Improving on a Good Idea

Last week, my brother and I made an outdoor bench out of an old headboard we found at the ReStore.  It came out great.  Simple, understated, and very yellow.  Were we satisfied? No.  We knew that we could improve upon this idea.  We could make a much better bench out of an old used bed; something with more detail, and more recycled materials.  The solution was simple: incorporate a footboard.

Footboards naturally sit lower than headboards and therefore are perfect to turn into arm rests.  A footboard would also simplify the construction of the project because it would naturally sit level with the headboard at a perfect right angle.  Very little measurement would be needed to ensure that the bench wouldn’t rock.  There would be no way for one leg to be shorter or longer than the rest.  After all, nothing is worse than an unlevel chair (I still have nightmares of my middle school English class desk that tipped to the right every time I rested my elbow).

So, back to the ReStore we went in search of the perfect footboard/headboard combo.  Lo’ and behold! We found it.

Our first step was to measure and evenly cut the footboard in half using a miter saw.  The cut needed to be precise in order to have the bench box sit evenly.  The footboard was then fastened to the headboard using some old decking screws.  All screws were once again countersunk because I take major issue with any showing metal.  Once the frame was constructed it was much easier to measure and build up the bench box.  The bench box was built of 1X3’s and slid nicely into the bottom supports of the footboard.  At this point, it was time to sand and putty.

                                           "Look Ma, I'm puttying!"

Then came our folly.  While at the ReStore we also bought a quart of paint, something that sounded pretty, like Navajo White.  Did we read any more of the label?  Of course not; paint is paint.  Right?  Wrong.  The paint we had selected was oil based instead of latex.

We did not notice a thing until my brother started to clean up after the first coat.  Washing his hands, the water beaded up and refused to penetrate the paint.  It took a half hour of scrubbing (plus the use of some nail polish remover) to get the paint off of him.  The brush was ruined.

After the clean up, the chair refused to dry.  It was super tacky.  Looking into it, oil based paint can require up to 24 hours to cure.  The bench required three coats.  That is three days of my brother’s basement stinking of paint.  That wasn’t the only bad news.  Further research showed that oil based paints can be harmful to the environment as well.  http://www.dnr.mo.gov/pubs/pub2208.pdf We had been going against our modus operandi!  However, we must live and learn. 

In the end, the project still turned out great.  Oil based paint.... impossible to clean, crappy on the environment, beautiful on furniture.

Headboard Benches

Headboards make great indoor or outdoor benches.  They are incredibly easy to find.  There are daily listings on Craigslist, under curb alert, for these little gems.  Sometimes you even see them put out with the trash in your neighborhood.  What a waste.  Someone at some point went through some serious labor, crafting these decorative pieces from solid wood.  By reusing the headboards we can add decorative touches to relatively simple furniture. 

We were able to find a full-sized headboard at the ReStore with some very nice lattice work on it.  The first thing we did was to strip it down, so that when it was repainted we could make sure that all parts of it matched.  Then using old 1X3’s and 2X3’s we fashioned a box for the seat and two squared off front legs.  When building the box we counter sunk all of the screws and filled the holes with wood filler.  No one wants to sit on a hot screw in the summer time.

The design is quite simple sans the lattice work; but simplicity is what we were aiming for in this outside bench.  In order to spruce it up just a bit, we painted it this funky yellow color.  The paint was also from the ReStore.  The paint was a great deal, but it is always a gamble to buy paint at the ReStore if you have a specific color in mind.  They do not have swatches in thier paint aisle, nor do they let you open the cans.  We are forced to use our imaginations in guessing what color matches the strange names given to the paints.  Luckily for us, we are big fans of "Antique Yellow".

If we don’t sell this one, I don’t think my brother will be upset.  It looks good outside his garage.

This garage will hopefully become our new worksite once it warms up a bit here.  Our basements get mighty stuffy with saw dust flying all about.  Plus it would be nice to get some work done outside!

Introduction

Last week my brother and I had an idea.  Often this is a dangerous thing.  We tend to plunge headlong into our imaginative dreams, going balls to the wall until we realize our follies.  Last time we had a collective idea, we started ripping up his kitchen floors while his wife was at work; thinking that we could refinish the hardwood under six layers of linoleum.  Three weeks without a kitchen later he had a new tile floor.

                Foresight is not our forte.  We are, however, creative, capable, and willing to learn from our mistakes.  This makes us much better suited for projects that can be finished in only a few hours or days.  With the knowledge of our strengths and weaknesses this idea was formed.  We are to start a company; part hobby, part moneymaker (hopefully).  This blog is to trace origins and operations of that company.

                Our company (still fishing for a name) is based on the principles of reduce, re-use, and recycle.  What we are doing is finding old furniture and construction materials and transforming them into new, different pieces of furniture.  Old beds become chairs and benches.  Windows, doors and chairs become tables.  Benches become windows and doors (no they don’t, but you get the idea). 

                Most of our materials are found at yard sales, Craigslist, Freecycle, or at my favorite store in the world, the Habitat for Humanity Re-store*.  Finding materials in this fashion makes sure that they don’t end up in a landfill wastefully rotting away; it also limits the amount of new materials we need to purchase.  The less new materials we purchase, the less materials that need to be harvested and processed.  For this reason, and the obvious economic reasons, we try to use as much reclaimed material as possible.

                Thus far, we have only put together a few pieces (I’ll get pictures up soon.  I don’t own a camera yet).  We are trying to build a decent portfolio before we put anything up for sale.  Tonight we are building a bench out of an old oak headboard we found at the ReStore.  Wish us luck.

*Habitat for Humanity ReStore is a building material and furniture thrift store run by the non-profit group Habitat for Humanity.  The ReStore accepts material donations and sells them for incredibly low prices.  The money they raise goes towards building homes for families in need.  Check out their website: http://www.habitat.org/restores/default.aspx?tgs=Mi8yOC8yMDExIDM6MTI6NDEgUE0%3d