Castaway bed in Marine Harbor Blue

Last summer when I decided that I was going to try to build a business out of salvaged furniture, I started sifting through stuff that I had been hanging on to since my kids were little.
I picked out items that meant something to me, my kids picked out items that meant something to them, and then I was left with a pile of odds and ends that were too good to be thrown away.

This little twin size spindle headboard and footboard was in the castaway pile.

I spent several months staring at it, sizing it up, making plans, and finally, I decided where I wanted to go with it.

First order of business was to make a few cuts.

This is my way of jumping in with both feet. Once your project looks like this, you basically have to keep going. There's no turning back.

There were several holes where the bolts for the railings went through the legs and since it was once part of a bunk bed set, there were also holes in the top of the corner posts.
I didn't want to spend hours/days filling the holes and waiting for the filler to dry.
I found a dowel that fit nicely into the holes and cut it to the size I needed for each hole.

I put tape on one side of the hole to keep the glue from running out.

 

This way all I had to do was wait for that little bit of glue to dry then I filled the small gaps with filler.
I don't know why there is crayon all over this.

 

 

Once it had sufficient time to dry, I sanded down all the rough edges.

The next steps were a little stressful.
They involved trying to get the pieces I cut in half attached to the piece I left whole.
Measure, measure again, and then measure again.
My grandfather used to say, "Measure twice, cut once" and "You're a pi$$ poor carpenter if you make a mistake you can't fix" and "I cut it off twice and it's still too short".
The last one was a joke.
Really.

Anyway... back to the project.
I had to search high and low to find brackets that would work for this. They were either too big, too small, not the right color.
Finding the right hardware is just aggravating sometimes.

 

For the life of me, I couldn't find brackets that would work here so I just attached it with screws.

IT'S ALIVE!!!!

Can you see where I'm going with this now?

Ok then.
I attached a small board to each side so I would have something to attach the seat to.

Then the whole thing got two coats of CeCe Caldwell's Maine Harbor Blue.

Once the paint dried, I applied a coat of CeCe Caldwell's Satin Finish.

Then I used boards that were salvaged from a discarded futon frame to make the seat.

At this point I realized I had a bit of an engineering issue (which was brought to my attention when I attempted to sit on it)
I don't want to hear one word from anyone.
Got it!.
Good.
....So a few strategically placed braces were added (so overly ample behinds...like mine...won't find themselves parked on the floor).
A brace across the front.

 And a brace from the back to the newly added front.

 

Now I have a nice sturdy, safe, little bench that's perfect for the garden or porch.

 

I like my hat.

This post was added to Make the Scene Monday at Alderberry Hill.