Scavenger Chic

Rescued Piano Bench

• By Joan
• June 22, 2015
• 14 Comments

Last week I shared with you my scavenging adventure...going thru props from  a theatre group.  Well this is the first of my makeovers from that day.

There is my bench tucked away under the blue suitcase.

He is super sturdy, well made and surprisingly heavy for his size.  He had definitely seen better days…between all the scratches, nicks, water stains and scraped off finish, there is a great bench waiting to be discovered.

First step was to get out the palm sander and not only sand down some of the scratches, smooth out the poly finish but also scratch up some of the smoother finish to get this guy ready to be painted.

Because of the water staining, he needed two coats of Kilz primer.  After one coat, some of the staining was still showing through.

After the primer, with a pencil, drew directly on the bench. The two outer lines are just the width of my ruler.

The inner rectangle on top of the bench was given a coat of yellow and then a harlequin diamond pattern was penciled in on top of the yellow.

Over top of the yellow, painted blue diamonds. I find it easiest to just barely paint over the pencil line as I go, that way I don’t have to worry about erasing after I’m finished.

For each set of overlapping colors I try to paint the entire area the light color first then overlap with the darker color, that way, you’re doing the fine detail work with only one color.  For the rails, the entire rail was painted yellow then the blue/green was added over top followed by the black outline.

On top, the white border was painted first, penciled in a free hand squiggly line then that area was painted black.  The same with the green area…painted solid green then free handed the c shapes.

I had added a bit of red on the legs but I didn’t like it so I painted it over with black. What that means to you, don’t be afraid to get creative, if you mess up, paint it over.

For the most part, these are just acrylic paints found in millions of colors at the craft store. The yellow is a chalk paint.

The entire piece was finished off with a clear wax.

If you’ve looked at the rest of my projects, you’ll see I mostly tend toward rustic and neutral colors but every now and then I love a piece of furniture that pops and grabs your attention. It’s amazing what a little paint will do!

Shared at Metamorphosis Monday, Inspire me Tuesday, Trash 2 Treasure Tuesday,

 Wow us Wednesdays, Think and Make Thursday, Handmade Hangout Party,

Creativity Unleashed, Catch as Catch Can, Furniture Feature Friday,

Anything blue Friday, Friday Favorites. Funky Junk Upcycled Link Party,

DIY Sunday Showcase, Silver Pennies Sundays, That DIY Party,

Amaze me Monday, Thrifty Decor Chick, Be Inspired Tuesday,

Best Recipes and DIY, Bouquet of Talent, Hit me With your best shot,

The Painted Drawer, Tweak it Tuesday

and I was featured at

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