This little bench keeps changing its outfit. I got a glimpse of what it wore in the early 1900s when I stripped one outfit off. That outfit was a peach coloured silk embossed fabric and I am sure it was very pretty in its day.
But let’s fast forward to a couple of years ago when I was gifted the bench from a friend.
My friend was moving out of her rented office space and she offered me this antique bench that she no longer wanted; she kindly passed it along to me to give it a new life.
I knew it was an antique but it wasn’t until I began taking it apart that I realized how old it really was. When furniture is stuffed with hay you know it is old! Apparently hay was used to stuff furniture up until the 1900s because it was easy to come by and it was cheap. Of course there were other types of materials being used at that time as well, like horse hair for one, but you had to have a bit of wealth in order to stuff your furniture with horse hair, so you would find it in higher quality antique pieces, whereas hay was found in any old piece of furniture.
My friend had given it a more modern look when she received it years ago, using a black and white cotton fabric, and she just covered over the original peach coloured silk that I mentioned earlier. Unfortunately I do not have photos of the original fabric to show you, nor do I have photos of my friend’s fabric, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. However, I do have a couple of photos of the bench before I painted it, with potential fabrics draped over it.
After playing around with draping different fabrics, I settled on a vintage floral pattern in pastel colours. I then chose a light blue paint colour that I had on hand. I went to work painting, upholstering and making trim and it sat in my entrance… for a while anyway.
Because of the location of my back entrance the bench is always on full display. I see it as I enter the house and as I pass through the entrance to the family room. I see it from my “perch” in the living room where I do most of my reading, and I can see it from my kitchen as well. I think it is pretty clear that the bench has a front row seat in the house.
And, because of this prominent place it holds I decided it needed to stand out more, make an impact, be artistically dressed for any occasion. So, I took the pastel fabric off and began the process again.
After rummaging through my stash again I decided I wanted to cover it in this gorgeous floral fabric, however, as you can see, the paint no longer worked.
So I picked out a deep blue paint colour that worked with the bright shades of pink, blues, yellow and greens.
The bench now sits confidently on full display in my entrance to welcome guests as they sit to take off or put on their shoes, to hold a purse or jacket in a pinch, and to admire as I am working in the kitchen or sitting reading in the living room.
I hope you enjoyed the bench’s many outfit changes! Would you have chosen the same paint and fabric in the end, or do you think I should have stayed with the pastel shades?
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