So during the Easter bank holiday weekend over a month ago, we actually did a bit of the cliché activity, and decided to do some DIY around the house! Well, the weather was great, so we had no excuse ;)
One thing that we've wanted to do for quite a while is freshen up this bench that Jason made himself with some wood palettes. We really like the shape, and it fits perfectly behind the couch, but because we left the wood as it was, it looked unfinished and didn't suit the 'style' (I don't think that we actually have a proper style!) of the living room. So here is a step-by-step of our process to make it look cool!
First, Jason made sure to take it outside to sand it down. We needed it ready to add the wood stainer and white paint.
We previously used some cloths to spread the wood stainer but they weren't great and left some fluff on the wood, so this time we used a sponge and it was much better! I love how the wood absorbs the product and it really brings it to life, giving it a nice touch whilst keeping all the details. (PS: Make sure to use some gloves because well, it stains!)
Once we stained the top of the bench, the next step was to paint the legs in white. We really like to add contrast to our furniture, and we found that dark wood and white always looks great. Luckily, Jason was clever enough to have left the top of the bench removable when building it, so it made the task much easier! (If you look well, you can see at the background that he was also working on parts for his Capri... Multitasking!)
And last but not least, you need a good coat of varnish to finish it! I found varnish to be essential as it really adds a finishing touch to it and it makes the furniture easier to clean whilst protecting the wood. You do need to leave it to dry for quite a while (I left it to dry for two days), but it's worth it!
And there you go! We love the result and we're so pleased with it. We went for quite a rough texture in the end and put only one coat of white paint as we still wanted to see the markings on the wood, but it still looks a hundred times better than before :)
Hope it helped and gave you some inspiration for your own furniture!
