GARDEN BENCH

(March 2014)

This was a tag team effort between my hubby and I.  We like to do certain projects together and this one turned out great! 

I think the yellow pillows make it... what do you think?

BEFORE:

AFTER...

Process- we bought new boards for the bottom half- stained them with Kona and Red Mahogany and then put about 4 coats of outdoor sealer on them...
As for the top piece, as much as I wanted to cut a new piece of wood, we did not have a jigsaw, so to save some money from buying a new toy, we sanded it and reused it. Here's the kicker, this particular piece is made of three separate pieces so when we took it all apart, it fell into three piece.  Time and patience and a lot of wood glue, wood fill and clamps, we were able to reuse the top piece. We matched the stain as best we could, but it's a different wood species so it didn't all soak in the same way... another 4 coats of sealer...

The wrought iron outline is HEAVY, we really wanted it to pop in the sun in our garden, so we painted it with Rustoleum Metallic outdoor navy blue... it has a shimmer to it and we love it!

We put new hardware on since the old pieces were rusty.

Short Story: the bench was left at a rental property we are at and the landlord didn't want it, so we said we'll use it and waalaaa... good as new.

Total Cost: wood, spray paint, sealer and new nuts, bolts and washers- $30
Pillows were extra... I splurged on amazon for the mildew & mold resistant, fade resistant, all weather outdoor pillows $32... Not bad.