BUNCH OF UGLY–part 2–Refinished Bench

So as part of my “exterior entry way make-over,” I had chosen to refinish this super ugly garden bench.? Now, when we first purchased this bench four years ago, it was beautiful.? It had new, fresh wood, and looked beautiful in our front yard under the tall ponderosa pine trees.? We lived at the end of this adorable little cul-de-sac and the girls could ride their bikes up and down, then back around our little circle and loved it.? We purchased the bench so we could sit and watch the girls enjoy themselves!!

However, it was the poor victim of severe winter storms, spring showers, and summer sun.? It’s glossy finish diminished and? we were left with this extremely heavy bench, that was dried out and splintery.? No one wanted to sit on it, and truth be told, when we moved, I tried giving it away…and NO ONE would even take it for free…how sad huh!

Well, I got my electric sander out and got down to business.? I sanded all the splinters away and had a really smooth surface to work with.? I then, washed all the saw dust off the bench, with water and a rag.? I let it dry for a few minutes and then pulled out some old paint I already had.? It was a really dark brown, flat exterior paint, but it worked out perfectly.? However, if you noticed above, the paint I used was a FLAT paint, and left the bench looking a little dull.? I decided to take some brown stain I had in the garage, that already had some Polyurethane (a protective finish) in it and paint it over the flat paint which gave it that shiny, finished look.? Now I love my bench!? But it gets even better….I found this fabric at Hobby Lobby and it was 30% off the original price and I bought 2 yards.? While I was at Hobby Lobby they were having a 50% off sale on their flowers as well, so I purchased a few flowers too. ? I also bought two pillows from Goodwill on Thursday, when they have $1 sales.? So each pillow cost me a dollar and I made cute pillows with the fabric and flowers I had purchased.? P.S…the flowers were hot glued on!? I am all about keeping it easy!I will show you soon what it all looks like together…..( I know your sitting on the edge of your seat….YEAH)