I was given this bench by a family member whose children have grown past their toddler bench phase. I was excited because the seat lifts for additional storage and my girls are all about seating that is "just my size" -- as Adi likes to put it. We've been using it as shoe storage downstairs, so we don't have to go all the way up to their rooms when we need to grab shoes quickly and leave the house. I thought it needed some updating to blend in with our other furniture, so out came the paint brush.
This is my final product:
And here is what the bench looked like before:
I first needed to use some Liquid Nails to repair the loose armrest. Then the next day, I got to work.
I chose Annie Sloan Pure White for the base, it took two coats.
After that was dry, I sketched out my lettering. Remembering a tip that I recently saw on Pinterest (see tutorial here). I printed out the font that I had previously chosen in the desired size and traced the lettering with a ballpoint pen. This left an imprint on the freshly painted bench. I was then able to paint inside my imprint with a mixture of AS chalk paint in Pure White mixed with a little Graphite.
Once everything was completely dry, I distressed lightly and finished with AS clear wax. Now my girls have a pretty place to put their shoes.
Lots of love,
Mary
Linked up here:
love the shoe bench that is a great idea!
don't forget about my Christmas Series, thanks!
I love it! I have a toy box that is similar just waiting to be painted.
So cute! And a great idea! Shay :) http://raisingdieter.blogspot.com/
I love your site and all your creative ideas! I don't have a creative bone in my body, but your site inspired me to spray paint some outdated wooden lamps that a co-worker gave me. I started with a 2 coats of grey primer, and I realize now I should have stopped there... The first lamp I tried to paint, I guess I was using cheap spray paint cause it was from the dollar store, and it looked really oily and it pooled in places and ran in others... After looking at the other lamp with only the grey primer I realized it was so pretty just like that, so I tried to put primer over the top of the ugly paint on lamp #2. It did not work... After 3 coats of primer, the paint was still bleeding though in many places. Any idea how to fix? Or should I just treat this as lesson learned "don't buy cheap spray paint"?
This looks fantastic! I really love that font, too...
Like the finished project, the shoes lettering really make it, so cute! Laura
that is adorable! love the font you used on the top!
Absolutely adorable! Adore the word and font on the top. Thank you for linking your project to Potpourri Friday!
What a great piece of furniture-a real feature- and practical too! Lou
such a sweet
and simple idea
for cleverly solving
the shoe problem
thanks for sharing
at Fridays Unfolded!
alison
Wish I could find one of these! Love it! I'd love for you to link to my Things I've Done Thursdays link party going on now until Saturday at noon EST.
Melanie
Sew Rugged @ bear rabbit bear
http://bearrabbitbear.blogspot.com/2011/11/things-ive-done-thursday-13-fun.html
What a cute little bench! I need one!I am hosting my first EVAH link party this weekend. It is up and running now and I would love for you to come link up some of your projects!
Kim @ Too Much Time
http://kim-toomuchtimeonmyhands.blogspot.com/search/label/get%20schooled%20saturday
Thank you so much for linking up this shoe bench! I completely need this-my daughter changes her shoes like 5 times a day!
This is too perfect - where can I get one? my kids would go nuts for this, and maybe we'd finally have an entry way through which one could actually enter!
How wonderful! I love the font you used for the word 'shoes'. My kids are teens, but they could use something like this as well. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Mary, I found you from Show & Tell Friday and am your newest follower. I love this bench! We'll be re-doing our entry and have thought about a kid-sized bench, so this is inspiration! I'd love to have you join my link party: Tuesday's Nursery on Dec 6th. It's for any age of kids decor. Here is the link: www.PlayfulDecor.blogspot.com I hope you can make it! Nice to meet you! Nan
that turned out so cute. I love cute functional things! I'd love it if you'd add this to my link party over at http://raegunwear.blogspot.com/2011/11/link-party-what-we-wore-and-made_29.html
I like the "shoes" label on it. We have a toy box similar to this. Now I'm thinking I really should paint it :-) Karen
Love this one too! Thanks for sharing last week on Thingamajig Thursday.
Hope to see you again this week!
Alida
Such a cute idea! Thanks for linking up at Feathered Nest Friday!
SO cute!! Thank you so much for sharing. -K
really cute! I desperately need this by my front door! I can't handle the 10 minutes of, "Mommy! I can't a find my other shoe!" :)