This garden bench was a free hand-me-down from hubby’s grandparents. It’s seen some better days, and def. needed some work.
I debated painting the whole thing, but then just decided to restain it. I washed it with the hose and used regular old minwax.
I was using a paint brush, so somebody else wanted to paint, too. I let him “paint” with water on his bench. I missed the photo op, but I turned around at one point to see him sucking water out of the paintbrush. That was the same day that he licked the nasty inside of the dishwasher as I was loading it.
So anyway, after I stained it, it looks like this. Dirty. Maybe I should have tried to get to bare wood first? I dunno. But I don’t like it. So what do you think? Paint the whole thing black? Paint the wood a different color? Try with the stain again? Any ideas?
I actually think the patina is great! If it isn't your style and you want it stained and "clean", then you probably need to sand each piece down to the wood. I have a similar bench with chippy blue paint. Not my favorite, but I haven't figured out what to do with it either.
ReplyDeleteI am shaking my head at the thought of your kid licking the paint brush and the dishwasher. I was afraid by looking at the picture he might lick the cat or paint it. Ahhh... crazy times. (you can tell I don't have kids when things like this freak me out.) :)
ReplyDeleteLoved your little helper!! I say toss some COLOR on the wood if you don't like it now....of course, I'm seldom brave enough to do that MYSELF, but I always love the look when other people do it! :)
ReplyDeleteOhhh why don't you paint it white and then sand off for a faux old finish? I love that look.
ReplyDeleteAs for the kiddo... I can TOTALLY relate.
...licking the inside of the dishwasher. Oh man, that took me back a few years. So funny! I'd probably paint, but I have paint cans permanently stuck to my hands these days.
ReplyDeleteHaha! LOVE your little helper! :) I'm more of a classic/traditional style -- so I would have to say paint it white -- white with the black iron -- ahhhh! :)
ReplyDeleteI just saw a bench like that at the Farm Chicks show that was all painted white (even the iron) and then distressed, it looked great!
ReplyDeleteTania
Your little painter/helper is a darling and sounds so normal. If you like the white distressed look, that would be my suggestion, too. I love that look, so it would certainly work in my yard. Be sure to use an exterior paint, though.
ReplyDeleteHugs, Cindy S
Nice job! I have one just like it that my husband picked up for free. He has to rebuild the slats before staining/painting.
ReplyDeleteHey! I found a link to your blog (and mine too!) on a RUSSIAN website. I’m sending the site and I also translated it with Babelfish translator. Thought you might get a kick out of this. Too funny!
http://pegaskosmos.blogspot.com/
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url?doit=done&tt=url&intl=1&fr=bf-home&trurl=http%3A%2F%2Fpegaskosmos.blogspot.com%2F&lp=ru_en&btnTrUrl=Translate