My Handy Honey built this cute little bench for me to PAINT! We found the old headboard at an antique store on our way home from our recent trip to Utah. The aged wood of the headboard necessitated the use of aged wood on the rest of the bench. We found some nice old wood from a child's swing set. It was perfectly weathered and very old looking.
After sanding, I started giving it the first coat of paint (a dark tan color) nice and thick. I used an old paint brush because of the roughness of the wood I knew it would be rough on the brush. We filled most of the holes, but left a couple unfilled just for the rustic look.
I had the idea to paint the slats before nailing them on the seat. I really like doing it that way. It's so much easier to paint. I used an acrylic/latex paint for the first coat because it is thicker.
Next I painted an Olive Green color on. This paint is your regular acrylic craft paint.
Not too thick so a little tan could show through.
Next I painted a light Blue (acrylic craft paint) color on. I added a little water to the paint to give more of a washed look. I also used a foam brush to apply it.
And then I painted a dark Gray (acrylic craft paint) color on. It also had some water mixed in it to wash over the other colors. I used the foam brush again and even though the wood wasn't as rough as at the beginning it still tore the brush up a bit. After the gray paint was all dry I used a coarse grit sand paper and distressed it. My goal was to let all of the colors come out and be seen, even if just in small amounts, such as the tan and green. This gives the impression of a very old bench that has been painted several times and over the years (really only hours) has worn to the look of a wonderful finish.
I finished it up with a nice coat of clear satin lacquer.
Aren't the spindles pretty? The cracks in the old dry wood make the look even better!
Here's a close-up picture so you can see how I distressed it.
After sanding, I started giving it the first coat of paint (a dark tan color) nice and thick. I used an old paint brush because of the roughness of the wood I knew it would be rough on the brush. We filled most of the holes, but left a couple unfilled just for the rustic look.
I had the idea to paint the slats before nailing them on the seat. I really like doing it that way. It's so much easier to paint. I used an acrylic/latex paint for the first coat because it is thicker.
Next I painted an Olive Green color on. This paint is your regular acrylic craft paint. 
Not too thick so a little tan could show through.
Next I painted a light Blue (acrylic craft paint) color on. I added a little water to the paint to give more of a washed look. I also used a foam brush to apply it.
And then I painted a dark Gray (acrylic craft paint) color on. It also had some water mixed in it to wash over the other colors. I used the foam brush again and even though the wood wasn't as rough as at the beginning it still tore the brush up a bit. After the gray paint was all dry I used a coarse grit sand paper and distressed it. My goal was to let all of the colors come out and be seen, even if just in small amounts, such as the tan and green. This gives the impression of a very old bench that has been painted several times and over the years (really only hours) has worn to the look of a wonderful finish.
I finished it up with a nice coat of clear satin lacquer.
Aren't the spindles pretty? The cracks in the old dry wood make the look even better!
Here's a close-up picture so you can see how I distressed it.
2 comments:
oooh. I really like how this turned out! Very cool.
I like the layers of paint...looks cool!
Post a Comment