Furniture Facelift

I’ve taken up a new hobby.  Long term boredom does that to people.  (After all, I can only sit through so much Dr. Phil... I do have my limits). 

Furniture just might be my calling.  

Before: Broken, nondescript, generally gross

After: Cute, quilted, shabby chic

I’m really happy with how my piano bench turned out.  It was a spontaneous endeavor, and I finished the project only two days after I spotting the bench at Goodwill.  I stopped at the hardware store for new hinges, brushes, and paint and eagerly began my new project.  I removed the ripped vinyl cushion (with spongy foam spilling out... eew) and dissembled everything before sanding, painting, and treating the wood with my homemade beeswax and olive oil polish.  The most challenging task was the cushion, and the creative gears in my mind were set ablaze as I *nearly *started from scratch, having thrown out the deteriorating, yellowed original.  (I did have a board to use as a base and size reference).  At any rate, I built the cushion with hand towels, cotton stuffing, a piece of cardboard, tape, a plastic  bag, a pillow case, and a quilted pair of pajama pants I never wear.  Layering was key for creating the shape, while meticulous hand-sewing held everything in place.  My fingers were nicked in the process, but it payed off.  I love it!

Cushion completed, I assembled all the parts and found myself with a lovely albeit creaky bench.  Über creaky.  And no one wants a creaky piano bench... the instrument should be making the notes, not the bench!  Anyway, I fixed that problem with a little vaseline between the joints.  It’s quiet now, and oh-so-pretty!

The next step is finding a venue to sell this bench and other projects for profit.