Welcome to the First Annual Thrift Benefit for Shelter Animals Blog Tour!
So, this was the challenge: First, find a thrift store that supports a local humane society or animal rescue group. Check! I went to the Second Life Thrift Store in Avondale Estates.
If you haven’t been there, you should go. Toby and Tanya will welcome you with open arms and even help you out to your car. They also usually have dogs (find Riley!) wandering around the store, looking for a pat on the head.
OK – next requirement: At the thrift store, find something to upcycle or spruce up. Check! This is what I started with:
A Baker headboard! I thought this headboard would make a great bench. I loved the lines, the faux bamboo trim, and the price – $16.99!
OK, then I had to write the post about how I did it. Check – here goes!
First, I had to figure out how to make the part of the bench on which you actually sit. The headboard didn’t come with a footboard or rails, so I had to think outside the proverbial box headboard.
I had found these two ladderback chairs in someone’s trash heap about a month ago.
Creepy picture, I know, but that’s what happens when it’s cloudy and you take the picture in the garage. Anyway, I digress…
The seats of the chairs were ruined – water damage, splitting, not good. So, I decided to remove the seats and cut off the ladderbacks to make stool-shaped bases for the bench:
I just sawed off the tops of the chairs with a hacksaw.
Then, I sanded down the headboard, to remove its glossy finish.
Time for paint. I used Valspar “Paint and Primer in One” Spray Paint in Gloss Luscious Green. It took about two coats to cover it.
I also spray painted the chair bases the same color. They took three or four coats to cover.
Next, time to build the bench. I had some scrap 2×4 pieces in the garage and used them to level the seat on the chair frames:
I glued and screwed them to the bases. Then I laid pine boards (cut to size at Lowe’s) across the top and glued and nailed them to the supports.
I didn’t want the supports to show, so I decided to upholster the wooden bench seat. I sprayed 3M Spray Adhesive to the wood and added a foam seat:
The foam is easy to cut with a regular-ol’ kitchen knife.
On top of the foam, I added a layer of batting, and then the fabric. Attached both with a staple gun.
Poof! An upholstered bench seat:
Now for the tricky part: how to attach the bench seat to the headboard. This, honestly, was the hardest part, because the headboard wasn’t flush against the legs of the chair bases.
After much rumination, I got some L-brackets at the hardware store and attached them to the headboard and to the underside of the bench, thus holding the pieces together.
There she is: one completed headboard-turned-bench!
P.S. Don’t tell anyone, but the fabric on the seat is really a shower curtain! What can I say? It was the right size and color and bold, graphic design I was looking for.
My daughter (of the Green Room fame) really wants me to put this in her room.
Please visit the other blogs participating in the tour:
Monday, October 14
Country Design Style
Deja Vue Designs
Weathered Pieces
Tuesday, October 15
One More Time Events
Fresh Idea Studio
The Crafty Woman
Wednesday, October 16
Lilac and Longhorns
Stow and Tell U
Meegan Makes
Thursday, October 17
Pennywise Blog
Plum Doodles
A Nest for all Seasons
Friday, October 18
My Soulful Home
Designers Sweetspot
Cupcakes and Crinoline
Please support your local animal rescue group(s), whether by shopping at their thrift stores or otherwise. And if you are considering getting a pet, please, please adopt from a rescue group or humane society. There are so many lovely and loving animals who need homes.
If you want to read the story of the Dog Who Doesn’t Eat Pizza, a rescue dog herself, click here.
Dogs Don't Eat Pizza 
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