Farmhouse Bench

A farmhouse bench for the mud room. 

Years ago I purchased this bench to go with our then dining room table.

It was all the light color that you see on the seat.

Nice, but...

I wanted a little blue, so I painted the legs and back a pretty shade of blue.

Long after the table was replaced, the bench stuck around.

Since we built our home, it has well served its purpose in the mud room.

A great place to sit down and put on / take off shoes...

A storage area for backpacks and lunch boxes ready to grab on the way out the door. 

Through the last few years of serving its purpose, it became a little blah...

the paint has been scuffed...

the stain has become dreary...

The bench was useful and functional, but it was time she became...

BEAUTIFUL!

Bye bye frumpy bench...

Hello gorgeous!

An all white color scheme I am not, but white combined with a dark stain...

Be still my heart!

I don't think I will ever tire of this combination.

For this easy DIY project, I used a dark stain on the bench and Annie Sloan pure white chalk paint on the back and legs.

After lightly sanding the bench I applied the stain first, knowing I would make quite the mess...

and knowing that the chalk paint would cover my mess ;-)

I applied a few coats of the stain.

After I achieved the dark stain color that I desired, I used a sweeping motion with the saturated rag to get the worn look that I wanted and making it darker in places.

I let the stain completely dry in the garage for a couple days.

Lola kept checking on the progress, but quickly grew tired and took a much needed nap.

The reason I let it dry over a couple days is because I did not want to chance it getting ruined when I applied (and removed) the tape to protect it while I painted.

Because I made such a mess on the lower back spindles, it did take a few coats to cover my mess.

But, I  still completed the painting in one day.

(I was working on it in the laundry room at this point because it was so humid outside.)

Two coats nicely covered the rest of the bench.

I am still swooning over the dark stain, white paint combination.

Ginger had to check it out once I put it in place.

As gorgeous as she looks on her own, I want to give her a little accessory...

Just a little something for all the hard work that she does for us on a daily basis.

Once I get it made, I will be sharing.

But for now, lets look at the before and after side by side: