Hello and Happy Summer (?!) It's been a wild few months with everything that's been going on, but I hope you're staying safe and healthy.
A few months ago, our social media admin, Stephanie, shared her kitchen paint project, where she went from vibrant white walls, to retro pistachio green. We're happy to welcome her back again today to share another project.
So, first a little backstory about how this bench came to be. The back is a headboard we found at a random antique shop/garage sale in northern Michigan. For whatever reason, we basically got it for free. My husband and I came home with it, and sort of looked at each other in confusion because we didn't really have a *plan* for it, we just really liked it. So after some thought and some internet searches, we decided it'd make a great bench for our entryway. My husband got really creative and used a stair tread, and spindles for the seat and front legs, tying them together with a piece of pine for stability. This bench has been with us for about 8 or 9 years. We've never bothered to paint the headboard or put any finish or paint on the pine pieces we added. So over time, the bench became stained and pretty worn.
The bench "before." Original paint on the headboard with the unfinished wooden seat and front legs.
We decided to tear out our entryway closet (that will be in another post) to open up the front door space and turn it into a sort of "faux" mudroom. So that meant our ol' reliable DIY bench was going to become the focus of the space and so, it needed a fresh look!
Well, I absolutely loved the pistachio custom colored Benjamin Moore Ultra Spec 500 (in eggshell!) that I used for the kitchen, so I decided it'd be a nice pop of color to use for the bench, and a great way to sort of add the same color to other parts of the house without going overboard. To be totally honest, I was so impressed with the paint when I used it in the kitchen, I wanted to see how it would perform without primer and without sanding. Basically, I decided to paint this bench without any prep work on it before repainting. So I left the staining, marker and water spots as is before painting. I did wash the whole thing with mild soap and water and let the bench dry out before getting to work.
First coast of the Benjamin Moore Ultra Spec paint on the bench! It went on like butter! (also better detail on how beat up the seat of the bench is.)
And to be totally honest, I can't believe how easily the paint covered, coated and hid all of the imperfections on the bench without using a primer. It stuck beautifully, almost like a chalk paint. (Those of you not familiar with chalk paint, it's super thick and is great for upcycling or creating a shabby chic/faux worn look!) I ended up with two coats of paint on the headboard, and three coats on the unfinished wood (I probably could've gotten away with just two coats, but we use this bench ALL of the time, so I wanted to make sure it could handle the high traffic. It was a dream to not have to bother with sanding and priming the bench, and my project only took a weekend, so that's a plus!
The finished bench! I'm very happy with how this turned out, and it's a great pop of color for the mudroom we created in our entryway!
Thanks for letting me share my projects with you!
Happy Painting!