New Bench

There are so many things in life that we just put on hold until we can afford to get it, or find it at the right yard sale or flea market.  In the meantime, we make do with what we have, and hope that it lasts until we find the proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow.

One of our “on hold” items is some sturdy seating for our kitchen table.  A few years ago, we inherited a very nice oak table and several wooden chairs of dubious strength.  We assigned certain members of our family to specific chairs(and I thought assigned seating was a thing of the past when I graduated from college), based on their weight and the relative weakness of the chairs.  It was a delicate and sometimes scary process, especially after I mopped the kitchen floor – we had to re-figure which chair belonged to each person.  Woe be to the adult who accidentally received one of the childrens’ chairs!  Usually the wrong assignment meant a hasty leap from the seat, and a round of musical chairs played by the family, each gingerly  sitting on the seat until certain of its stability.  It was even worse when we had guests over to our home.  “Don’t sit there!” and “Not that chair!” were frequently used statements, accompanied by much shuffling of people and furniture. 

I am happy to announce that a great deal of that anxiety has now been removed from our life by the addition of a new kitchen bench.  Did I make a serendipitous yard sale find?  Perhaps a great sale at a furniture outlet? No.

Paul and I built the bench.  Yep.  You read it right.  We made this sturdy bench all by ourselves.  It took about an afternoon to make the first one (yes, we have already made another one for the sunroom) and another day to prime and paint it.  I love it!  I had to kind of talk him into doing it at first, because neither of us are skilled woodworkers (I know that comes as a surprise to many of you), but I was very convincing.  I purchased an amazing book for simple furniture building, and the bench was our first project.  We decided to make something relatively simple before going on to the main project for which I bought the book.  Nope – not telling what that is just yet.   You will have to wait until next week.  I have to paint that next project before I tell you all bout it!  :)  I might even share the name of my book with you (don’t’ tell your husband where you heard about it!) before it is all said and done.

I really love to make things.  Whether it is fabric, thread, yarn, paper, or wood, I enjoy creating.  I especially love painting!  Instant gratification in a can – that’s all paint is!  The best part about it was that Paul and I got to spend several hours working together to make something beautiful for our home.  What a great date!  The best part is that I know there will be more just like it in the future!  He is just as excited about it as I am now – well, maybe not quite that excited.  He still doesn’t dance around the workshop when the piece is coming together.  I’m kind of glad , too, now that I think about it.  However, he is enjoying this new venture, and I didn’t have to talk him into the other projects.  What a sweet, wonderful man he is!

So now that all of that is said, I’m sure you are dying to actually see the bench we made.  Ta-dah!!!!

The first picture is just the natural wood.  It really doesn’t even look too bad that way, but I wanted to paint it.  We used a gray primer (I learned a lot of interesting things about using gray primer – it actually gives your colored paints a more true color that white does, and helps eliminate multiple coats of paint to cover that awful white) and I picked this color to paint the bench – it gives me a warm, happy feeling!

This is the finished product.  It is difficult to get a true idea of the color because of the lighting in the room where I took the picture.  Suffice it to say, the bench is a beautiful cranberry color of red that perfectly accessorizes my kitchen!  :)  Also, this bench is sturdy enough to hold three adults, and who knows how many little munchkins!

 

I am so excited!  I can’t wait to show you more projects as we finish them.  Be on the lookout for the next great surprise!