The Rural Legend
Aug 27, 2021
Updated: Apr 4, 2023
If there is anything to take away from this post, it is that shopping your own home can make it feel like you bought brand new décor! (And also that thrifted furniture is a crazy inexpensive way to transform a room with a little bit of elbow grease!)
This appears to be my month for furniture flips! If you missed it, earlier this month, I found a dining table on Facebook Marketplace for $20 and transformed it into my dream kitchen table! While I was working on that project, I decided that the antique trunk that had been sitting behind our loveseat didn't jive well with the new table, and so it has a brand new home at the foot of Jackson's bed.
Having something behind the love seat helps to ground the space in the long narrow room that makes up our family room, kitchen, and breakfast area. I played furniture musical chairs yet again and pulled this bench out of our dining room.
Originally, I purchased this bench (also from Facebook Marketplace) to use as seating at our former kitchen table. Eventually, it ended up in our dining room with the intent to transform it into a buffet by adding long legs and a new top. BUT this bench is the perfect size to sit right behind the love seat - right where we typically put on our shoes before heading out the door. So the bench gets to remain a bench! note - I took the feet off when it was a dining bench to make it lower, but it looks way cuter with its feet!
The black color was just too dark next to my charcoal couches. So I decided this was a perfect time to reach out of my comfort zone and try a new color! My gut told me to go with a shade of green, so I found a few colors I liked. There was actually a whole saga about my color choice that I shared in my Instagram stories. Did you catch those? If you're curious you can find the whole dilemma in my bench highlight on this makeover. The long story short is that I chose the color Pigeon by Farrow and Ball. I was introduced to the color Pigeon by one of my favorite home styling bloggers, The Blooming Nest. I have been wanting to try it out in my home and this was a perfect opportunity to use it! Pigeon doesn't always photograph accurately, so just know that it is a wonderfully airy color that looks gray, green, and blue all at once. It feels fresh and clean. And boy did it brighten up this bench!
Here's how I achieved this makeover:
- Krud Kutter - the only cleaner I use before painting or refinishing!
- Good quality paint brushes. I just discovered these and will never use another kind!
- Behr Marquee Matte Paint in the color Pigeon by Farrow and Ball. I just asked the paint department at Home Depot to look up the color in their data base.
- Fabric - I've had this fabric since 2012 waiting for the right project!
- Pneumatic Stapler - using this instead of a staple gun was LIFE CHANGING!
- new hardware - I found my set at Home Goods
The first thing I always do is clean all the surfaces with a cleaner and degreaser. Once the bench was dry, I began brushing on thin layers of paint with long strokes and checking for drips periodically. I applied 2 coats of paint to make sure I had evenly covered every surface.
When we first bought this bench, Tim cut a piece of plywood to upholster and attach to the top, so all I did this time was recover that same board. I didn't even remove the previous fabric! If you've never upholstered before here are the basic steps.
Think of the process like wrapping a present. Lay your fabric out on a large flat space with the wrong side of the fabric facing up. Place your seat on top of the fabric (also upside down) and adjust so that the pattern of your fabric is centered and even.
Pull one side of the fabric around the edge of the seat (on one of the longer sides) and secure in the middle with a staple gun or pneumatic stapler. Secure the same side at each end and then flip the entire thing over to make sure the fabric looks the way you want it to.
Flip your seat over again and pull the other side of the fabric around the seat, pulling tightly. Again, secure in the middle and then the 2 ends. If you are happy with the position of your fabric, continue to secure the fabric every inch or so on both sides so that the fabric is evenly positioned and taut.
Now it's time to fold the shorter ends and secure. You can do this several ways. Just like you would fold the ends of wrapping paper on a present, you can fold your fabric over like a triangle and then fold up and secure. Below are some pictures showing 2 ways to fold and secure the ends, but play around with the fabric and find a fold that you like. You will secure the fabric on these shorter ends in a similar way as the long sides.
above is the fold I used.
After my bench was dry and the top was upholstered, I added new hardware I found at Home Goods for $7!
I can't get over the dramatic transformation of changing the paint color! It looks like a completely brand new bench and a new style for my space! I'll be honest, When I first stepped back and admired my work, I was a little unsure because this color is so far from what I would typically choose, but I love it so much!
I hope you find some inspiration here! Do you have a piece of furniture in your home that could use a little refresh or might look great in a different space? Shop your home! Play musical furniture! And don't be afraid of thrifted furniture. With a little love, you may find that you love your own creation more than what you can buy in a store! Don't forget to subscribe at the bottom of the page so you never miss an opportunity to be inspired. And follow along on Instagram and Facebook for more style tips, DIY's and a peek inside our every day life!
xoxo, L