Love my Bench

So, there's a story behind this bench. It used to be brown- stained and varnished- and belonged to my in-laws. In fact, when my husband and I were first married, they gave it to us. After moving a few times, I gave it back because of lack of room. I was sad to see it go... Fast forward 17 years, and I had the room, but no bench. Bummer. I noticed that the bench was languishing (do inanimate objects languish? ) on their back porch, in the elements- varnish peeling, wood warping... Sad indeed! It took me a little while to ask them if I could have it. My mother in law was thrilled to give it to me- YAY!! I did a happy dance, yes INDEEDY!
It took a while to sand it down, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do- Paint that Baby!!!
And then my husband makes comments about being stuck in the 70's when everyone painted all the furniture, why didn't I just stain it and varnish it, etc.. etc.... Well, I was a young child in the 70's, so I dont' recall painted everything... I do however have memories of large cabbage rose carpets, and dark yellow cushions, and very large print wallpaper... ooh... then there's those pictures where they put the said young child who still had QUITE chunky legs in a MINI skirt and knee socks... Darling.... NOT.... But I digress....
Okay, back to the point..... I would have considered staining it again if it had not been in such poor condition- you can't unwarp wood, and I felt that since I wanted to paint it and distress it anyway, it was in "good" condition for that. So, off I went, priming it, then painting brown, then painting aqua- my Home Depot find- $7 for a gallon of aqua paint, I was in love! Add a little sandpaper, and now I have a place in my entryway to put all the kids' backpacks ready for school- and no worries of the kitties peeing on them... Ugh... does anybody else's cats do that? Grrr.... Anyhow, I love my bench, and my mother in law is happy that the bench is being used and loved, and not (sigh....) "languishing" out in the weather, unappreciated and unloved.... Well, without the drama, she's glad that it's being used. yeah, that's it. :)