My Future in Hoarding...

I'm starting to get a little worried about myself. Over the last couple years I've taken pride in my ability to comb through a thrift store and find a gem buried amongst the junk. To upcycle something beat up into something cool. But now, well, now I'm starting to worry that I am on a slippery slope.

Where's the line between cool upcyle and hoarder combing the neighborhood lookin' fer stuff to use later?

My latest project has me the most worried as it was literally junk turned into something cool - and on the cheap - relatively speaking. But, in reality this is a small number of projects. And thus, feeds the addiction. Always looking for the next fix. I watch TLC - I see those hoarder shows - all those people are going 'to do something' with all that stuff.

How far is the fall from driving the SUV to shuffling around with a shopping cart?

The Before.

The before. I'm not quite sure what I saw here. I think it spoke to me though. Which has to be some kind of mental illness. Right?

 Now, I can do paint. I can do stain. I can even build a cushion. It's wood and staples... But, I can't sew. At all. I got an A in woodshop and a C in sewing. And, I think that C in sewing was just Mrs. O'Neil being nice. No one is surprised by that stat. This bench will require sewing. If it does, there's a good chance I'm screwed on this one.

I started by taking it apart. Figuring I could use the pieces to make a pattern to recreate the back. What I thought was leather was just crispy nasty fabric - that came off in chunks, not usable pieces. Not cool. Dust and funk was flying through the air.


All I could think was that I was inhaling dead people AND cancer.


This thing better be worth it.

A miracle. A minor one. But miracle none the less.

And then. And then I got so lucky. The thing wasn't originally upholstered on the back. It was 'redone' at some point over the years. It's wooden! It's a miracle! It's Mission style!

Started the work of pulling out brass tacks, burlap and weird straw filler. All cancer causing, I'm sure.

Then sanding. I strongly dislike sanding. Sanded for hours. Then stained. Then stretched fabric and stapled.

Then, the absolute worst part. The part that's the hardest for me. I waited. And waited. And waited. For the stain to dry.



Oh, I didn't mention... I had no plans or place to put this piece of furniture.

Off to rearrange the dining room. 

The After.

So, there it is. In the corner of the dining room. Which is now in need of a floor lamp. Oh, and I have to paint that little table next to it. Scored it at Goodwill for 4.99! See. Addiction.

Final Stats:

Bench - $25

Cushion - $28 - with a coupon

Fabric - $19 - on clearance

Plywood for cushion base - $0 - from my friend Ryan

Total - $72

Not too bad - I even sat on it. It didn't even fall apart!

I've never had a bad day with a pencil behind my ear.