Antique Headboard to Bench in Antique White

I bought this headboard and foot board at an auction last summer.  I'm not usually one to let projects sit around, but I wasn't sure if I wanted to leave it as a headboard or convert it into a bench.  BUT, converting into a bench required the skill of my handy hubby and he's busy...all the time. ;)

So, there it sat.  I was in our storage unit a few weeks ago and was reminded of it again and thought it was time to get this particular project done.  Craig agreed to work his magic and started putting it together for me.  It was a little trickier because I wanted to use the foot board for the sides, but the foot board was curved on the ends (which makes it awesome, but tricky).  It's a good thing he knows what he's doing though and he made it all work.

On the last bench we did together I had people asking me for instructions on how to do it.  Please don't ask.  I have no clue.  He made supports all the way around for the seat to sit on and screwed it all together.  That's about all I can tell you. ;)

 BEFORE (kind of)

 AFTER

I love that it's simple, but the curved fronts make it so special.  I chose Antique White from General Finishes because it's rather tall and I was afraid going dark with it would make it look like a beast.  The original finish on it was amazing, lots of bumps and alligator skin, so I chose to do the white, heavily distress it, and then dark wax it to bring out all that texture. 

I also have to tell you the bleed through was absolutely terrible.  I had to do about 5 coats of shellac.  Ugh!

I found the fabric at JoAnn's and just love it.  

It's not perfect but it's amazing!