"New" Furniture

Last spring I started looking for furniture like a bookcase, end tables, and a hallway bench.  Oh, how I've always wanted a hallway bench for a foyer!  (At that point we didn't have a foyer, but just in case...I wanted one.)  I more or less found what I wanted at JCPenney Furniture in Anchorage.  However, I could not justify the purchase.  How do you spend $300 on an end table and still feel good about yourself at the end of the day? 

The ones we wanted were an antique white/cream color.  About a month ago, I realized that we had perfectly good, solid wood furniture that we could easily antique.  I think we never got to it in Eagle River because it's too cold in Alaska to do this outside and our garage was teeny tiny.

However, the end table was something Scott bought while in college, he thinks at Wal-Mart.  The table that looks like it could be a coffee table came from Scott's childhood.  He's not sure when or where, but it's solid wood and a coat of paint was all it needed!  Lastly, the bench.  Scott's dad built it years ago and Scott somehow acquired it.  He used it as a place to store tools in Osceola, a place to store ammunition in Eagle River, and now...it's MY foyer bench and shall be used to store hats, scarves, and gloves.

I could have sworn that I had a "before" picture of the bench.  I can't find it.  Here's the finished product.  I told Scott I wanted to paint it blue.  He said, "Light blue?".  I said, "Colonial blue."  (yes. in my mind, that is a color.  it looks like the color we painted the bench.)

(believe it or not, i had stencils.  i just wasn't very good at using them.)

Eventually, we'd like to stencil some stars or a paisley pattern on it.  I don't know.  I want it to look "colonial" (yes, that's a look.  in my mind.). 

Suggestions???