Growing with the Gimlins: Blogolution Update: Gert

{GERT}

This pretty lady was a labor of love.

Maybe more labor than love, but who is keeping track?

First, have I ever told you that I took piano lessons for nine years when I was growing up?

I love the piano.

I wish I had a piano.

Some day...

{On a side note, I am blessed to have a hubby who understands my heart's desire to have a piano in our home some day. Every so often he surprises me by mentioning one he saw on craigslist or in the classifieds. Have I told you how much I love this man? Now if only we actually had the room for a piano. }

One Saturday morning last year I noted a dramatic increase in the traffic on our dead-end road. Curiousity got the best of me and I ventured out into the chilly morning to see what all the commotion was about. Imagine my delight when I discovered that my neighbor was having a spectacular yard sale. Much like myself, this neighbor enjoys thrifting and re-finishing furniture - and here she was, getting rid of some of the projects she never got around to. I oohed and aahed over a bunch of her goodies before taking home a large flower pot (for Justin), two wooden sconces (I can't wait to show you the makeover on those) and this beat up piano bench ($5).

In hindsight, I should have snatched up my neighbor's entire stash of wooden shutters too. Bummer.

But this bench called my name. The paint was chippy, although not in a good way.

The fabric seat was worn and stained. But oh the potential!

Potential that sat for several months until I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it and where I wanted to put it.

My vision: a simple bench in the guest room, positioned beautifully beneath one of the windows. A place for our guests to set their bags or pull up a quick seat, not to mention an extra seat at the dinner table when needed. (We only have four dining room chairs - a detriment when we have dinner guests.)

And like most piano benches, the seat opens - a perfect spot to store spare linens for the guest room bed, and perhaps my stash of sheet music that I refuse to throw away.

First I tackled the seat, removing it from the legs and stripping away all the fabric, nails and staples. I knew I wanted to line the inside of the bench somehow and add new padding and fabric to the seat. I picked out my fabric at Joanns, but still couldn't decide on the perfect lining for the inside.

And thats when I had my 'aha!' moment: I found two old church hymnals at my Goodwill store.

I grew up singing most of these hymns in church, not to mention that I learned to play a handful of them throughout my many years of piano lessons. These songs are very dear to my heart. Which is exactly why they they needed to be incorporated into this bench.

I leafed through one hymnal and cut out my favorite songs: Nothing But the Blood, I'll Fly Away, Just As I Am, The Old Rugged Cross, Amazing Grace, Softly and Tenderly, When the Roll is Called Up Yonder...

There are too many to name!

Then I Mod Podged them to the inside of the bench.

B-E-A-utiful!

{I am reserving the second (completely intact) hymnal for that glorious day when I finally get my very own piano.}

With the new seat and the interior completed I busted out my sander for the bottom portion and oooooh baby! She was a doozie!

I seriously spent more time sanding this little lady than I did painting her. I counted five different colors of paint as I sanded, along with a crackling medium in their somewhere. All those nasty layers really did not want to come off.

By the time I got her all sanded down I was sick of her altogether - thus the name Gert. So I threw her a couple more evil glances and then set her aside for a few weeks until I was emotionally ready to deal with her again.

Eventually she got a coat of primer, followed by two coats of Sherwin Williams Creamy. Then I gave her a little distressing with sandpaper before a protective clear topcoat.

Here she is in her new spot in the guest room: