I spied this lurvly solid wood bench in a second hand shop window:
I immediately pulled over for a closer look & discovered 4 things: it was once the end part of a bigger piece (there were large screw holes on 1 side), it was greasy to the touch, the carving on the back appeared to be sad & they wanted €40(!) for it. I pointed out the obvious flaws & brought it home for €10, yay!
Fortunately I figured out how to deal with the oily wood & the tearful face + found a use (& place) for it in our ever-shrinking flat:
My kidlet now has a spiffy new bench squeezed into the very last remaining nook in her tiny room.
What was my solution for the grody greasy wood?
Sad no more! (a DIY solution for oily wood):
First I gave it good scrub with grease-fighting dish soap & once it was dry grabbed some leftover white paint + a rag and gave it a good old fashioned white wash:
This is a fab solution for wood that has been treated with oil or has soaked in a lot of gunge. To be successful the whitewash must penetrate the wood, it’s a great arm workout!
After 2 whitewashes, hole-filler, a snazzy new paint job (I thought vines & flowers would kinda hide the sad face carved into the back) & a few coats of varnish the bench was finally ready to meet some new friends.
Did I mention it was a storage bench? Perfect for hiding away all of the munchkin’s stuffies!
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