Boxwood bench

This is my very first blog post! So welcome! My name is Jen and I hope you enjoy my little creative adventures as much as I do. It is an outlet that allows me to focus on something other than being a mom to two tiny people and a wife to one big person. 

This sturdy little bench was a $5 (!) yard sale find last summer. It had a horrible orange and gold tapestry fabric that I forgot to take a picture of in my haste to get rid of it (the beige you see was the layer under the orange).

The wood looks like it's in good shape but it was pretty banged up. I painted it with Miss Mustard Seed's Milk Paint in boxwood. The wood was very dry so I took a chance and painted the first coat of milk paint without sanding or bonding agent.

 It almost immediately began to flake off. I don't know what was on the wood but it did not want to accept any paint!  I let it flake and then sanded...and sanded and sanded. I love me some curvy legs but man, are they hard to sand! After a good wipe down I put on two coats of boxwood and still got a lot of chipping!

I topped it off with polycrylic to contain the chippy goodness. I love when the milk paint comes alive!

I reupholstered it with P. Kaufman's brissac platinum (which is the same fabric I made my family room curtains out of). It's one of my favorites and the boxwood really pulled out the greens in it. 

I love how it came out and will have a hard time parting with this one!