Saturday, February 6, 2016

Antique Swan Bench for the Master Bath

             Last year when we were remodeling our master bathroom, I shopped our storage for a bench to use. There I found this antique hand carved swan garden bench that I had bought at least twenty years before. I attempted to restore it once, but gave up on it. 

 
This is not really the "before" picture as you can see the repair to the bottom of the sides and all the cracks that I had filled. Really old, hand-carved and thick wood. Unfortunately it had sat in a yard for years and was truly weathered and falling apart. The major issue was the bottom of both sides had rotted.

  
Filled and rebuilt the legs with "Hard as Nails" filler ... added a piece of board to the bottom to keep the filler from breaking away. It is quite heavy. 
 
Swans make up both sides and another is the back.
I would have loved to let the natural wood show, but there was just so much damage and the filled places were not pretty.

 
Wood had lots of natural character on the bottom of the seat which I left unpainted. 
 







Solid white ... just did not show off the awesome carving.

Washed it with blue paint ... much better. 




Sorry, but this is the only "after" picture I got ... 
 
I loved it, but was just not the right bench for our bathroom.

Sold in our garage sale last year.  $70.00.


This is the bench we used. 

Part one of our master bath can be seen here.

Thanks for stopping by. 
Audrey Z. 

Linking to:
Vintage Charm
My Thrift Store Addiction
 Vintage Charm 12  mythriftstoreaddiction.blogspot.com







8 comments:

  1. The swan bench transformed beautifully. Such an unusual piece. The bench you chose looks great in your bath - it lets the background of the bath show through.

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  2. Hi Audrey, thanks for dropping by and leaving comments, makes me happy. Great job with the swan bench, but a LOT of work. Looks great and I am sure the new owners were thrilled. The bench you did use in your bathroom was a good choice. Great that you posted today.
    Joy

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  3. What an amazing work of art...and beautiful to boot! But I think it would be way too much for a bathroom. Maybe somewhere outdoors by a pond - I would prefer what you chose to use, the wrought iron.

    $70. seems way too cheap.

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  4. What a fantastic swan bench! It's a shame you couldn't keep it, after all the work you put into restoring it. The wrought iron bench you used instead does seem to go better in that space.

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  5. This is so unique . . . and I love touches of uniqueness around the house. Who wants a cookie cutter same as everyone else home. It is wonderful that you rediscovered it among your treasurers. Great job!
    Connie :)

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  6. WOW! You never cease to amaze me...you have SKILLS!

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  7. I really liked your swan bench and hope your not sorry you sold it
    It looked so much better painted

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  8. Your swan bench was very nice...I like the little one you are using.
    Have a fun day tomorrow. :)

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