the making of 2 benches…

03 March 2010

First, I sanded the tops down to the nekked wood, nice and smooth using 100 grit sandpaper and my electric sander. Wipe it down, let it dry and it’s good to go.Feb 2010 030



Here are my partners in crime: leftover heirloom white for the bottom of the benches, Zinsser primer (no sanding required? thank you!), Old Masters gel stain in dark walnut (from the little hardware store down the hill) and Minwax satin poly.

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Brush the gel stain on with a cheap brush, let it sit absorb for about 10-15 minutes, then wipe off excess with an old rag. I let it dry overnight, then I added another coat to achieve the color I wanted.

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My boys would just assume I leave them in the kitchen to be used as forts…Feb 2010 017
In all my glory on a Saturday morning with no makeup, greasy hair, a paint brush, and primer. It was too cold outside, so I brought them to the middle of the kitchen. 2 coats of primer, then 2 coats of paint. Feb 2010 038


(P.S.! I forgot to add: I put 2 coats of poly on top to protect the stain.)
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I took the sander to the edges to make them look a little more worn in, since we’ll make them look like that naturally in no time. If the paint is perfectly crisp and white, you’ll feel bad when it gets the first knick or ding. If it’s already roughed up, it adds to the charm.

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Right now the back of the bench butted against the wall and has some scraps of 2X4’s underneath from the basement since there are no back legs. We’ll permanently attach it to the wall when we finish painting the walls, but for now, they haven’t budged.

It was fun taking a risk and cutting the table up. I was nervous that the whole thing would just bomb and was kind of shocked when it actually ended up being what I had imagined. Go….cut something up and see how it might just turn out. Click here to see the finished entryway.