The Church Pew Bench

For those who have been here awhile, you have seen the vintage bench outside on my front porch.  For those who are new, let me introduce you to my Church pew bench {wink}.

the story of the coveted church pew bench

This is one of those items I wanted for awhile, and one day I saw a post for church pew for sale on a facebook page at a vintage store. The store was about one hour North from me, and I messaged them about details. I promptly drove up there the following day.  She was still there;  she was in good shape; she was already painted; she was priced reasonably; she had to come home with me.

Don’t ask me how, but I crammed her in my SUV and she barely, barely fit. I wasn’t going home without her.  I drove home carefully not to scrap or harm the inside of my car. Once I got home with no questions asked Mr. M just unloaded her, moved her and placed her where I wanted.

a home for the coveted church pew bench

She was originally painted a soft green color which totally worked for me.  I love green and our house was a pale straw color so it looked good against the siding.  Well, remember we got our house painted a few weeks ago, which I shared with our {front yard sitting area} post.  Well, the painters were nice enough to spray the bench pew our trim color, which looks so crisp and fresh against the Sherwin Williams Light French Gray on the house.

When we redid the front yard we moved the bench from the side of the front door to the front of the house on the left side.  Mr. M built a landing pad with the slate between the two windows in the front. It turned out to be the exact footprint for the Church pew.

styling the church pew bench

I decorated it for the 4th of July which I shared here {patriotic decorating ideas}.  

Since then I have acquired a few more zinc containers.  This past weekend we took a day trip down to Santa Cruz, CA.  One of my favorite local French antique dealers, Atelier de Campagne, was having a customer drop-in Sunday.  I got my zinc bucket with the moss sphere from them.

Plus another retailer in the area {which is new to me} Patine was having a huge container unloading sale.  They had so many beautiful European wares and I definitely will be going back in the near future.  I only got the zinc container with the Angel Wings plant, but there were sooo many things I wanted to bring home.

I don’t know where all these zinc and galvanized containers will end up, but the beauty of containers is that they can be moved around {if they are not too heavy that is}.

Miss M created the California sign last year with her Cheer squad at a social bonding event.  She did a great job, and it’s a great nod to our California journey for the last 25 years.

front yard progress report

Just to give you some perspective.  This is what this area looked like before the front yard remodel.  You can spy the church pew bench on the side by the front door and next to the cast iron urn.

This is what it looked like during the remodel but before we painted the house.

This is what it looks like right now; plus more changes and improvements to come.  I just ordered some outdoor pillows, since these are borrowed from inside the house and are not necessarily outdoor pillows.

You can see from these photos that the plantings have grown in and are settling nicely.  We still have many areas to tackle, but I am taking my time since I am unsure of some decisions and can’t find certain items.  It’s all part of the process.  I will share more updates on the front yard redesign soon.

“If home is the heart, then the garden is the heartbeat.”

Author Unknown

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sharing @ between naps on the porch