Yep, I found this little beauty on the side of the road. She looked lonely, so I stopped to say hello. I noticed that she seemed to be a sturdy little girl. All parts were intact as she sat firmly along the curb. I began to wonder why she would be cast off, so I invited her home with me.
When I got her home, I took a seat and realized one reason why she would have been left behind – too shallow. Well that and the fact that she was covered in awful 1990s mauve fabric. I didn’t realize it there on the roadside, but her little seat was only about 16 inches deep. When you account for the padding in the back, that made her seat depth no more than 13-14 inches. I hate to admit it, but this full figure girl was just way to uncomfortable sitting on this sweet little bench.
When I saw her, I realized she was the type to take residence in a foyer providing a great place to sit for a moment to take off your shoes or put them on. But for goodness sake, 13 inches deep! I’d slide right off the edge trying to tie my shoes!
And so she sat – for probably 3 years in the garage. Yes, so sad. Until one day as I passed her by and a thought struck. What if I could take the back off and have an open bench on both sides? Then I could slide my not so tiny rear beyond the back edge and sit comfortably to get my shoes on. Light bulb moment!
So I began to rip off the mauve fabric and 10,000 staples only to find even more awful 1980s peach fabric. Bless her sweet heart, such a pretty little girl dressed in the most horrid couple of dresses. But that was about to change – she was about to come into the 21st century.
After stripping off a lot (not all) of the fabric and removing the back which was only held on by a few mending plates and screws, I looked in my paint stash and found a container of lovely light gray paint (Sherwin Williams Requisite Gray to be exact) that had been left over from my son’s bedroom walls – an eggshell finish. So now instead of stained legs she has a nice matte gray pair of stockings on. I sanded just a little to take off what was left of the former finish, found a cheap chip brush in the garage and painted those sturdy little legs.
I didn’t want her to be dated any longer in some decades old outfit that was trendy at the time. I found the cutest, never out of style, classic polka dot fabric, you know like Julia wore in Pretty Woman but in gray.
And here you go, this belle is dressed for the ball! Or should I say hall, front hall; because that’s where she will reside where I can comfortably sit and put on my shoes without fear of winding up on the foyer floor.
Now that means I need to bring my foyer out of the 1990’s with an update. Perhaps this will be my motivation to get going on that project.
You can find my Georgia pillow here.
Tell me what you think. Do you think she will be in style longer than a decade?
Happy upholstering!
xo, Faith
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