RePurposed Headboard Bench - How To!!

I almost forgot HOW to blog!  Just kidding.  This time of year is CRAY CRAY around here...even more than normal because in the middle of all of the regular holiday events, activities and busyness...every person in our family except for me has a birthday!  Two in November and two in December - 3 of them kid birthdays.  So there are parties and presents and spending TONS of money that we don't have!  Fun times.

For some reason I thought it would be a good idea to volunteer to be on the committee that was running our elementary school auction on top of all of that!  Was I smoking crack that day?  It was a LOT of fun but it was also a LOT of work and it meant that I threw a 9 year old girl birthday party and helped put on an auction for 155 people on the same weekend.  If I wasn't smoking crack before, I might be starting now.

I also decided I should donate a big piece of painted furniture to the auction...you know to get exposure for my business ...I mean, help the kids.

I've had a desk in my both for EVAH and a day and figured I'd donate it.  But then, of course, it sold.  Haha!

So I kept thinking SOMETHING would turn up...but it never did.  About two weeks ago it hit me!  I had a twin sized headboard and foot-board that had been sitting in the garage for a while that I had always wanted to turn into a bench.  I know - it's been done a lot - but I never had so I wanted to try it.  I thought it would be the perfect thing because it wasn't too big and would be an item that would probably appeal to a lot of people.

My hubby was on board to try it.  Remember this guy who helped me make the coffee table (and who likes to play with superman apparently)?

He is so handy to have around - think I'll keep him!

We started with this - I think I had painted it two or three different colors by this point because I've started and stopped this project several times and always had a different vision for it.

My husband had always wanted to buy a tool called a Kreg Jointer - this was a perfect excuse to run out and get it! It allows you to make a strong solid 90 degree joint so that the screw is hidden.

Here is what the holes look like with this tool...

So professional looking, yes?  Next he added a board below the main headboard for the actual seat part of the bench.

Next he added wood to the sides for the depth of the seat and to attach the foot-board which is the front of the bench.  He added wood glue to the joints so the clamps are holding it together while it dries.

The standard height for a bench is about 18-20 inches and the foot-board was only about 15 inches so he added a piece of wood to the top of the foot-board to create the right seat height.

Last he added three pieces of wood to make the actual seat! And VOILA!!  You have a bench!

Now the fun part...painting it!  I used Betsy Ross Red Chalk Acrylic Paint, then Savannah Shimmer Paint and finished it off with Black ReVax for protection and an aged look.

Thank God for a husband who can do woodworking and a mom who can make cushions and pillows or I couldn't have pulled this beautiful project off!!

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