Bench remake...

Hi Everyone!  I've been busy getting ready for my Studio Open House next weekend.  One of the things I did was redo a bench I made and took to the Arbor Day Fair last month.  I made this headboard bench with storage and painted it in Dark Walnut...

 ...but when it didn't sell I decided to lighten it up with a little remake...

 ...I repainted it in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White....

 ...and then I distressed it...

...I liked it in the Dark Walnut, but I really like how the details stand out now.  I think it was definitely the right decision to repaint it.

I think it was definitely the right decision to repaint it.  What do you think?  It will be for sale at my Open House next weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Linking to:
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2013/06/180th-power-of-paint-party-popp.html

Added storage...

Hi Everyone!  Happy November.  I can't believe it's November already.  Where has the time gone.  Fair season is over and my motivation is low.  I still have orders coming in and lots of work to do, but I'm finding it difficult to work.  Maybe it's the long nights of work leading up to the fair or the fact that I've been working on getting ready for the fairs since June.  One of these days my motivation will return to me...anybody have any ideas on how to get re-motivated?

Do you remember this bench that I took to the fair in April?  Well, it didn't sell and I took it home with me.  I decided that it needed storage.  So about a month before this last fair I added storage to it.

Here it is at the fair in April.  The trick was adding the storage without having to repaint the entire bench.

I started by removing the seat and turning it upside down on my rolling bench cart.  After I decided how I was going to add storage to it without changing the way it looked, I took measurements and started cutting boards down to size.

I added additional cross supports for the the bottom to attach to without having to drill directly through the front board with the saying on it.

Here it is with the bottom of the storage attached and the back board in place.  The only part that needs to be painted.

I had to mix up the paint to match the existing paint but only enough for the back side.

The storage isn't deep, but it's enough to store mittens, hats and scarves.

Then I added the hinges and the safety arm braces so it doesn't slam shut on little fingers.

It still looks like the exact same bench but now it has a little bit of storage in it.

This is the best picture I have of it at the Clarinda Craft Carnival.  And thank goodness it sold.  I think adding storage to it helped to make the sale.  And I didn't have to bring it home.  I did have to bring two benches home but I sold one of them this past weekend.  My friend Brenda helped me deliver it on Tuesday to it's new home.  So that just leaves one.  And I'm okay with that.  I need to move it into the studio this weekend.  I have an order for a twin bench with storage to work on...thank goodness my client isn't in the hurry for it and I have some time to get motivated again.  Thanks for stopping by.

Jenny Lind headboard bench...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I am spending today with my nephew Ridge but I thought I'd share with you one of the benches that I made for my last craft fair that did not sell.  This is what it started out looking like.  It is a Jenny Lind headboard.

I made this one armless since I did not have a footboard to go with it.  I took the feet from another headboard (one that I didn't like and used the back to make a sign out of it) to make the front legs of this bench.  Then built the frame work.  I had originally wanted to make storage in the seat of this one, but I ran out of time.  But if you look at this, it only needs the bottom of the storage part.  Maybe I will rework this one and add storage to it.

I painted it with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Graphite with a little black paint added to it to darken it a bit.  I upholstered the seat with my usual fabric choice (it's just been so popular).  And I added the saying to the bottom, Sit Long, Talk Much, Laugh Often.  But since it didn't sell, I think I'll finish off the storage in the seat and then it will be ready to go for next year.  Well I'm off now to spend quality time with Ridge before he heads off to Marine Basic training!  I hope you have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by. 

Storage bench...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Tuesday!  I will be spending the day in the shop trying to get orders filled.  But I wanted to show you the bench with storage that I built for this last craft fair.  I showed you the in progress pictures of it a couple of weeks ago.  Here's what the headboard looked like.

And here it is built and painted with Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint in Old Ochre.

I then waxed it with clear wax. 

And I upholstered the seat.  I left the plastic on it at the craft fair as little kids with sticky hands love to climb all over them if their parents aren't watching.

This bench sold fairly early to a nice young couple with a couple of kids.  I think the storage in it was the kicker.  I love to watch people when their making that decision to buy.  And I get almost as excited as they do when they say they are buying something.  But let's face it, it's a big purchase, literally!  They left it at the fair until almost the end of they day when they came back to pick it up, so a lot of people were able to see it.  Must get busy now on those orders.  Well, thanks for stopping by!

Small bench...

Hi Everyone!   Happy Monday.  I wanted to show you one of the benches I took to my last craft fair.  Do you remember me showing you this as I started it?

It's a twin headboard that I decided to make armless and with storage.  I also didn't make the seat as deep as I normally do as I've heard several times people say they want a bench but just don't have the space for it.  So this one is not deep but just the right size to put your shoes on.  Plus it has built in storage for an entry way to store you gloves.

This is how it turned out.

I can't tell you the color of the bench because it's a color I mixed myself.  I actually painted it first with Annie Sloan's Chalk paint in Coco, but it was too dark to go with the fabric for the cushion.  It just made it look dark and flat.  So I mixed a color with some paint I had on hand and that was the wrong color.  It had a slight green color to it which was not the direction I wanted to go.  So I mixed a country tan and antique white with a drop of black and came up with this color.  Which I think worked better with the fabric.

And here it is at the craft fair last Saturday.  Unfortunately it did not sell.  My mom made the cushion for this bench for me.  I'll be storing this for a while.  I'm trying to find a fair to go to in the spring.  All of the ones I attend are in the fall.  So if I can find one, then I'll be a bench up on my build list.  Thanks for stopping by!

A preview...

Hi Everyone!  Happy Thursday!  I wanted to show you a preview of the benches I'm working on for the last fair of the season!  I have one week to go to get everything done!

 This is a Jenny Lind headboard that I've been storing for about a year now.  I thought it was time to work through some of my stock rather than get anymore headboards.  This is just the headboard so it will be an armless bench.

 And this big boy, let's call him Bernie has been in my possession since this spring.  He doesn't have a footboard either so he will be an armless bench too.  Only I'm making him with storage under the upholstered top since I heard a lot of wishes at the last craft fair for the armless ones to have storage.

And this little one, let's call her Lucy is a twin size.  I almost forgot to take her before picture.  Lucy did have a footboard but I used it on another bench.  I'm doing something a little different with her.  I am making her armless with storage but the depth is small.  My idea is for it to go in an entry way that doesn't have tons of room as a place to sit and put your shoes on.  I made one like this for a client last year minus the storage.  I heard people at the last fair say how much they loved the benches but that they didn't have room for the large bench, so I thought this might be a nice alternative.  So we'll see how it goes over at this fair.  Well, I've got to get back to the shop so I can finish these.  I'll be sure to share the finished products with you.  Thanks for stopping by.