have a seat

some of my favorite furniture (and decorative items) in our home have been passed down to us by our parents, grandparents, and extended family. a clock, several quilts, a hope chest, a milk glass vase... with their many years of wear, some of these are in better shape than others. but (frankly) with two little ones racing around our house all day, the more scuffs and scratches our furniture comes in with, the better. this way i don't have to keep track of (or feel particularly guilty about) the everyday damage we inflict on it ourselves.

one perfect example is a bench that was given to us by my husband's parents shortly after we purchased our first home. it had lived a full life as a catch-all for muddy boots, soggy mittens and whatever else came in the back door of their home while they raised their two sturdy boys in new england. among the more unusual occupants of the bench was a squirrel who (in the mid-1980s) found its way indoors and scratched the poor bench mercilessly before they managed to construct a (more complicated than one might imagine) maze to encourage the little guy back out-of-doors. did i mention how much i like things that have already been beaten up? thank you, little squirrel.

here is a photograph of our bench from the early 1980s. i found this photo (of my husband and his younger brother) in my father-in-law's stash of old snapshots. pretty great, huh? i imagine this photo was taken pre-squirrel incident judging from the bench's glossy sheen and prominent placement in the family's living space.

when my husband and i were first married, this bench was placed in the kitchen nook of our first home. it sat beside the fireplace and within easy range of kitchen appliances, allowing guests to linger and relax while we prepared meals. when we purchased our second (current) home, the bench naturally came with us.

did i mention that we have a second wooden bench in our home? yeah, we do. it is painted black (rather than stained brown) and was handed down to us by my parents. bench number two is in marginal better condition than bench number one, and so while our current house has plenty of space indoors to accommodate both pieces, i decided this spring that it was high time to give our brown wooden bench a new purpose. something more noble than relegating it to yet another back door squirrel (or perhaps toad, in our neighborhood) incident.

when we moved to the western part of our county, we had hoped to gain more yard space and an extra bedroom (we were pregnant with lulu at the time). as it turned out, we got all of this and more. the front of our home has a wide, welcoming southern-style front porch. i quickly decided that (if given the proper refurbishments) our bench could be the perfect spot for sipping lemonade and watching the kids blow bubbles and ride bikes. and so, i dug into the task of repainting.

here is a photo of our bench on the porch earlier this summer.

we think the new, crisp coat of white works well with the country charm of our yellow housefront, and is the perfect compliment to the two white rocking chairs on the other side of the porch. i've heard people say that a coat of paint is the easiest way to reinvent a room... i guess the same is sometimes true for furniture too.

furniture painting project

what you'll need: a bench (or other wooden furniture in search of a brighter future), fine sand paper, primer, paint (in the color of your choice), a drop cloth (or large plastic sheet), and paint brush.

1. pick an open, well-ventilated area to work on your project. best to choose an area away from the reach of little hands, since this project will likely take several days to complete

2. cover floor with drop cloth, to protect it from inevitable splatters

3. set furniture on drop cloth

4. use sandpaper to smooth any rough edges or surfaces, if necessary

5. use primer and paint brush to prime all furniture surfaces (top, bottom, back, and front)

6. allow primer to dry completely. tip: place paint brush in small, sealable ziplock (or other plastic) bag after painting each coat. this will keep paint from drying on your brush while the paint on your furniture dries, and will prevent you from needing to wash the brush after every application

7. repeat steps 5 and 6 until furniture is relatively white (it took three coats to sufficiently prime our brown wooden bench)

8. clean your paint brush and allow it to dry completely

9. use paint and paint brush to paint all furniture surfaces. i chose a white semi-gloss paint appropriate for exteriors. while our porch is covered, the wind and rain blow fierce in our area.

10. allow paint to dry fully, and repeat applications until finish and color are to your liking. note: store any leftover paint in a cool, dry place for future touch-ups

11. tada... old furniture, reclaimed and repurposed. a super low-cost way to acquire a "new" piece for your home and (if you're environmentally minded) always better than buying something newly constructed!

got furniture that you'd like to recover or repurpose, but aren't sure how? send us your project photos and details... we'd be glad to give you a few ideas (and hopefully some inspiration).