Inspiration Cafe Episode 19: Distressed Donna Visits Down Home

I’m thrilled to be guest hosting at Inspiration Cafe. I’ve been following their features for a while and always enjoy their Monday posts.


My name is Distressed Donna Down Home. I’m a retired middle school English teacher who loves rescuing rusty, crusty pieces and refinishing them to sell in my booth at a local antiques mall. I started blogging recently and have been sharing projects and ideas nonstop ever since.


My posts reflect the jumble of projects in my head — I adore photos even though I’m not always the best photographer.


So settle in with your coffee or iced sweet tea. We’re going to transform three small benches into a charming bird-themed vignette, and I’ll take you through the whole process.

I started with three simple benches that stack nicely together. I decided on a bird theme and planned several techniques: painting, distressing, image transfer, stenciling, stamping, and sewing a removable fabric skirt for one of the benches.


I selected three sample paints from Valspar: Summer Sky, Rain, and Prairie — all soft blue-grays that complement each other.


Next I chose images from The Graphics Fairy: a nest for the round bench, a dove for the small bench, and a bird plus a nest in black and white for the larger bench. For colored images I used the standard Mod Podge transfer technique: thin coat on the image, position it carefully, and allow it to dry.

For the black-and-white transfer on the large bench, I cut the images with a small white border and applied Mod Podge to the bench surface, placing the images face down. After they dried overnight, I dampened the paper and gently rubbed away the backing to reveal the transferred image. It takes practice to do this smoothly, but the results are worth it. If it doesn’t go perfectly, you can either embrace the imperfection or sand it off and try again.

After the transfers were revealed and sanded, I took the benches outside for distressing. I used a heavy grit sanding block on the round bench for pronounced wear, a medium distress on the small bench, and a lighter edge distress on the large bench to let the layers of paint show through.

I added stenciled birds and foliage to the round bench, starting with a dark Barnwood base, then shifting the stencil slightly and layering Sea Mist for the bird and Clover for the leaves. I used a fine liner brush with Linen paint to add highlights and tiny details that make the stencils pop.

For the small bench, the distressing revealed lovely layers of color and I added a stamped title — the print felt like “A Dove At Sea,” so I labeled it to enhance the story. For the large bench I created a removable fabric skirt from torn cotton calico. I frayed the edge, ironed and used peel-and-stick tape to secure a folded edge, then threaded elastic through to make the skirt easily removable for cleaning or storage.

I made a small tag from a copied black-and-white nest image, colored it with pencils, decoupaged it to a distressed shipping tag, added a torn cotton tassel, and attached it to the skirt as a finishing touch. Finally, all three benches received three coats of satin varnish to protect the surfaces.

THE BIG REVEAL

The baby bench wears a soft blue finish and a delicate dove image. The round bench shows off stenciled birds and a tucked-away nest underneath. The larger bench sports its removable skirt with a handmade tag — practical and whimsical at once.

All three benches posed outside for final photos. I’ve grown fond of them and hope you enjoyed seeing the process. If you have time, I’d love for you to visit my blog and say hello. Southern hospitality means we love to chat — and I’m always happy to share ideas and inspiration.

See y’all!