Chevron Stripe Bench

I picked up this bench at a sale a while back for just a few dollars. I thought it had the prettiest legs. It sat in my garage for the longest time. I guess I was waiting to be inspired. One day I had the Paris Grey chalk paint open, so I just decided to go ahead and paint it. Then it sat in the garage for while longer. Still no inspiration. And that's when Megan came home!









Hi everyone, this is Megan here to pick up the story. We kept looking and looking at this plain gray bench, and I got to thinking about the chevron stripes that I've seen all over the blogs lately. I thought that this bench might be just the right candidate for something fun and modern.

I found a great tutorial at Sunset Magazine, complete with a printable template. I printed the template and marked my design with thumbtacks as they instructed in the tutorial. They suggest using 2in. painter's tape, but I only had 1.5in tape, so I had to alter the template a bit. When I was done laying out the tape, I ran a credit card over the tape to make sure the edges were sealed tight.

If you've seen my Paris Grey Vanity/Desk, you know that I've been loving the combination of Paris Grey and Old White chalk paint. I put a coat of Old White over the top, and then ran out of paint! After a week of waiting for a new can, I put on my second coat of Old White. I was pleased to find that my painter's tape had not budged during the week off.

And now for the fun part - removing the tape!

I distressed it all over and put on a coat of clear wax. I like how the distressing hides any imperfections in the lines and makes it all look smooth and seamless.

I'm so glad that I finally got to try out a chevron stripe. I think it adds a modern twist to a classic piece.