Trash Bench

by Leesa Osborne

2 Materials

$20

3 Months

Easy

I found this gem on the side of the road. Yes it wasn’t pretty but definitely had potential. It was missing a side rail. Easy fix right? And of course I can just take my sawz-all to the ratten seat and replace it. I loaded it up and left it for a couple of months. It has been rained on numerous times. I even thought about throwing it away a couple of times. FINALLY I got off my rear and went to town on it. I cleaned it up with some vinegar and wiped it down really good. I left it to dry a few hours and took my hand sander and used 120 grit to sand off the rough spots and help paint adhere to it. It was black and I thought I probably need to use primer. I didn’t though. After sanding I measured where the side bar was gone and replaced it. You can see it in the photo below. All is used was my jig saw to cut the piece and a few wood screws to make it stay in place.

Before

Side piece replaced. After replacing I thought I don’t have to cut the ratten seats off it unscrews. So I removed those.

I added some extra support to the bottom with random pieces of wood I had in the barn. I painted it with the color cashmere chalk paint from heritage collection. Definitely no primer needed. The photo your looking at below was the first coat.

After this coat dried I was regretting not using primer.

I got frustrated and left it over night.

the next day I had faith in this little piece and measured some 1x4’s I had on hand and cut them with my jigsaw. It was looking better. After I cut all 8 pieces I was feeling it. I went ahead and made sure the fit. Then sanded them with 40 grit then moved up until I got to 220 grit and they were nice and smooth. I then stained those boards using minwax stain in special walnut color and left them to dry. I finished painting the bench until I had the coverage I liked. I believe it ended up being three coats.