Tacky Brass to Cottage Class - Bench Revamp

We have a shoe problem at our house. There just doesn't seem to be a good spot to put them all. To solve this problem, I've been on the lookout for a wooden bench with baskets underneath, or enough space to put baskets. This way we can use the baskets to store everyone's most often worn shoes.

I wanted a wood bench, but didn't want to spend a lot of money which meant that I either had to make one, or find one at a thrift store, yard sale, or on craigslist or the classifieds. I don't have time to make one right now so that's not an option. As chance would have it, what I thought I wanted and what I found ended up being a bit different, as often happens.  The other day I saw this at the local thrift store priced at $9.99.

Space underneath, check.  Sturdy, check.  Affordalbe, check.  Right now you're probably thinking I'm crazy because, let's face it, this thing is pretty tacky with all that brass and old worn fabric.  This is where imagination comes in.  Look past the brass at what it could be. I did, and see how it turned out?

Yes, that's the same bench.  All I had to do was remove the broken knobs on top, sand off the surface rust, scrub it down, paint it with my favorite Rustoleum Heritage White spray paint, and recover the cushion using fabric I got at Joann's with a 40% off coupon I got online. This project only took me about an hour and the total cost was a just around $24.00. I already had the baskets so I didn't even have to spend more money to buy them. Score!  I love when things work out like that.

Tacky brass to cottage class!

Even Tristan approves.

Have a great weekend and remember your blessings!
Amber

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