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The story of the pew...

Being the Pinterest junky that I am, I have many "projects" stored up in my head to be completed in the unknown future.

One such project included transforming an old jankity pew into a lovely piece of furniture that looks right at home in the... home {rather than a charming, yet dated chapel}. You know, like these: link. link. link. link.

I have loved the idea of having a pew in the "entryway" for quite sometime, but as mentioned above, figured it would be a future project. I mean for one, I don't even have an "entryway" and for two where in the world am I going to get a pew?!

Well, wouldn't you know it... I found a pew! Not only found, was given a pew!! As in free!

The church Derek and I attended in Garden City recently bought a church building {we had been meeting in a strip-mall} and thus acquired several old, unwanted pews. After inquiring about purchasing an aforementioned pew, our pastor decided to give us one as a going away present! Yes, please and thank you very much!!!

We loaded it up in the moving truck first thing and hauled this ugly beast back to Missouri. Oh the possibilities... Clearly, this wasn't going to work out {though I must admit, the orange started to grow on me} so the deconstruction began: I really didn't get too many "in-progress" pictures because I knew this wouldn't be a tutorial. No way!! I did, however, have fun taking a few sneak peaks before it was all said and done. You can't tell in any of the pictures, but I actually ended up taking the back/arms completely apart too. This project really became quite the nuisance! I have a feeling I put way more into it than what was really needed and definitely more than I expected! Some of the unexpected extras included adding some paneling to the back to make it look a little nicer and to better hide the left-behind glue texture {sanding didn't really cut it}, as well as adding a piece of trim across a section of the front that wasn't exactly even since it was originally hidden by fabric. {above is a far off and close up picture of the paneling that I added to the back and a similar picture, below, of the trim} I opted to use spray paint on this project, but had the darndest time getting an even coat. I was optimistic because I had seen some successful wood painting projects that used spray paint, but I really think I could have saved a lot of money if I would have just opted for regular paint from the beginning!

Live and learn, right?! Ultimately, I love how the project turned out! It definitely isn't perfect and it cost a bit more than I originally expected {which makes me even more grateful that it was a gift}, but I think it's a great addition to our new Missouri home. And hopefully it will one day find itself in our very own entryway! If you're curious about any of the specific products I used, feel free to ask! Since this is far from a tutorial I won't bother with all those gory details in the post, but am happy to share my thoughts and experiences if you are planning to complete a similar project!

I'm sure you're just dying to know what I did with all that extra paneling! Wonder no more... makeshift headboard! I think it adds a little something extra. Better there than in the garage at least. {By the way, don't you just love the new A Beautiful Mess app?! Sometimes when I'm bored I play with it without even posting the pictures. Trust me, my life is not interesting enough to be posting pictures to Instagram all the time!! :)}
Posted by Jamie at 7/01/2013