Antique Gossip Bench.
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Antique Gossip Bench. *
This antique bench was in bad shape. The upholstery was dirty and one of the legs was very loose. I decided to see if I could fix the leg, and reupholster it. And while I was at it, I wanted to update the wood finish since it was really scratched up.
~ in progress ~ this is me trying to sand off the old finish. But then ADHD happened and I needed to try and fix the wobbly leg before I got further with the sanding.
~ in progress ~ removing the old finish was proving to be pretty difficult with just sanding. So I decided to use paint stripper for the rest. I don't know if it was any better, but I got it all off eventually. The wood underneath wasn't a great color so my original plan of lightening the wood didn't feel like the right move anymore.
~ in progress ~ after some failed attempts at bleaching the wood, I gave up and decided a dark color would be nice too. I stained the whole thing a dark rich charcoal color, thinking that would modernize this cool antique piece a bit.
~ in progress ~ i took off the old upholstery and replaced the foam and batting on the seat. I ended up replacing the fabric with a nice warm wheat color which softened the dark stain.
~ after ~ I ended up being really happy with the final result. I think it's still got a nice antique character while being updated a bit for a more modern home. (Coconut, my cat, approves)
~ before ~ the wood is in rough shape and the upholstery has seen better days. The front right leg is wobbly.