Flower power bench

Hands-on time: Two hours to stain, paint and weather the bench, the rest depends on the details of your artwork. (To give you an idea, it took me two hours to paint the detailed flowers).
Total time: 12 hours for the drying time.
Skill: Moderate to intermediate (for an easier version see variations below).
Cost estimate: Cost of materials $25.00 (Price of bench purchased at a flea-market not included).

Materials & Tools

• Garden bench, available at flea-markets, antique dealer or new at some hardware retailers
• Sandpaper
• Wire brush
• Lint-free cloth & tack cloth
• Gel stain (in your choice of colour)
• Cloth or foam brush
• Wax candle (white), or a wax block
• A bristle paintbrush or an old brittle paintbrush (for the latex dry-brushing application)
• Latex or acrylic paints (I used royal blue and moss green)
• Blotter pad, cardboard or newsprint
• Craft paints for the floral design in assorted colours
• Craft paintbrushes in assorted sizes
• Exterior satin or gloss varnish and a varnish paintbrush
• Graphite transfer paper
• Stylus or pencil
• Desired motif or design, (or stencils)
• Painter's tape

Personalize your own garden corner for a little tranquility and make a garden bench that blends right in with nature's fiesta of colours. This colourful garden bench is achieved with a double dry-brushing application, and given an aged look with a combination of a wire brush and candle wax rub application. Once the distressed look is completed, the bench is renewed with splashes of colour created by hand-painting flower accents.

This project is recommended for new unfinished furniture or for aged, wooden, outdoor furniture that has been previously stained only, or stripped and sanded. It will not work with a painted surface, and therefore, aged furniture with chipped paint and peeling varnish finishes must be stripped first (in some cases, with very old paint, simply scraping and sanding the piece of furniture will work). To prepare the surface, make sure the wood is clean, dry, and well sanded. Remove the sanding dust with a tack cloth.

For a previously stained bench, choose a gel-stain colour that is relatively close to the former stain colour or darker. Apply the gel stain liberally to the bench's surface using a cloth or a foam brush. Allow the gel stain to permeate the surface for 2-5 minutes. Wipe off the excess stain with a clean cloth using even pressure going with the grain of the wood and let dry 6 to 8 hours before starting the next step.

To start the aging process of the bench and to create texture, rub the wire brush back and forth with pressure along the entire surface of the bench: top, sides and legs. Wipe off the residue with a tack cloth. Rub a wax candle onto the edges and in streaks, going with the grain along the top, sides and legs. This will leave some of the wood exposed during the paint application.

Dip the tip of the paintbrush in the moss-green acrylic paint and wipe off the excess paint on a piece of cardboard, blotter paper or newspaper. Apply the paint over the surface of the bench leaving some of the wood exposed using the dry-brushing technique and a bristle paintbrush or an old paintbrush.

Let the bench dry for about two hours, and repeat the wire brushing step, this time using less pressure and rubbing randomly over the entire bench. Wipe with a tack cloth. Apply the next colour, royal blue, in the same manner as the above step and again leaving some of the wood and some of the moss green colour exposed. Let dry for two hours, then repeat the wire brushing step again with less pressure and wipe off with a tack cloth.

Choose any floral or other motif and make several copies with a photocopier (or apply one at a time and trace). Cut out the designs and place them where you wish over the top of the bench. Affix graphite transfer paper under each flower and apply them in position to the bench with painter's tape. Use a stylus or pencil to trace over the design to transfer it onto the bench. You can also use stencil motifs or freehand if you prefer.

Paint in the motifs with assorted colours and fine paintbrushes and let dry for two hours. To add a modern touch to your bench use bold colours with contrasting outlines, or use colours other than what the true colours are supposed to be (make blue and turquoise leaves, for example). Let the bench dry for at least four hours before applying two finishing coats of satin or gloss varnish, allowing drying time in between each coat.

Tips

• I like using gel stains because they are low-odour, and they do not drip, run or leave streak marks. They give great colour results, and bring out the wood's natural beauty. To achieve a darker stain colour, repeat the stain application as above or to lighten a stain colour, use a thinner-dampened rag to wipe until desired colour is achieved on a just-stained item.
• To prolong the colours of your bench, bring it indoors for the winter, or simply cover it up.

Variations

• For a simpler version, omit the wire brushing and wax steps; just apply the paints using the dry-brushing technique.
• The same process as above can be applied to Adirondack chairs, wicker furniture and picnic tables; add assorted hand-painted bugs like dragonflies, butterflies, and lady bugs. For a contemporary look try colour blocking, or adding stripes in several colours and incorporating geometric and organic shapes in your artwork. You can also simply cut out floral designs like poppies and roses (which are really in this summer) from fancy paper napkins and apply them to patio furniture like a wicker chair with Mod-Podge, let dry and varnish. Painting a checker board game on a picnic table or small square table can also be a lot of fun. This is a great thing to do at the cottage on those rainy days.
• For a quick and easy flower stamp idea, take seven wine corks and bind them together with duck tape to form a flower formation, standing the ends flat, leaving them exposed in order to paint and stamp. Paint them in assorted colours and stamp randomly all over the bench, let dry, and then varnish.