Hello lovelies! Today I’m going to share with you what I did to my pineapple bed I found at Lucketts this Spring. You may remember it looking like this:

Both the headboard and my garden look much different these days! Here’s what that headboard is looking like these days…

I knew when I bought it that I wanted to make it into a bench! If you look closely at the before photo, it was in pretty rough shape with several gouges and scratches, so I also knew it needed to be painted.

Well I finally did it, and I love her in her new life as a bench.

It’s been raining for four days straight here, so I finally had a few minutes to take some pictures as the rain was taking a break. I am so pleased with how it turned out!

I’d love to show you how easy it was to do…that is if you have an assistant to help you. My little assistant didn’t get off the school bus till after 4:00. I was too impatient to wait. He did arrive just in time to hold the final piece in place for me while I attached it…BIG help!

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First I cut my footboard in two. These pieces will become the arms and side supports. I removed about another two inches from each side so my seat wouldn’t be too deep. I was aiming for 18″ deep.

Next, I needed to attach the side pieces to the back. For this part, I knew I wanted to use a Kreg Jr. Pocket Hole Jig System aka Kreg Jig. A Kreg Jig is a tool that helps to make pocket holes, perfect for attaching things at ninety degree angles. This mini version works perfectly. (I recommend investing in one of their clamps [I eventually did] which is made to fit the Kreg Jig perfectly.) Meet the Kreg Jig Jr:

Here’s a quick recap of how it works:

Kreg Jig Jr and screws that work perfectly with this system, although not required. Set your Kreg Jig to the proper depth buy moving the gray sliding piece on the side to the thickness of the wood. Mine is set at 3/4″. Clamp in place to the edge of your wood. (This is my clamp, their clamp is round to fit perfectly in the top of the Kreg Jig. This is the drill bit that comes in the kit, which you attach to your drill. Set the guide (the round thing) on the bit to the proper depth according to the instructions. This will stop you from drilling too deep. Drill your hole/holes. Tada! Add wood glue to the edge. Screw in place.

The big difference between this and the $100 version is this requires that you clamp it in place, while the other one has a clamp built in.

After drilling my pocket holes, I attached the side pieces to the back, using my level as I went:

I wasn’t able to use the Kreg Jig on the top because my arms are rounded, so I used a 3 1/2 inch screw and secured it from behind (using wood glue also).

I added the piece across the front using the same method as the bottom, side pieces. That’s when my assistant showed up, so helpful to have a helper!

Then I cut my seat pieces from 1 x 4 pieces of pine

I waited to attach them since I was planning to paint something on the back.

Looking all Sanford and Son…bomp bomp bonna…bomp bomp bonna bonna bonna…

My neighbors love me. 🙂

Next, time to paint. I planned on using my DIY chalk paint in Behr’s Cottage White, but because this was mahogany and the varnish had worn off in several places, I sealed the entire piece with a coat of shellac first to prevent bleed-through. See my tutorial for How to Paint using Chalk Paint HERE for more details!

I primed the bare wood before painting with a spray-on Rustoleum Primer. I wish I had stained or spray painted those pieces dark before painting so that when I sanded, some dark edges would show through. Honestly, though, I think my family was ready to get the kitchen back. Remember all the rain I mentioned?

The final detail was to add something to the back. I chose a simple, “Welcome” in one of my favorite fonts, Edwardian Script. Here’s a quick pictorial, but see HERE for more details on transferring graphics.

Voila! Simple, but perfect:

I nailed the seat slats in place with finishing nails, spacing them apart evenly. They rested on the front bottom piece of the original headboard and the piece I added across the front.

After sanding the edges just a bit to bring out some detail, I gave the entire piece a coat of clear wax.

*Its important to note that if you plan to use a bench like this outside, I would use a polycrylic to seal as the wax can melt with the heat of the sun!

I wasn’t able to rough it up too much since I couldn’t really sand the seat part. I really wish I had stained it or painted it dark first. Boo…

I’m still loving how it turned out. Did I mention I only paid $15 for the headboard? What a steal!

If you liked this headboard bench, there are two more in this round-up of ten awesome Upcycled headboards…click the image or the link below to see them all!

10 Upcycled Headboards

How about you? Have you ever tackled a headboard bench?

XO,

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