This was my first attempt at making a bench! It was made from an old crib, and it was an
EPIC FAIL!
It may look decent from afar, but let me tell you, it is quite horrific!
I'm going to show you what we did....so then you will know What Not To DO!
To preface this project, I have been wanting to make a bench from an old headboard/crib for a long time! However, I wanted it to be exactly how it was pictured in my head...nothing less! HA!
So I had been searching for months to find the perfect piece.
When I came across this Jenny Lind style crib on Craigslist for $50, I knew she was the one!
Here she is before I ruined her:
Because I wanted the bench to be the length of the crib (not the width), I cut the curved ends off of the width pieces
and attached them to the length pieces because I thought that would give me the length I wanted with the cute curved ends that I liked
But once it was cut, we weren't sure how to attach it, so we ended up taking a long screw and screwing it together right on the curve.....Not a good idea!
We then built the frame for the seat, which went according to plan...no big issues here
The planks for the seat turned out ok, but the middle board was warped. The black plank was actually the bottom rail of the crib
For my perfect bench, I really wanted arm rests on the sides. So we took the other width piece of the crib, cut it in half, and cut off the bottoms to give the sides the height we wanted
Yeah, another BIG mistake! But we finally got it all together. She was awful, but we had spent ALL day on her, so I was going to paint her anyways!
I painted her using my homemade chalk paint with Valspar's Polar White. Are you still thinking she looks ok?! Well, let me show you...
First of all, the sides are so crooked, and the entire bench leaned forward, so we had to add furniture levelers to the front legs of the bench!
Also, the seat of the bench is too narrow...my bum hardly fits!!!! lol
We couldn't get all the pieces to fit exactly, so we ended up with gaps like this everywhere:
And remember this...isn't it lovely?!
We also ended up with many of these, even after drilling holes first!
So here are my suggestions:
Don't try to piece together the back of the bench
Stick with one solid piece for the back!
Don't use wood that is bowed!
Don't guess on the width for the seat
Measure an average chair or bench seat!
And Don't be like me, and expect it to look like it does in your head!!
I'm not sure when I'll be willing to give a bench another try...but I'm thinking I might stick to a headboard next time...
Until then she will sit on my back porch!
Therena
Party Links:
By Stephanie Lynn, I Heart Naptime, DIY Showoff, Pink When, Keeping it Simple, Craft-O-Maniac, Huckleberry Love, twelveOeight, Love Grows Wild, A Stroll Thru Life, Coastal Charm, Nap-Time Creations, Skip to My Lou, Rain on a Tin Roof, Mod Vintage Life, Artsy Chicks Rule, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Be Betsy, Sugar Bee Crafts, A Diamond in the Stuff, Not Just a Housewife, Dorothy Sue & Millie B, The Shady Porch, Savvy Southern Style, Fluster Buster, Lil Luna, Life with the Crust cut Off, Shabby Creek Cottage, Domestically Speaking, Start at Home, Sugar & Dots, I Gotta Create, House of Hepworths, Gingerly Made, The Blissful Bee, The Crafty Blog Stalker, Miss Mustard Seed, The Shabby Nest, The Pin Junkie, Love of Family & Home, Living Better Together, Funky Junk Interiors, Remodelaholic, Six Sisters Stuff, Its OverflowingMade from Pinterest
