{The Bench That I Saved from Certain Destruction}

Recently, my neighbor was doing some spring cleaning and threw some trash out.  I did a double take while driving past her house because I saw a bench and nightstand in her trash pile.  I drove around trying to figure out the best plan of attack.  I had to have these two pieces of furniture!  They just couldn't go to the dump!  So I stopped my car in the middle of the road, grabbed the nightstand, shoved it in my back seat, and drove off with tires squealing!  (Well, my tires weren't squealing, but that would have been cool, wouldn't it?)  I really didn't have time to grab both items, but, luckily, when I came back home from my mom's, the bench was still in the trash pile.  So when I saw my neighbor drive off (I wasn't looking out my window for her to leave or anything...), I ran out the door, grabbed the bench, and ran back to my house!  I haven't done anything to the nightstand yet, but I've refurbished the bench.  Here she is in all her glory before I gave her a makeover.

Rather pitiful looking, huh?  I think my husband was a bit appalled that I brought this in our house.  But I knew I could make it beautiful.  I started by taking the bench apart and working on the base.

I unscrewed the cushion portion of the bench, sanded the base, wiped off all the dust, and primed it with Kilz primer.  When the primer was dry, I sprayed it with Valspar spray paint.  I love the color of the Valspar paint, but my personal favorite spray paint is Krylon.  I have small hands, and it's hard for me to use the Valspar spray without feeling like I'm going to break my finger.  But since the stores around where I live don't carry Krylon in this pretty turquoise, I had to use the Valspar.  After the paint dried, I distressed the edges with sandpaper and then brushed on a few coats of polycrylic sealer.  Then I had to show the cushion some love.

I took all the tasmanian-devil-mangled fabric and padding off the top of the board it was attached to.  I sanded the board some to get rid of any weird residue that might have been left over.  Then I used spray adhesive to attach foam to the board.  Guess where the foam came from?  My grandpa gets insulin sent to him in the mail.  It has to be kept cold during transport, so the medical supply company packs it with foam.  He's been saving the foam for me for a while now, and this was just the project to use it on!  After the foam was attached, I stapled two layers of batting to the board.  Then I covered it with a pretty fabric I purchased from Hobby Lobby.  I sprayed the fabric with two coats of Scotch Guard to protect it.  Now my trashy bench has a brand new look.

I really love the fabric and the turquoise color.

This bench is the perfect inspiration to motivate me to redecorate and organize my disaster of a craft room.  I hope to have that accomplished in the next month...or two.  :)
And before I sign off, I must thank everyone who took the time to vote for Round Three of Creative Bloggers Got Talent.  I made it to the top ten with this project!!!  (Did you think this was mine?)  Now I have to come up with an amazing project for next round!