Friday, April 1, 2011

DIY Rustic Modern Bench

I am so thrilled with how this project turned out and I just couldn't wait to share the details with you.
Yesterday I started on the decorating of my kids bathroom.  The first task was to add a natural element to this space.

 I started out with this timber left over from the exterior of our house.

 First I brought it into the bathroom with the legs I purchased at Home Depot to make sure it would work as I had envisioned it before continuing.

 Then out to the back deck with my hunk of wood and Rigid palm sander.

 This is what it looked like after about 15 min of hard sanding and 6 squares of 60 grit sandpaper.  The all in one stain and finish used to protect this timber from the weather was doing its job very well and ran deeper than I thought.  I had to re-evaluate at this point.  My arm was already sore and I was out of this grade of sandpaper.

 Some might call it cheating.  I like to think of it as being resourceful. My dad has a woodworking business and a shop full of tools that would make this process easier.  Note:  He designs and creates gorgeous high-end furniture with a finish that is absolutely incredible but he humours me by letting me use his tools and a little of his help for my rustic DIY projects.  We ran my timber through the planer a few times and squared up the ends using the band saw.  Now back at home in my little makeshift workshop it is ready to finish.

 I used some stain I had on hand Minwax Wood Finish Jacobean. 

 Here it is stained and ready for the clear coat.

 I found this product that the finishers left behind from finishing our railing.  I am happy with the finish on the railing so I thought I would give it a try.  It went on very well with a brush and I did three coats with no bubbles or brush marks showing through.  It is very fast drying so was ready for final stages by morning.

I picked which side I wanted the legs to go on and set them up.

 I used a good old fashioned screw driver for installing.

Here it is in its intended home.  I purposely placed the large cracks to be showing because I love the natural beauty in them.  This bench is the perfect height for the kids to have a seat, and I also discovered to save my back when on hair washing duty.

This is a photo of their bathroom with their new 'natural' element.  Now I'm off to work on some art for this room.





11 comments:

  1. OMG! I HAVE to have one of these!!! This turned out GORGEOUS!!!
    Where did you get the legs from??

    http://thebeehivetimes.blogspot.com/

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  2. that looks amazing. Lucky girl you are too! The result is beautiful :)

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  3. I absolutely love it! You absolutely did achieve both rustic AND modern. Impressive.
    Michael
    http://bluevelvetchair.blogspot.com

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  4. That bench is amazing!!! You're right, it's rustic quality gives it so much character and interest - I'm kind of in love with it. :)

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  5. The end result for me is very satisfying to look at and I find the crisp appearance and finish of hardwood cannot be matched. Merbau Australia

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  6. That turned out awesome. I want some block side tables like that.

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  7. LOVE this - I actually pinned it on Pinterest a few months back but came across your blog again through the Trendy Treehouse "Follow Me Friday". Love your blogs name and can't wait to have a look around.

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