DIY - Wooden Bench Makeover

By Patricia

I've had this old bench around for years. I bought it at a yard sale, and it's been passed back and forth between my daughter and I a few times. I thought it really needed a makeover, and I was tired of the black wood and old fabric.
This is such an easy project to do, all I needed was some white paint and some new fabric. The new fabric I decided to use was actually an old drapery panel that I bought at the Good will for a few dollars. This was going to be a fast and inexpensive way to give new life to an old piece of furniture.

I took the bench outside and took off the seat, super easy since it just lifts out. It's a gorgeous day for an outside project!

I only had to do a little bit of sanding before I could apply the first coat of paint. Luckily the old paint was in good condition, but I would need to apply two coats of paint because I was applying white on the black paint.

Applying the first coat of paint. The can said it covers in one coat, but I could already see that wasn't going to work on my bench.

Here is the bench after two coats of paint. I let the first coat of paint dry over night because it was enamel, and it seemed to be drying slowly. Now on to the bench seat.

This is the drapery panel that I cut to size. I measured how much I needed for the bench seat, then I added four inches to each side. Using the staple gun made it very fast and easy to adhere the fabric to the seat. Super simple!

Going around the corners of the of the seat was a little trickier, but you just have to pull the fabric taunt and then staple it down. I didn't remove the very first layer of fabric, but it didn't interfere with stapling the new fabric on.

Here is the bench all finished! I love the light colors and what a big change it is. This DIY project was very easy and inexpensive to do. Love it!