a sweet petite bench.

Published on by Quandie

You’ll remember that recently I mentioned how much I procrastinate when it comes to upholstered pieces.  Apparently that’s even true of pieces that just require simple upholstery, like this one.

 My friend/picker Sue found this bench quite some time ago.  And actually, she was going to give this one a makeover herself.  Her husband had already cut a sheet of plywood to make a new base for the seat.  But for whatever reason, she gave up on it and offered it to me.

As you can tell by the ‘before’ photo, that was some time ago.

I painted it in Miss Mustard Seed’s milk paint in Farmhouse White way back last summer.

I was hoping to get a little chipping out of it, but I really didn’t.  I did distress the edges though, and am very happy with the end result.

I top coated the paint with some clear wax, and then … well … I ignored it for the next 7 months.

I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to make it comfy enough to sit on without spending a fortune on upholstery foam (that stuff can be weirdly pricey).  I kept thinking I’d run across some sort of over-sized cushion while out garage saling that I could re-purpose for this bench, but I never did.

But then I got inspired by a piece I saw on Instagram and decided I could just use a king-sized pillow.  And while out shopping with Mr. Q one day, I found a cheap one at Target for just $10.

All I had to do was ask Sue to sew me a cover for it out of drop cloth fabric, and ta da!

Well, technically there were a few more steps in there.  First of all, I covered the plywood base with some batting followed by drop cloth fabric.  Then Sue sewed the drop cloth pillow cover.  Once I had that back, I added a stencil to it using Dixie Belle paint in Gravel Road.

Then I stuffed the pillow in and tried it out.  It was way too puffy.  So I pulled it back out, ripped open a seam and removed about half of the pillow stuffing.  That helped a lot.

It was about this point that I realized I didn’t like seeing the uncovered pillow inside the drop cloth cover.  So I sent it back over to Sue’s house and she sewed a ticking stripe cover for it.

Ahhh, much better.

This bench is quite petite at 36″ tall x 40″ wide x 24″ deep, so it wouldn’t work well at a table.  However, it would be adorable in a small foyer or maybe at the foot of a bed.

If you’re local and have the perfect spot for it, be sure to check out my ‘available for local sale‘ page to see if it’s still available.

 

24 thoughts on “a sweet petite bench.”

  2. That’s a fabulous makeover! Love the creative thinking on the king pillow, that saved a lot of work and stuffing. Love this, thanks for the inspiration.

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    1. Well, there are a number of factors I consider. Am I OK with a potentially chippy result, what kind of surface am I painting over, what kind of paint do I have on hand, what color do I want? In this case, I was hoping for a chippy finish which would have looked amazing on this bench. I didn’t get much chipping in the end, probably because there wasn’t enough of a pre-existing finish to create a resist for the milk paint.

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  9. I SALIVATE at the thought of stumbling upon such a bench! It is so cute AND beautiful……I just love the pillow cushion! And you’re only charging $125 for it? You’re like the Albert Schweitzer of furniture flip and sell! LOL…….

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    1. I am going to consider that the ultimate compliment. As Albert apparently said “Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.” Amen to that!

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  13. i absolutely love the bench but i do not like the seat. I’m sorry. 😦 It is still too puffy and i’m not crazy about the cover with the ribbon hanging down. Have you ever thought of using a patio pillow that they make for outside swings or benches? Other than that i love everything. You always put the right touch to a piece and i am a huge Q fan.

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