time out bench

Little Miss Avery's been sitting in Time Out quite a bit since her 2nd birthday in September.

Two-year-olds.
Wow.

Initially, we just used a tacky little camping chair that we purchased in a yard sale as our Time Out Chair. It's definitely an eye-sore, but it did the trick.

Since it's become painfully obvious that Time Out is here to stay, the second-hand camping chair had to go.
Far, far, away from my living room.
Forever.

The solution: A Time Out Bench, of course.
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One of the things on my Bucket List is to learn how to distress furniture. I have to confess that I've been somewhat of a wimp when it comes to actually jumping in and trying it.

It's a little daunting.

What if I mess up?
What if it looks horrible?
Furniture isn't cheap.

After reading some crafty blogs and a few youtube tutorials, I decided to take the plunge.

Well, I guess it wasn't as much of a "plunge", as it was "wading in the shallow end", but it's a start.

I used my 50% off coupon at Michael's to purchase a tiny, unpainted wooden bench. Since I was all thrifty and whatnot, the cost was just $7.

I figured that at that price, if I messed it up, I could always just paint it white and call it a day.

I stared at the unpainted bench and my inspiration picture frame (purchased from a boutique) for a couple more days...

and then I asked David to use the dark walnut stain left-over from my cabinet distressing project to stain the bench.

Once the stain was dry (it took a day or so), I used some leftover white paint that we had lying around and haphazardly slathered a layer of paint on top of the dried stain. That part was kind of fun.

No thinking, patience, or neatness required.
Just painting.
Plus, I HAD to do it outside. For ventilation purposes.
You know, away from screaming toddlers, big obnoxious dogs, and piles of dirty laundry?
I liked it.
A lot.

After the paint was dry, I used a few different grades of sand paper to sand the heck out of the bench. That part was kind of fun too.

I got kind of ugly with it. Mean even.
I liked it.
A lot.


Here's my result:


Stuff I learned and/or wished I had done differently:
1. I would have preferred a lighter stain color as the undercoat. The dark walnut was a little too close to black for my liking.

2. I would have preferred to use a more subtle, creamier paint color for the top layer. White is ok, but cream would have been more "french country" looking.

3. I would have taken the time to drill tiny holes in random places to make "worm holes" OR made distress marks with random tools - that would have been really cute.

It was definitely a great learning experience and kind of fun.
Try it and let me know how it goes!