When we went to San Antonio we shopped, shopped and did more shopping. Most everything I bought the couples with us thought I found great things but then there was the bench. This will be the second time that I bought a bench that everyone thought was a piece of junk. Well this bench was a piece of junk until I got it in my studio this past weekend. Now its fabulous!
The feet on the bottom were rotten and had to be cut off. I wish I had a picture of that before they were cut off but somebody (Greg) got the cart before the horse and fixed it. Yep he thought he was doing such a great job for me and then I ask, “text me the before pics”. Silence as Greg realized he didn’t do what I’m always doing as I start a project. So I can only show you the pictures of were the feet are cut off. The bench couldn’t even stand alone we had to lean it on to something for it to stand. I only paid $15 for it and the repair was done with wood from my good old wood stash. I wanted to give it a fresh look but make sure that I keep the well aged look. From the time I bought this bench until I got to finally work on it I couldn’t get it out of my head. I would just stare at it through my studio window and create it in my head. Sanding was a breeze because almost all the old paint had weathered away. I decided to paint out the bottom in navy blue and stain the top in dark walnut. I did paint it out in Navy and then stained the top but it was way to dark together so I covered the navy with a very light gray. It soaked up so much paint and stain clearly the weather had dried it out. Using primer to block the dry wood wasn’t in the plan because then it would have been to new looking. Old isn’t bad if it is restored to be fresh and useable.
Even the worst piece of furniture can be brought back to life. This bench for most would have already been tossed into the city dump. I try so hard to look past the damage and the abuse. There is beauty in everything you just have to find it. Sometimes we are so focused on the damage of something or someone we can’t see beyond to the real beauty. How many times have you met someone and thought oh my not sure I’ll call on this person again because of something you feel, see or learn about this person. I’m so guilty of that on so many levels of my life. I don’t trust people quickly and I decide sometimes only after a few minutes that I don’t want a relationship with them. Not because of anything other than I didn’t give them a chance. A couple of years ago I decided I didn’t like someone, I felt like they had been forced into my life and the lives of my very close friends. I wasn’t a very nice person and I judged this person hard. I’m eating my words this person is nice after all. Their heart was and is true and warm. I’m glad I took the time to get to know this person and I’m glad they didn’t push me away. The sad thing is we all do this on small and big scales. Trust is a hard one for me to over come. I don’t trust people freely and willingly without first stepping back and watching. The cost of this is I might not get a chance to get to know them because of this. I can only make myself aware of my trust issues and work on them. I need to be more open to people, but with a guard up that can be brought down. Life is short and what if we missed a very special person because we judged them on the first few minutes we met them. Think about it, have you missed out on a person that could have brought some amazing moments to your life. I almost did.
Don’t toss anything out that still has some good life in it. Give it to someone or recycle it yourself. I hope that Thursday was a Blue Happy day with lots of moments with memories.
