you done?!?

It was a little better after I applied Cappuccino:
Having never used Mod Podge before, I practiced applying it to fabric on the inside of the bench.
Oh, I used fabric because I liked the fabric I chose, but also because I'm suspicious of paper. I know that it's what mod podge is made for, but I'm the kind of person who can never apply sticky stuff on straight without bubbles. I was afraid of tearing the paper on such a huge project. I'm glad I went with fabric, because I had to reposition the fabric many times!

Anyway, the decoupage went quite well. I still had some bubbles, but I suspect that if I had a proper roller to squeeze out all the air bubbles, this would not have been a problem!

As it was, half the application was done by smearing globs of mod podge off my hands.
I was concentrating so hard on getting the fabric on straight that I failed to notice that I had knocked over the open bottle. My older child came along, and said, "Hey mum, why is there a white plate on the floor?"
Gasp!! That was my mod podge tipped over and spreading a slow circle around the container. So there I was, scooping the podge back into the bottle, and then, with bare hands, I started smearing the stuff on the fabric that was already in place.

Highly inelegant, and I had to practice my yoga breathing, so as to not hyperventilate.... hahahaha!

Sigh...Martha Stewart, I am NOT :)

I also painted the wooden part of the hooks that sits above the bench.

I loved the bench's transformation so much, that I used a tray I found (it had a destroyed picture of Winnie the Pooh on it), and made a matching tray for little shoes:
I had protected it with layers of clear coat paint, so it is reflecting a lot of light in that picture above. However, in real life, it is not cloudy at all.


I'm thinking of moving the frame that is hung on the wall and replacing it with something else.
That though, is another project.


Overall, I'm rather pleased with the transformation!


Head over to Inspired Room's Procrastinator Party to see what others have done!
Thanks for reading,
Su