Welcome to the First Annual Thrift Benefit for Shelter Animals Blog Tour!
So, this was the challenge: First, find a thrift store that supports a local humane society or animal rescue group. Check! I went to the Second Life Thrift Store in Avondale Estates.
If you haven’t been there, you should go. Toby and Tanya will welcome you with open arms and even help you out to your car. They also usually have dogs (find Riley!) wandering around the store, looking for a pat on the head.
OK – next requirement: At the thrift store, find something to upcycle or spruce up. Check! This is what I started with:
A Baker headboard! I thought this headboard would make a great bench. I loved the lines, the faux bamboo trim, and the price – $16.99!
OK, then I had to write the post about how I did it. Check – here goes!
First, I had to figure out how to make the part of the bench on which you actually sit. The headboard didn’t come with a footboard or rails, so I had to think outside the proverbial box headboard.
I had found these two ladderback chairs in someone’s trash heap about a month ago.
Creepy picture, I know, but that’s what happens when it’s cloudy and you take the picture in the garage. Anyway, I digress…
The seats of the chairs were ruined – water damage, splitting, not good. So, I decided to remove the seats and cut off the ladderbacks to make stool-shaped bases for the bench:
I just sawed off the tops of the chairs with a hacksaw.
Then, I sanded down the headboard, to remove its glossy finish.
Time for paint. I used Valspar “Paint and Primer in One” Spray Paint in Gloss Luscious Green. It took about two coats to cover it.
I also spray painted the chair bases the same color. They took three or four coats to cover.
Next, time to build the bench. I had some scrap 2×4 pieces in the garage and used them to level the seat on the chair frames:
I glued and screwed them to the bases. Then I laid pine boards (cut to size at Lowe’s) across the top and glued and nailed them to the supports.
I didn’t want the supports to show, so I decided to upholster the wooden bench seat. I sprayed 3M Spray Adhesive to the wood and added a foam seat:
The foam is easy to cut with a regular-ol’ kitchen knife.
On top of the foam, I added a layer of batting, and then the fabric. Attached both with a staple gun.
Poof! An upholstered bench seat:
Now for the tricky part: how to attach the bench seat to the headboard. This, honestly, was the hardest part, because the headboard wasn’t flush against the legs of the chair bases.
After much rumination, I got some L-brackets at the hardware store and attached them to the headboard and to the underside of the bench, thus holding the pieces together.
There she is: one completed headboard-turned-bench!
P.S. Don’t tell anyone, but the fabric on the seat is really a shower curtain! What can I say? It was the right size and color and bold, graphic design I was looking for.
My daughter (of the Green Room fame) really wants me to put this in her room.
Please visit the other blogs participating in the tour:
Monday, October 14
Country Design Style
Deja Vue Designs
Weathered Pieces
Tuesday, October 15
One More Time Events
Fresh Idea Studio
The Crafty Woman
Wednesday, October 16
Lilac and Longhorns
Stow and Tell U
Meegan Makes
Thursday, October 17
Pennywise Blog
Plum Doodles
A Nest for all Seasons
Friday, October 18
My Soulful Home
Designers Sweetspot
Cupcakes and Crinoline
Please support your local animal rescue group(s), whether by shopping at their thrift stores or otherwise. And if you are considering getting a pet, please, please adopt from a rescue group or humane society. There are so many lovely and loving animals who need homes.
If you want to read the story of the Dog Who Doesn’t Eat Pizza, a rescue dog herself, click here.
A "recovering lawyer," I turned in my power suits for power tools and a life of DIY. I believe in merging old and new to make a house a home.
Such an amazing redo, Karen! I love it {I never would have thought of doing something like this} ~ you are so talented!
Thanks, Mary Beth! I can’t wait to see your post!
Very cute Karen! That headboard is amazing – can’t believe you scored it for such a great deal!
Thanks, Holly! That’s high praise coming from such a furniture-painting and refurbishing expert!
This turned out darling! Great job! ~Tammy
Thanks, Tammy!
I love that green Karen! So cute! Such a deal you got on that headboard!
Thanks, Shanna! It was a fun project.
What a find and what a price! Love the re-do – so original and the such a great shade of green! Sounds like a fabulous thrift store for a wonderful cause!
Thanks, Christina! It was fun making the bench and shopping to find it in the first place. I can’t wait to read your post on the tour!
Oh Karen, that green color is perfect! You would never guess the covering is a shower curtain. Repurposing! I love benches and have made several over the years, you did a great job!
I love the story of Bear, thanks for sharing it.
Thanks, Jeannette! And thank you for organizing this fun blog tour! I had a blast making the bench.
What an awesome DIY, Karen! Green is my most favorite color of all and the big cabana strip shower curtain is perfection. Into a bench, no less! Love the creativity and being a part of the benefit blog tour with you.
Cheers to you and yours,
Therese
Thanks, Therese! I can’t wait to read your post for the tour!
I can’t think of a more creative way to support this cause. Love what you did. I’m greatly enjoying all the posts so far.
Thanks, Miriam! Thanks to Hometalk for sponsoring it. It’s been so much fun and for a cause near and dear to my heart.
You pulled your bench together with such ease. I never would have thought to use those old chairs for the seating, now that is thinking outside the “headboard”. Second Life looks like such a fun place to shop. You certainly got a bargin. Your new green bench ROCKS and it sounds like it already has a home 🙂 So glad to be doing this tour with you ~ Amy
Thanks, Amy! This tour has been so much fun – glad we got to “tour” together!
I love that green! What a unique project!
Thanks, Jill! I loved reading your post – I just want to give Aria a big ol’ hug. You are an angel to save her and love her so much.
How fun, Karen! Using chairs is genius, and the color is awesome. What a deal on that headboard- wow! See you over at my place on Thursday? 🙂
I will be there! Can’t wait to read your post. Thanks, Sheila!
Oh my goodness! This is fabulous!! I love your creativity and all of your hard work. I love me a great thrift find. The green is perfect for this piece!!
Thanks for sharing this on the tour!
Thanks, Meegan! I can’t wait to read your post!
Great repurpose!! So creative….Love the name of your blog… so funny because my daughter’s cat does eat pizza.
Thanks, Tammy! I make no representations about cats! Only dogs.
Fantastic makeover Karen & I enjoy your writing style…Fun to be on tour with you!
Thanks, Kelly! This tour has been a blast.
LOVE that green!!!
Thank you, Amy!!
Came to your blog for the benefit for shelter animals tour. Love the bench but love Bear even more. She gets a big ROLL TIDE all the way from Seattle. We are native Alabamians now exiled to the PNW where the food is bland and the football is… the Pac 12.
I’m subscribing to your blog and look forward to reading and catching up.
My hubby and I have had several rescued animals and they lived long, wonderful lives. We currently have a rescued cat (Mimi Lucia) and she is delightful.
Sylvia, ROLL TIDE! It’s so nice to meet you! Thank you for reading and subscribing to my blog. And please give Mimi Lucia a hug for me!