Easy No-sew Bench Makeover

I love an easy project–and this easy no-sew bench makeover was perfect for a few reasons. #1–The sturdy and well made little bench has just been hanging around the house waiting and waiting for a makeover. #2–We had the paint and the primer on hand (I can NOT be the only one who has a box of these particular items in the garage). #3–I had the fabric (I know I’m not the only one with favorite, randomly sized pieces of fabric in a neat little pile–or just a pile). The easy no-sew bench makeover odds were completely stacked in my favor.

The sweet smell of success was in the air.

Here’s the before picture.

[Those protecting pieces of cardboard have seen many a project pass through this garage. Many.]

It’s a great piece, right? It’s sturdy. It’s well made. It’s wood. And is has the great open section that is longing to be filled with something awesome. We’ll see how that works out.

Here’s a closer look at the well-loved fabric.

Here’s the finished project.

 Here’s what I did.

–took the hinges off of the lid

–using newspaper and painters tape, carefully covered anything inside of the bench I didn’t want to be affected by overspray–which was everything .  Painting inside of the bench was not in the plan.

[Don’t you just love the wooden spools and the sweet vintage spool boxes?]

[One of these days I’m going to stack those spools to make some kind of colorful background for something. One of these days.]

–cleaned it

[Don’t hose it down, send it through a car wash, or anything like that, though.  ~grin~ ]

–let it dry, dry, dry

–while it was drying, I took the seat cover and carefully removed the carpet tacks and short nails that were used to attach it to the seat

–set the material aside

[Set it aside not threw it away.]

–primed the bench

 

 

I know there are paints that have primer in them–I’ve used them before–BUT–I didn’t have any in the gargage.

I’m not a professional painter. I’m an impatient one. Which simply means the product needs to work with me and not against. I’ve tried several different brands and I keep on going back to Rustoleum. It sprays evenly; the final color has been true to the cap color; the nozzle doesn’t require 4 tons of pressure to use (no angry fingers when the project is done); there haven’t been any drip situations.

“Apply a second  coat or Painter’s Touch topcoat within 1 hour or after 24 hours.”

Those are the real and true instructions on the back of the can. That part about the “within 1 hour” is fantastic.

[I turn on a timer just to make sure it happens within the hour.]

–painted the first coat of color–this is a pic from previous project where I remembered to document as I was working. It’s the correct brand and type of paint I used–just not the color.