Isnt this bench beautiful? It didn’t start out that way…A woman asked me if I would be willing to turn this into a bench. Looking at her picture, I assumed it was a little dresser. She brought it over, and I began questioning my decision. What had I gotten myself into? This thing looked horrible!She told me they didn’t have the key so she had never been able to open it. But it had hinges in back, so I took them off, and to my surprise, this was a beautiful cedar chest! The inside was in perfect condition!I used painter’s tape to cover the top and painted the chest white. This took a couple of coatsI also used painter’s tape to protect the inside of the lid and I painted around the outside.I painted the edges of the lid because they would be somewhat visible under the cushion, but I didn’t bother painting the middle because it would never be seen.I cut away the existing fabric, added a three inch foam cushion, and attached bright green home decor fabric using staples.Disaster! This attempt looked horrible! The color is way too bright, the cushion is too thick, and I didn’t pull it tight enough so it looks weird.I went back to Joanns, bought a more subdued color, and used 2 layers of inch thick mattress pad. This looks much better!My customer was pleasantly surprised to see the inside of this beautiful cedar chest!
I learned not to judge a book by its cover! This started out looking like a disaster and I initially regretted agreeing to refinish this thing when she dropped it off. But look at the beautiful transformation! This turned out so much better than I expected!
Quinnfiredesign 