Vintage Gossip Bench Makeover
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A friend recently gave me a vintage gossip bench and asked me to redo it as a gift for his mom. When I saw how cut it was, I immediately said yes. It had great lines, and I knew that fresh color and patterns would make it even cuter.
The first thing I did was spray the entire metal base with Rust-Oleum paint in a fun teal color, then painted the top shelf in a coordinating sky blue.
The seat wasn't very cushy on the tushy so I decided to add a bit more foam padding. I traced the seat onto a sheet of upholstery foam and then cut it out.
Then I applied a little spray adhesive to make sure the cushion would stay put, and I stuck it onto the old seat.
I worked to the seat back next, and used my Arrow staple remover to take off the old fabric, trim nails, and aged padding.
More padding (applied with spray adhesive) brought the seat back up to a comfy condition.
When everything was properly padded, I wrapped the seat and back with new, colorful fabric, attaching with staples in the same places where the original fabric was first attached.
When shopping for my fabric, I couldn't find an upholstery fabric that I liked, but I knew I needed tough fabric that could hold up to a lot of wear. I solved this problem by coating regular cotton fabric with Decou-Page. This gave the fabric more weight and made it wear better. You wouldn't want to do this on a pillow or something that you want to remain super soft, but for small bench seats it works great!
The bold, new fabrics made such a huge impact!
I wanted to add a matching pop of color to the inside of the metal drawer as well, so I made a pattern using some parchment paper.
I used the paper pattern to cut a piece out of foam core that I could wrap in the same fabric as the seat.
I wrapped the fabric around the board and hot glued it in place.
Then I popped it into the bottom of the tray, and now the drawer is as pretty as it is functional.
I love how the fabrics go together, and this is now bright, bold piece of furniture. My friend's mom loved the transformation, and was thrilled with the surprise.
6 comments so far:
I just love this! I found a similar bench and the feet are rusted. Do you have a good source for replacement feet? I need to replace some feet on a few other pieces too. Thanks for the precious makeover!
Bennie, thank you! We don't really have a good source for replacement feet, but you should probably start with your local hardware store or even an architectural salvage shop if you've got one in your area.
This turned out amazing!
Can you tell me anything about the fabrics? Names and or where you purchased? Or if you have some extra you wouldn’t mind sharing lol
I absolutely love them!
Amanda, thanks so much! I don't remember the pattern names, but I got both fabrics at Hobby Lobby.
This is a work of art! I found the exact piece on marketplace ! Can you tell me what kind of cushion you used? Thanks!
Andrea, how cool! We cut that cushion out of a sheet of upholstery foam from the fabric store.