Thursday, September 23, 2010

Better late than never

So I had a couple hiccups in my bench project. I spent more than I wanted to on the supplies and so I sat looking angrily at them, not wanting to start the project. And it's a good thing too. Because a woman in Scottsdale put an ad on craigslist for an upholstered bench that had the exact legs I wanted. And some hot legs they were. Except it was upholstered in pink chenille. So I returned the unused supplies and paid a nice lady 40 bucks and saved myself way more time.

All I had to do at that point was reupholster it in the stripe. I bought some muslin fabric at Hobby Lobby and textile medium at Michaels. I'd never used a medium before and didn't know it really worked. But it was super easy. Two parts paint to one part medium. When I use regular paint it leaves the fabric hard and plastic feeling. The medium made it soft and washable. (side note: the paint leaks through the fabric so put plastic or something underneath it. My poor kitchen island had a bad case of stripes...)

I started by mixing the medium with the paint and taping off the stripes. Blue painters tape works the best when painting on fabric. When those were dry I threw it in the wash and it came out this nice washed out vintage looking linen.

I pinned the fabric inside out on the corners and sewed them. I didn't do anything to the legs, just stapled the fabric to the bottom. I ended up spending around $45 total as opposed to Pottery barns $399. And it looks pretty dang close to the original.

Tomorrow I'll have two postings for you and a few more pictures of the bench. (Update on my husband for those who care: he is back in the states and will be home on Wednesday night. Yahooooo!)

8 comments:

  1. Very cute.

    Yea ~ for your hubby!!

    Thank him for serviing our county for US!! <3

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  2. Nikki, Just a quick note, please tell your husband that we are glad he is home safe from Iraq. And please thank him for his service. My husband worked across the street from the South Tower in NYC and saw the second plane hit. My daughter's dorm was three blocks away in the other direction. That was a day we will never forget. My dad was in the Air Force for his whole life. I hope he doesn't have a lot of difficulty adjusting to regular life. Thank him again. Ann

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  3. Blessing to you and your husband. Thank you for the service to our country! Love this bench. You did a fabulous job with it.

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  4. Just love the way this bench turned out!

    So glad I caught you on MMSs FFF.

    Wonderful job!

    Cori

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  5. Beautiful bench. It's a real show piece and you can't beat that price. Great job. Best wishes to you and your husband and thank you both for your sacrifice.

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  6. Visiting from Miss Mustard Seed. What an awesome bench! Very resourceful! Great job!

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