I'm in a hotel for the week. Nope! Not vacation. I have one of those jobs that takes me out of town on occasion. It's not a bad gig at all, but really - there's no place like home! So, I'm sitting here in a small town, in a major chain hotel (which shall remain nameless because it's really run down), and I thought this was a good time to post another Retro Project...you know - a project I did some time ago, before blogs!
Today, it's a garden bench. Several years ago we re-did the fence. As with all projects, there was leftover material, and we're all about using stuff up! One day we were at a nursery looking for some perennials and maybe a tree when we saw a gorgeous, simple garden bench. After asking the manager of the nursery permission (so as not to look like a lunatic) I pulled out pen, paper and a tape measure and started making a diagram. Using nothing but leftover lumber, this is what came about:
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Okay, I know the finials may be a little kitchy, but they were left over too, so....!
As you can see from the pictures, it was done with very simple joinery using nothing more than my circular saw and a chisel and hammer to clean out the joints.
After 10 years, it's holding up really well. I had to replace one of the seat boards a few years ago, but other than that - it's all original. The angle on the back board is perfect, making it a very comfortable bench!
I thought about doing some step-by-step directions for building one, but that seemed like an awful lot of work if nobody was interested. BUT, if anyone IS interested in building this garden bench, leave a note in the comments and I'd be more than happy to write it out!
Thanks for reading!