$10 Modern Entry Bench Makeover
Easy, inexpensive furniture makeovers are always my favorite. I’ve had this little bench in my house for years.. I scored it at a garage sale YEARS ago, but it had seen better days. It was dark, and drab, but still very functional, if not aesthetically pleasing.
I had also recently purchased a wonderful little paint sprayer for painting my camper, and I wanted something simple to test it out! It’s such an inexpensive sprayer, and it was recommend by multiple big name DIY bloggers that I follow, and it actually worked wonderfully! If you don’t have a sprayer though, you can easily just hand, or even spray paint this little project.
Here is the bench before.. It was dark, outdated, and the faux leather had definitely seen better days.
Now, we all know that I am NOT an expert at sewing, so I wanted to re-cover this in the easiest, cheapest way possible… I had seen a lot of people use the canvas drop cloths for projects, and I though it would be perfect for this!
I started out by flipping the bench over, and removing the screws underneath to separate the top cushion part from the base.
I then laid the cushion top out on the canvas cloth, and measured out how much of the drop cloth I’d need to cover the bench, making sure that I left enough material to wrap over and secure on the underside. From there, I simply wrapped the corners kind of like you would do when wrapping a present, and used a construction quality hand stapler to secure the new fabric to the bench. I went right over the existing faux leather, and it looks awesome!
I then took some leftover paint and primer that I had from painting my kitchen. The color is “Thunderous” from Sherwin Williams, and it’s my absolute favorite dark green/gray color. I took the base outside in the yard, and used my handy little sprayer to first prime, and then spray the bench. I didn’t sand, but I did wipe it down with a liquid sander/de-glosser I had on hand first. You could easily sand it first too if you didn’t want to go that route, but the paint has held up well without it. You could also use a good bonding spray paint, and that should hold up well also, as long as you make sure and use a good cleaner like TSP to remove any residue or oil. When painting anything, prep is always the most important part in making sure that your paint will last and not chip.
After the paint was dry, I took the base back inside, and secured the top back onto the base, and it was good to go!
I also added a little boot tray, and a basket for hats and gloves, so it’s the perfect little entry way bench now! So modern and light, and seriously the EASIEST and most inexpensive DIY that makes the biggest change!
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