Taking a Bench from Bland to Beautiful

This is my favorite kind of makeover...using fabric and paint, a ho-hum bench is dramatically transformed in no time at all.

I bought this bench almost a year ago at Hotel Liquidators in New Haven, Connecticut. (it's one of my best sources to buy really good quality furniture dirt cheap!)  Here is what I started out with...

First step was removing the cushion.

It was a perfect fall day so I set up shop on the patio to paint.

A quick rub down of de-glosser, followed by primer, then white spray paint in a satin finish.

It was a windy day and I couldn't find enough rocks to hold down my plastic cloth,

so here's a little trick: use cans covered with a baggie--that way they stay clean!

After the spray paint dried I brushed on some watered down leftover gray paint...

It gave the wood a soft glazed finish. 

After removing the old vinyl, it was just a matter of stapling the new fabric onto the cushion.

So much prettier!

But the bland walls? They're still the raw plaster--we removed the old wallpaper shortly after moving in and I still haven't gotten around to painting. I'm thinking of doing a decorative paint treatment like a stencil or stripes. I want the look of wallpaper but not the cost--it's a very large space and wallpaper would be pretty expensive.

Here are some wall ideas I'm tossing around...

I guess this will be my winter project, so stay tuned!