Before and After -- Five Dollar Bench

It's time for a Before and After! Here's the first of many projects I've been working on the past few weeks. I bought this bench for FIVE dollars at Deseret Industries in downtown LA. Deseret Industries is a large two-story building. Downstairs is furniture, kitchenware, toys and some antique/collectibles.

Sometimes I find their prices a little high and sometimes I think things are a steal. I recently bought a vintage metal first aid box there which was only $3 and I thought was a total steal as well as a bookcase which I'll feature in a future before and after.

I had already done some work on the bench before I took the first photo. That was dumb. But anyway, this bench originally was all early 90s with fake vintage seed packets decoupaged across the seat. They were a trick to get off and I finally found that water was the best solution to getting them off. Then I sanded down the top to get the last remnants of glue off the wood. You can see the glue still on the top of the seat in the above photo.

Next I painted the bench with a Dutch Boy deep orange semi-gloss. I love the color, it's the perfect punch of color. Here are a few elements that came together to bring the finished bench to life.

And here is the finished bench. Total cost about $10, factoring in $5 for the bench and part of a $10 small can of paint which I had already bought for another project.