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    Home » Painted Furniture » How To Repaint An Old Rustic Bench

    How To Repaint An Old Rustic Bench

    This post may contain affiliate links

    Do you guys remember the old rustic bench the JTS bought at an auction a few weeks ago? It was originally painted red and the red was worn off in places. Well, I painted over the red with white paint and distressed lightly so the red could show off. I did the distressing using a power sander but you can also distress paint using the wet distress method and I have a video of that for you in this post!

    re-painting an old rustic bench

    How to repaint an old rustic bench.

    There's not much I like better than white distressed paint. Or maybe I should say off-white. I very seldom use white-white paint. It's too glaring. 

    handmade bench bought at auction

    In case you missed the earlier post about our auction buys, this piece was $25. I have a thing for benches and cedar chests. I can't pass them up unless the price is too outrageous.

    dirt dauber and wasps nests on furniture

    You never know what you are going to find when you flip over a piece of furniture. Sometimes there are tons of spider eggs, cobwebs, mold and mildew or in this case.......a whole bunch of dirt dauber nests. Thankfully the dirt daubers were long gone.

    old bench with faded paint

    I scrapped off all the nests with a putty knife then cleaned the bench with Simple Green.

    Beyond Paint

    The paint for the project is Beyond All-In-One Paint, color Off-White (or Bone). I like this paint for several reasons. It sticks to just about anything and as the name says it has the primer and sealer built into the paint. What I like best about the paint is the sheen. It's not flat and not satin, somewhere in between.

    rustic bench painted white

    I applied one coat of paint and didn't really worry about covering all the dents, dings, and wood knots. When distressing a piece this rustic it's just a waste of paint. Plus it makes the imperfections and grain of the wood look awesome!

    how to distress painted furnitue with a battery powered sander

    The paint dries fairly quickly and I used my Ryobi sander to distress the paint. The whole project was finished in 3 or 4 hours. I didn't really time it.

    rustic bench painted white and distressed (8)

    The bench is almost 6 feet long. Makes it hard to stage and photograph. I didn't bother bringing it in the house. The bench went straight to the shop after I took photos.

    rustic bench painted white and distressed (9)

    Sometimes after distressing paint of any color or brand I will apply a coat of wax to darken the wood in the distressed areas. I didn't apply any wax to the bench.rustic bench painted white and distressed (10)

    In some distressed areas the red paint was easy to see and in other areas of the bench where the red paint was worn the wood finish made a showing.

    rustic bench painted white and distressed (4)

    I almost kept the bench and if it doesn't sell at my booth pretty soon I may bring it home. What do you guys think? It's a great space filler and also comes in handy for indoor or outdoor seating.

    There are several ways to distress furniture. I like using the wet distress technique because there is no "dust" mess. See my video below on how to wet distress furniture...

    How To Wet Distress Furniture
    rustic bench painted white and distressed (12)
    One last look at the distressed paint. What do you think of the project? Did you like the worn red look of the old rustic bench better? Leave a note if you have a minute. Tomorrow I have a sweet, easy, inexpensive, home decor project. See you then, Kathy

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Gracie Redfield

      April 23, 2021 at 5:12 pm

      What a great find! I`m sure it will sell quickly.
      I`m going to try "Beyond Paint". You`ve had such great results with it, so I`m going to try it!

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 28, 2021 at 10:06 am

        It sold within a couple of days! I love Beyond Paint. The price may seem high but the paint goes a long way so it's worth it.

    2. Cecilia from Georgia

      April 20, 2021 at 7:44 pm

      Kathy, this looks old and I’m concerned about lead paint on older furniture. I have a children’s table and 2 chairs and the paint is chipping away badly. I love the look but don’t think it will sell in this condition. So, do you test for lead or what? I love your bench and my table set is the same primitive style. You should bring it home! Thanks

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 21, 2021 at 8:34 am

        I don't test for lead paint and in this instance I'm pretty sure the red wasn't lead paint. It looks older than it is. I'm working on a piece now that I believe is lead based paint and it doesn't have any loose paint. I am applying primer and paint and will not distress it.

      • Cecilia from Georgia

        April 21, 2021 at 3:46 pm

        Thanks for getting back to me. I don't see many (or any) furniture DIY makeovers talking about lead paint on furniture. Love your projects and glad you are feeling better.

    3. CECILIA

      April 20, 2021 at 1:19 pm

      I can not find the video on "wet distressing" as you said it is at the bottom. I have an 83 inch bench I would like to redo for my farm table.

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2021 at 2:09 pm

        Hi Cecilia. If you have an ad blocker on your browser you need to disable it to see the video. If that isn't the problem then I'm not sure. I am using Chrome browser and I see the video. Hope this helps. If not email me with more info at [email protected]

    4. Linda Young

      April 20, 2021 at 9:16 am

      I think you did a great job. Where do you buy the paint that you used? I’d like to try it.

      Reply
      • Kathy Owen

        April 20, 2021 at 9:30 am

        You can buy the paint on Amazon by clicking here......Beyond Paint This is an Amazon link.

    5. KreativeK

      April 20, 2021 at 8:25 am

      Fantastic bench! Impossible to find these in west Texas, so enjoy seeing yours.

      Reply
    6. Suzee B

      April 20, 2021 at 8:23 am

      Love it ... sometimes less is more and this is a great example! Now I have to look up “dirt dauber”!

      Reply
      • Gracie Redfield

        April 23, 2021 at 5:06 pm

        "Dirt Daubers" are wasps that make their nests out of mud.

      • Kathy Owen

        April 28, 2021 at 10:07 am

        Yep, if you live in the South you see a lot of dirt dauber nests.

    7. Gina

      April 20, 2021 at 6:45 am

      I could use a smaller version of this near my front door. Very simple and sweet!

      Reply
    8. Angela Carrera

      April 20, 2021 at 5:23 am

      great job!!!!

      Reply
    9. Val

      April 20, 2021 at 4:50 am

      I love it!

      Reply

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    Hi, I'm Kathy!

    The creator at Petticoat Junktion and I love decorating my home. My decor is an eclectic mix......

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