Upcycled rustic wooden bench

A few monts ago my mum brought me beautiful old rustic wooden bench she had at our countryhouse.
She said I probably would make better use of it than having it collecting dust in the cabin.
It had a cute and actually a bit charming blue color, I had to think a while before I decided if I was going to remove the paint or not. Well I finally decided to remove it. Even if the color was cute it wasn’t really my favourite. The bench is really old and had some charming marks, old wormholes (yes I think those are a bit charming) that I wanted to make sure didn’t vanish in the process. That meant hardly any sanding for this project, instead I used paintremover and scraped/brush it off. Then I let it stand outside for a few weeks, come rain, come shine.

I thougt it looked a bit pale afterwards and I was after a rich and deep brown shade so I ended up giving it a light coat of waterbased stain in the shade ‘dark oak’. I really like working with these stains; they come in powder in small sachets and you mix the powder with water and brush it on.
Since you mix it yourself you can easily adjust the quantity, I usually use onle one teaspon of stain in one cup of coffee with water. This is the result, and I’m really happy with this little remake and how this old rustic wooden bench got a new life.


Diy sofa mattress

I have this old blanket that used to belong to may grandmother and it’s like a comfortblanket, soft and full of memories. Sadly its falling apart so I thougt I make something new out of it.
Lately I’ve seen a lot of thin mattresses (or quilt if you like) on couches in different places and photos and I really love the idea. It sort of makes the sofa more iviting and cozy at the same time as it protects it. Especially when you have a dog (or small children for that matter). Nando has more or less taken over it and he loves the old blanket a lot and he loves lying on the sofa so why not make a mattress out of the old blanket.

I started by simpy folding the blanket in half lengthwise so it became doble, it’s a single blanket with standard size. Then I sew it together along the sides. I then used a thick curtain to make the cover, just straight gems like a pillow case. I see the last short side by hand. Nando was really curious during the whole process.
I read somewhere once that mending the things you have and making them last is good for you. Last night I could really feel that. It sort of releases oxytocin, it’s calming, soothing and comforting. As I was making something new out of old things I already had at home the autumn leaves where falling outside my windows and it felt meaningful some how.

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