A child bench re-do

Sometimes, we are given the gift of changing something old into something new again.

My daughter, found a piece of furniture at a garage sale that she thought would be just perfect in her home to help corral shoes and give Miss G, a place to sit while putting them on.

When you live in a state that has snow, you do not want them walking all over the house with snow and salt dripping on the carpets and floors!

Can I get an Amen?!

We were away and she called to see if she could borrow our truck to pick it up.

I guess I forgot to tell Mr Man. Um, sorry honey!

When he opened the back of his truck, he texted me to find out if he just stumbled upon a surprise.

Nope.

Just another project of love.

My daughter thought that the sitting area was made of cedar, but in taking a closer look, I discovered it was just stained a more reddish color. The top of the bench had a train painted on it and she wanted it removed.

I tried to get her to let me do something creative and spectacular to it, but she shot me down.

(Insert pouty face here)

She just wanted it to be stained and rustic.

Simple.

No frills.

“Got it, Mom?”

“Got it!”

I love the sanding part of the job. It gives me time to think about who owned it. It lets me feel the wood and how it is made, see the imperfections, figure out what needs to be fixed, and time to create what I envision the finished look to be. You know you really like what you do, when you enjoy spending time with your project! LOL

This little gem had some deep scratches in the sides, was all different shades of stain, and had sharp edges on the top that would need to be addressed. Sanding out the sides a little more took care of the scratches, I chose American Walnut stain, and rounded the top of the points while I was sanding. I did have a repair to make on the back where wood was missing and a screw was sticking out.