Solid Oak Bench | Easiest Project to Date

In this post, I want to share with you a project that was one of our easiest projects to date, a solid oak bench. Although I do not have before images, I am sure you will enjoy it!

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First off, let me just say that I am pooped! We just got home from an Antique and Artisan’s Vendor Market in Lebanon PA. It was a two-day event and took me about four weeks to prepare for it. I’ll share more about that event in a future post so stay tuned!

quick backstory

This bench was going to be one of the items I was going to take. Let me give you a quick back story – really quick.

After attending my weekly Bible study with some friends, I was headed home and saw a wooden object on the side of the road. Well, of course, I turned around to find out more details about it.

solid oak bench

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the ‘free’ sign marked on a piece of cardboard and taped to the piece! I was even more shocked when I saw that it was SOLID OAK!!

My first thought was to load it up into the back of my SUV but I thought I should ask first. I mean, what if someone didn’t realize what was being given away? Did the wife know that the hubby set it out on the side of the road? Or did the hubby know that the wife dragged it out to the road?? I didn’t want to cause any marital problems so…..

….I walked up the sidewalk and hit the doorbell. The wife promptly answered and I asked her if that solid oak bench out front was really free. She called her hubby on the phone and he reassured her that yes, it was FREE!

Woohoo!! O happy day!! Getting it into the SUV was a bit of a challenge but it was free and solid oak so I made it happen 😉

All she needed was a very light sanding, a good vacuuming and cleaning, and then some paint.

I chose Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint in Typewriter because I had seen a similar bench on Instagram and it was painted. Fallon from Market House Restorations had painted her bench in black. It looked amazing so I knew I had to choose Typewriter.

Two coats of paint later it looked gorgeous! Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint allows the oak grain texture on this solid oak bench to show through because it has such a thin consistency. I mean, look at that gorgeous texture of the grain! Just another reason I love this paint!

The natural color of the oak was so gorgeous that I knew it needed to peak through the paint. So using 220 grit sandpaper, I lightly sanded away the paint in the high places as well as the seating areas. Sanding around the areas where hands would be placed also helped the natural oak to peek through.

I finished off the bench with a coat of Miss Mustard Seed Hemp Oil. Such an easy product to use over the milk paint – brush on and wipe off with a lint-free shop towel, you know, the blue ones on a roll.

back to the solid oak bench

Look at the storage this style of bench provides! Boots, scarves, gloves….endless storage! Now Cindy, don’t get carried away! But you see how much space is available for all the things!

You can also see the original color that this bench started with on the inside. I left it natural as a hint to its past 🙂

sold before I loaded it!

Remember I said this solid oak bench was headed to the Antiques and Artisan’s Show this past weekend? It sold before I had the Uhaul packed and ready to go. Someone is enjoying all the storage possibilities with this bench even as we speak!

keep your eyes open!

If I come across another bench, I’ll be sure to let you know 😉 In the meantime, keep your eye out as you travel around your own area – you never know what you might discover!

Let me know if you find a freebie like this solid oak bench on the side of the road! Or any other freebie for that matter! Or maybe you already have! I would love to hear about it!

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thanks for stopping by!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you are having a great day 🙂