A Bench Makeover

My mother’s friend, Ms. Sally, gave Mama a bench that has been stored above the garage that is now The Cedar Loft. Since she had not done anything with it, Mama graciously gave it to us to be used in the loft. Thank you, Mama!

I forgot to purposely take a photo of it "before", but I found one in a shot that I took of the general loft area before we got started on it:

We finally got around to giving it a makeover! Jason used the sprayer and painted it the same red (heirloom red) as the kitchen cabinets in the loft. I then distressed it with my favorite antiquing glaze and then we gave it one layer of polyurethane to bring out the distressing.  Actually these pictures really don't show the distressing that well.  It shows up much more in person.

Here's the bench now:

I love all the little dings and dents in it. I think they show up a little more with the polyurethane. Actually, I think those dents are kind of special. Ms. Sally’s daughter, Tracy, was a friend of mine through school. Ms. Sally says that bench sat in their hallway near the telephone and those dents came from all the times her three kids sat on the bench talking on the phone.

When I first saw the bench, I knew it would be perfect placed at the foot of the bed for additional seating space for the small loft. I love the way it looks there.

Every little detail that we add just seems to more character to The Cedar Loft. It is coming along slowly now, but we will eventually get it the way we want it. In a way, not being able to do it all at once is a blessing in itself, because it gives us something to look forward to. And that’s always a good thing!

Thank you so much to old and new followers, for your visits and your comments. I’m thinking about a giveaway when I hit 500 followers, which means I need to give my carpenter some ideas too. Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!