From Ugly Bed to Lovely Garden Bench

When my mom passed away, one of the items I inherited from her was a bed, which I found to be truly ugly. Sorry mom.

Just about the time I was thinking about donating it to a local charity, I saw someone else's DIY (Do it Yourself) project and knew I wanted to do the same thing . . . turn my mom's ugly bed into a lovely garden bench. Not only did it turn out pretty, it is very comfortable.

I wasn't planning on blogging about it, so I don't have pics of every detail, but enough for you to enjoy the transition and know how to DIY if you have an ugly bed to play with.

The first pic is after I had already cut the foot board in half and then realized I might want a photo history of the project, so I stood the two parts up together to sort of get a before pic. I had already started sanding, so half of the foot board is pretty dusty.

The first picture shows the bed before.

I cut the foot board in half and used it for the sides of the bench. Drilled holes through the back board into the ends of the now side boards of the bench to hold them firmly in place. Also take note of the gray house and deck. Later you will see it painted and looking fresh and lovely.

By this point, I had painted it and then framed in a seat. On top of these boards I laid down some 1 X 6's to make a solid seat.

I used a cloth shower curtain to cover the wooden seat, so that my foam cushion would not be directly on wood.

I bought some dense foam from local store, cut it to make a seat and back cushion. I covered it with a quilt top I was working on and tried to get an idea of how I wanted to actually make a practical cover for it.

In the end, I got an inexpensive twin set of sheets and pillow cases and made covers for the foam. Added pillows and am greatly enjoying it. It is a wonderful place to take a nap on a lovely summer day.

And here is a shot after I had painted the house and deck and it looks much better. I was a busy girl.

This is a shot from the yard. I made a make shift cover over the deck to protect my plants during the winter and enjoyed it so much I left it up for the summer. My own little botanical garden room.

And finally, a side shot of my buddy Kevin enjoying it on his birthday.