Entryway Bench

Have you ever been obsessed with a piece of furniture or decoration and you can’t stop thinking about it until you get it? Ya me too! 😉 My recent obsession was this cute entryway bench.

Well actually not this bench, but one that looked just like it. I was shopping the Facebook Yard Sale sites and saw a farm style entryway bench that would fit my space. Right size, right style, perfect color. So I thought about buying it, and thought about it, and thought about it and then someone else bought it. 😕 Ugh!

Problem was, I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I checked on line to see if I could find something similar but wasn’t having much luck. Every time I walked into my entryway I imagined how much better it would look with that cute bench sitting there. 😩 After obsessing about it for a few weeks I came up with a plan. 💡

Maybe someone could make one for me that looked just like the one I let get away!! 🤔 Turns out I know someone who makes furniture. His name is Colton, he’s 17 and he’s my daughters friend. I figured it couldn’t hurt to ask, right? So I sent her the picture of what I wanted and asked her to talk to him. A few hours later he was at my house getting measurements and specifics. I’ve seen some of the furniture pieces he’s built from scratch and they were really nice. So I figured if he said he could build it, he would be able to. And he did. About a week later he brought it over.

What!! Now I’m not saying I couldn’t build this but……I could not have built this! I mean I could have cut some wood and nailed it together, but it wouldn’t have been something you would want to sit on. 😉 Some people have a talent for building stuff from nothing. I am not one of those people. But my hats off to those of you who are, especially Colton! He saved me from a life time of obsessing about the bench I missed out on.

What I could do is finish it. I stared with picking a stain color. I tried out a few samples on the back to help me decided.

I liked the Minwax Special Walnut, so I put it on and immediately wiped it off so it wouldn’t be too dark. I decided to add a layer of the Minwax Grey over the Special Walnut, and it really brought out the wood grain.

I sealed it with Minwax SemiGloss top coat and it was time for paint. I wanted to paint it Annie Sloan Old White but my trim is bright white so I added some Pure White to brighten the Old White.

With this mix I am still getting a creamy white, but a little brighter and less contrast with my bright white trim.

Once it was painted I put a coat of clear wax on without distressing it. Then it was time to add hardware to the faux drawers. I love the wood against the white. So pretty!

Want to see how close we came to the original piece I didn’t buy?

Amazing!

The first picture is the one I let get away, and the second one is MINE!!

🤗🤗🤗 <- That’s my happy dance! 😉

Now I don’t have to imagine what my entryway would have looked like with that cute farmhouse style bench in it. Instead I get to see it everyday!

I’m working on a few more changes to my entryway so I hope you will stop by and check it out!

Leave a comment and tell me what you think of my new bench. Have you build a piece of furniture from scratch? I’d love to hear about that as well.

Thanks for taking a look at my blog

Cindy 😊