We bought this church pew quite a few years ago off of Craig’s List, and it was a great addition to the mud room at the farm.
I was very thankful when we fell in love with Twin Oaks that I knew right away there was a spot for the pew here too!
Even before we left the farm, I had a plan in my head to bring life back into this pew.
The guys sanded some spots on it for me a few weeks ago – areas where a certain cute puppy had chewed on it.
This past Saturday I did not have a lot of kitchen work (WHAT?), and figured I would have enough time to complete this project in one weekend.
Thankfully, Grant helped me with the painting part!
This was the first time I have ever used Annie Sloan chalk paint, and now I AM HOOKED.
We washed the bench with dish soap and water, dried it thoroughly, and the first coat of paint was on in no time!
This paint is pricey ($32, I think, for that small can above), but you get what you pay for!
It had no odor and very low VOC’s.
We only used half of the can of graphite colored paint to complete this whole project – so this paint goes a long way.
It only took about one hour for the first coat to dry.
We waited a bit longer than that and then applied the second coat.
Once the second coat dried, we decided the seat of the bench was the only area that needed a third coat.
We did that the next day.
After painting the seat again, I took some sand paper and did some light distressing.
I wanted to keep the distressing subtle, and I even painted back over one area that I had distressed across the top of the bench and did not like.
After I finished distressing it, I applied a coat of clear glaze.
It was easy too!
I added a second coat of glaze to the seat of the bench.
After it dried, I buffed it one more time – kind of like waxing a car.
Addie Mae and I have now been eyeing up our old beat up kitchen table and chairs.
I do have a full can of white Annie Sloan paint too.
Hmmm.
There’s also that buffet downstairs.
Spring better get here quick, or I might go a little crazy painting things!
The finished bench looks just like the picture I had in my head!
I, of course, am envisioning the bench with the furniture we are about to buy for this room as well!
It looks even better with the furniture!
Stay tuned – Lord willing I will be able to show you it all together sooner than later!
