Before & After - Grandpa K's Bench

My Grandmother passed away a couple of months ago and I was offered some of her basement furniture to refinish and blog about.

I don't mean to imply that this stuff has no sentimental value - but to be honest, it was in her basement in terrible shape - so I don't know that it held any great sentimental value to her either.

Except this one.

This one was my Grandpa K's:

I never saw him use it, but I was told that he used to work out on it.  Bench presses and the like.

On hard wood.

That's a tough man!

I think he also used it for building - or perhaps the boys did - because it has a ton of nail dents in it.
Years of use and abuse:

You know I had to try.

Some of the nail dents and wood cracks were pretty deep, so I couldn't sand them all out without hitting all the nails that are holding it together….

I opted to keep this "patina" under the stain for a "rustic" look.

I chose a dark stain so that the blue paint wouldn't be glaringly obvious:

and then I used Benjamin Moore's Revere Pewter to paint the base of it.
It's a super neutral greige and looks really nice next to the dark stain.

I went with their "Advance" formula again because of it's durability and washability.
They compare it to oil paint in durability, but it's water-washable.
The only downside to this formula of paint is that it needs 14 hours of dry time between coats.

Tough when you're impatient to see the finished product…. but well worth it for longevity.

I wish Grandma K had shown me this bench before she passed.  I could have finished it for her and she could have used it on her front porch or something.

Oh well,  hopefully she and Grandpa K are looking down and smiling.

  

Have a great one!
  
 



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