Decorated Chaos: Shabby Chic Bench Makeover

It all started a while back when I was on the hunt for benches.

I knew I wanted one to put at the foot of our bed so when I found this bench that was the perfect size I had to get it.

It sat for a while until we decided on a color pallet and repainted our master bedroom, which you can read about HERE.

Once we decided on the color pallet, I knew exactly how I wanted to redo the bench.

Because we have a lot of oak wood around the house (wood trim, hardwood floors, wood cabinets in the kitchen and bath, and a wooden headboard and shelves in our bedroom, and it goes on and on) I knew that another wood tone would be overkill, so I decide right away that I wanted this bench to be feminine, painted white or soft gray to tone down all the wood tones in the room, and to be distressed.

So Shabby Chic it is!

For starters I removed the fabric and changed it out with fabric I already had.

There were TWO layers of fabric already on the bench.......see?

Fabric number one:

Red and beige leaves........not really my style or color pallet.

Then there is fabric number two.............................

definately not my style and does no go with or gray and white color pallet in the bedroom, so it goes bye-bye!!!!

Remember this fabric I found in the Spring?

Well it went perfectly in our bedroom and I had just enough to reupholster the top of the bench. (score!)

To get the Shabby Chic look I was going for, I started by taking off the seat cushion and giving the entire piece a light sanding.

Then I painted all the wood spots a dark gray color that I picked up for a steal because it was a mis-tint.

After that dried I went over the entire piece again with a light gray color by Behr called Gentle Rain.

One this coat of paint dried I then began to lightly sand the edges and corners, and then added a little more distressing to the sides as well.

See how the edges look worn?

Just run your sandpaper down the edge so that the wood grain peeks through.

I love Shabby Chic for many reasons, but one good reason is that it is a very forgiving style of decor.

Shabby Chic items are SUPPOSED to look worn and aged....not dated or "messed up". See the difference?

So here is the before and after:

I am almost ready to reveal all of the changes made to our master bedroom, but so far this bench and our bedding really bring a Shabby Chic look to the room by toning down and softening up all of the oak.

I am happy with how it is coming along and hope to reveal the entire room soon!

It has taken me a while to actually distress my furniture projects, but once I got over the initial scare it was fairly simple and added a lot of texture/dimension to my piece, and I really like how it turned out.