Outdoor Bench DIY and Round up

Hi friends! If you follow along here, I am currently between houses (one week until we move into our next house!!!). While we’re waiting to close, we’ve been staying with different family members. To say thank you, I’ve been doing some DIY projects for them.

This week, I refinished my sister’s indoor bench that now lives outside. It hasn’t been taking the elements too well and the seat was pretty weathered and had paint peeling off. Here’s a before photo:

before

My sister mentioned that she’d like it mint or white or grey. I worried that grey would blend in too much to the rock house, so I had a vote on Instagram stories between painting it white or mint. Mint barely won (which is good because that is the color I preferred) so I started painting it.

supplies

• Mint Julep Chalk Paint
• Brown wax
• Paint Brush
• Sandpaper Block
• Dixie Belle Clear Coat in Satin

how to refinished a weathered bench

With chalk paint, usually I skip sanding. But since the paint was peeling so badly on this bench, I did a light sanding to loosen up all of the flaking off paint. Then I followed my normal chalk painting steps:

The paint is nice and thick- the first coat covered up the black nicely! I don’t normally distress furniture, but my sister loves it and its really fun to do! So this bench got some distressing with a light sanding and some brown wax. After the wax dried and I buffed some up, I did a quick clear coat to protect it from the elements. Here’s how the bench ended up:

after

Didn’t it turn out so cute!!! Luckily, my sister has the CUTEST wallpaper that I could pose the bench in front of.

And then, well, Lucy hoped on top, I added a pillow and vintage books and it was the prettiest scene I could have imagined!

Let’s be real- painting is a lot of work, but I do it so I can pose the cute furniture afterwards- lol.

The thing I love about the wax is that it gets in the carves and cracks and makes the piece so much more interesting!

I am thrilled with how the bench turned out! And it looks really pretty sitting out on their front bench!

This would be a great project if you want to rescue an old bench too! Or if not, I wanted to share my favorite outdoor benches that you can buy:

 

1. White Crown Luciana Bench $299 I have this one and ADORE it! / 2. Black Metal Windsor Bench $79 modern and affordable- yay!/ 3. Butterfly Yellow Bench $270  how fun is this one?! / 4. Khara Ash Grey Bench $230 such a classic silhouette! / 5. Sea Blue Folding Outdoor Bench $225 the folding feature is fun on this bench/ 6. Industrial Vintage Metal Bench $109 another affordable metal bench- so cute! / 7. Teal Seashell Bench $200 how great would this seashell bench be for a beach home?! / 8. Vivienne White Arch Bench $99  This is on clearance for the best price- snap it up! 9. Slat Back White Park Bench $79 classic, clean, and white- I love it, plus that price!

If you’re in the market, I hope these are helpful to you! Let me know if you end up grabbing one for yourself!

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