Staining an Old Bench

Tara, this one goes out to you! We could all use friends like Tara. Every few days, she sends me a link on facebook about a piece of bargain furniture I need to check out. She knows my taste! This was one of her treasures. A 150 year old footstool (I call it a bench) selling for $50. After a few email conversations with the seller, I was able to purchase it for $40.00 I'm not the best negotiator, but when I saw how easy it would be to re-cover, I didn't mind. Matt was not impressed when I brought it home. It was very unsturdy, and couldn't really be used:

And that begs the reason why Matt had to join in my re-do. After Matt took the entire thing apart, we set to work on individually hand-sanding each piece. With all the grooves and fine detail, it was a chore:

Once it was sanded and cleaned, Matt put it back together using new screws and wood glue to make it functional again. Promising the last owner that I would at least consider staining it back to its original color before painting it, I did exactly that. Using a dark honey walnut, I stained the base outside today. It's amazing how a little bit of sunshine and 40 degrees feels like summer in Pittsburgh after such a long, snowy February, but it was great to feel warmth on my face again. Here is the piece stained, and here is the new fabric. If you remember my lampshade project a few months back, the fabric is probably familiar. Guess I had spring on my mind indeed. Once we move, I'll recover it again in a large geometric print. After all, furniture that lasts 150 years deserves a few different makeovers in its lifetime.