Headboard and Footboard into Bench

This past winter we got busy turning several headboard/footboard units into benches. They turned out great, but I ~~think~~ know I frustrated my husband with so many projects all at once…during prime fishing season. This particular set was purchased three years ago and has hung out in the garage waiting for me to get busy. We actually cut this one up at the same time we did the other benches but it was moved over to the “finish later” pile when I could tell I would need help moving this one around and Mr. Math was in no mood to drag it around.

Fast forward to the end of summer. I mean maybe it is not so fast, but forward progress none the less. This weekend we decided to knock it out. I call this bench our hurricane bench because it is so sturdy that the house would blow away before this beast goes anywhere. Hubby even used a 2X12 for the front cross beam.

The headboard and footboard are not old, in fact I would guess it is from the 90’s. It was in rough shape when we bought it and hanging out in the Garagemahal for three years didn’t help it any.

When I got busy on the bench the first thing I did was unscrew the wrought iron on top. I immediately started second-guessing myself. I wasn’t sure that the iron should go back on. As always, I shared my angst with my Facebook friends. They were united. It should go back on. More on that later.

I feel like I say this a lot, but we love our paint sprayer. I mean LOVE it. It makes getting paint on so fast and we have learned that we can even spray on primer.

Here are a few shots of the wood filler in the holes, the sprayer and the coming rain that kept me stressed out.

The paint color is sea salt thanks to my Facebook friends, again. I was torn between red, black or white.

The seat is deep. The slats for the seats are 23 inches long and stained with Minwax Jacobean.

I knew I wanted the bench to be heavily distressed. It turned out exactly the way I saw it in my head, in spite of the high humidity and rain showers that kept coming and going.

Here it is all finished up.

You may notice that it does not have the iron on top. In spite of my FB friends telling me to leave it on, it sold before I could finish it and the new owner didn’t want the iron on it. She lives in an area that is close to the bay and since she wants it outside on her porch she was afraid it would rust. I did take a picture of what it would have looked like with the iron in case you are wondering how it could have turned out.