Horse Carriage Bench Seat Makeover

I have forever wanted a carriage bench as a house bench.

Seriously.

Crazy isn't it? Those dusty-dirty old buckboards appeal to me in the worst selfish way. 

There is something about the old days of horse drawn transportation and those handsomely handmade seats. Hearing the clank and clunk of boot heels walking across the wagon or carriage to take a seat whether a gentleman/cowboy or a lady with a poofy corseted dress... it's just so gal dang sexy...or eloquently pleasing to the ears. 

To buy an antique one is rather pricey! Out of our price range anyway. But by golly, they are beautiful to me. My heart just sinks looking at them. So... I was going to build one. 

Like this Pinterest inspiration that I have held on to for some time:

Example found on Pinterest

Yep, you read that right. I was going to build it. I asked my husband if I heated the iron, bent it and drilled it,...could it work? He replied, "of course!" ...(he has so much faith in me, doesn't he?)... and he was on the look out for the iron I needed to incorporate into my crazy dream. NOTE: I've been saving up the reclaimed wood... and waiting the whole time.

Then one fine day this past winter, I asked the fine husband of mine, "I found a wagon bench at auction, can we go?". He said yes and we did. Landed in Amish country here in the mid part of New York, my bid won this "feast-my-heart-desire".

Not quite "thee one" of above is it? But I could make it "old wood looking" as I dreamt of.

So I did the most crazy thing.
I put it outdoors in the rain. AND in the snow.
For quite awhile.
I wanted it to get old and damaged on purpose. Why? Well, because this Buggy Seat was not what I dreamed of. But it was what we afforded and I can make into what I envisioned.

The time has come.

Some of the paint flaked off and some of the wood slightly separated.
Just right.
Like picking a planting of fruit or vegetable at the right time.

So I took the bench apart.
And because the backrest was made up of cheesy upholstered luan, I had to make a new ("old style") one,
I grabbed some reclaimed wood.

Then, I made the antique looking backrest from the old pine shelving. (Trying to be imperfect was quite perfect, mind you.)

Ah, getting closer, the excitement was beside me! 

I sanded the BeJeebers out of the new old backrest and the entire bench parts. 

Imperfectly, but yet very perfect, and finally put "Humpty Dumpty" back together again. 

I lightly stained and used natural wax for a good "old" look. 

Gah!!!!! 

I did it! 

It took 60 seconds to add my everyday boots and storm hat to the mix.

Now it's looking more like what my dreams were made of.

Crazy "old" beautiful; in its own right. 

Or in my dreams.

Finally.

The house bench I wanted.
Made with my own hands, I created the dream I wished true.

Now that you have seen my Furniture Refresh for May, let's check out the rest of the group!

Left to right: Katie The Homespun Hydrangea | Megan C’mon Get Crafty |  Sue A Purdy Little House

Top to bottom: Michele Shelstring Blog | "Me"  =D | Michelle Our Crafty Mom  |

"Before photos"

Thank you for visiting our Furniture Refresh of the month!

Gratefully featured at

Vintage Charm "Feature of the Year 2016"

with

Charm Bracelet Diva, The Blue Willow House, My Thrift Store Addiction, Adirondack Girl at Heart

Pieced Pastimes (Saturday Sparks)

The Interior Frugalista (DIY Sunday Showcase)

Remodelaholic (Friday Favorites)

My Salvaged Treasures (Talk of the Town)

Thrifty Rebel Vintage (Vintage Charm)

Patina Paradise (Friday's Furniture Fix)

21 Rosemary Lane (Share Your Style)

Weekend Craft (Creative Spark)

One More Time (Share It One More Time)

The Curator's Collection (Making Broken Beautiful)

DIY Vintage Chic (Friday's Five Features)

Domesblissity (Thriving on Thursdays)

Suzanne Bagheri (The Painted Drawer)

Practically Functional (Creativity Unleashed)

McCall Manor (Your Inspired Design)

Rooted in Thyme (Simple and Sweet Fridays)

Reinvented Collection & Co.  (Fantastic 4 DIY Furniture Makeovers -Thursday Favorite Things)

Life on Lakeshore Drive (A Bouquet of Talent)

Marilyn's Treats (Season of Sharing)

Blake Hill House

Tatertots & Jello

Vintage Charm Feature of the Month 
with
Charm Bracelet Diva, The Blue Willow House, My Thrift Store Addiction, Adirondack Girl at Heart

A Cloche Garden from a Repurposed Bottle

I've got another bottle upcycle to share!
The Dose of DIY group has put together a bunch of great ideas for you this month by using glass bottles/vases/mason jars.
I decided to make a Pottery Barn knock off using a gallon glass "jug" (bottle). 

Pottery Barn

Using my bottle cutting apparatus, I scored the jug with the diamond blade. You can see the score line made all around the bottle where the arrows are displayed.

Then for a good cut, I used the temperature shock method. By boiling water in a large stock pot  and preparing a separate stock pot filled with ice cold water, I rolled the bottle into the hot water for about 1 - 2 minutes to heat it. Then, quickly rolled it in the ice cold water until it fell apart at the score line.

NOTE: I've tried this method many times and it's the best one, for me, to get a good straight cut without destroying the glass. If you plan to do this yourself, PLEASE wear safety glasses and rubber gloves. Of course, keep children and pets completely away from the entire project. Using extreme caution will avoid any accidents. Cutting bottles and jars will have dramatic popping and cracking that is very unpredictable.

After cutting, sanding the edge with industrial diamond coated sandpaper and water smoothes the sharp edge. 

Then I used an old "Thermos Bottle" cork to use in the top of the bottle for a good fit. 

Now, I could also make a wood base and serve cheese with it, but we're doing a Spring theme and I prefered to use my DIY cloche with a garden. I gathered small plants, an old cake tin, stones, and moss.

Using the cake tin as the planting container, I layered and surrounded the soil and plants with stones.

After arranging the miniature garden, I topped it with moss and covered it with the glass.

See that! A terrarium that was inspired by Pottery Barn is born!

I'm sure once the plants grow too large, they will need to be repotted. But this will be a great plant starter.

Now that the project was finished, I snagged an old planter saucer from the garden shed to put the whole thing into. It got all fancy shmancy antique looking.

Not bad for a free...

...Pottery Barn knock off, ey? I used what I had around the house.

UPDATE April 15, 2016

I went to the thrift shop and hit up the 99-cent sale! I found 5 round wooden cheese boards and one of them fit perfectly! Now I need to cut another bottle for the cheese board.

Now that you've seen what I created with this month's theme, let's check out the other ideas from the rest of the group!

An InLinkz Link-up

Featured at

2015 Spring Blog Hop

Welcome to our 2015 Spring blog hop! I'm joining up with 3 other bloggers from The Inspiration Tribe to bring you some DIY posts to welcome spring. Be sure to stop over at each blog to say hello and see the ideas. 

Today for the blog hop I'm sharing the Hydrangea Wreath I made for Easter.

Now hop over to see the other ideas and tutorials!

Shelstring

Sypsie Designs

The Two Seasons

Thank you for stopping in and visiting with us! 

Redo it Yourself Inspirations

Shelstring

Sypsie Designs

The Two Seasons

Happy Spring!