A Regency-Style Garden Bench for The Frankentrees

Our new old garden bench is in dire need of attention
Photo: Chronica Domus

High summer has arrived and the garden has become an absorbing outdoor playground as of late.  I am currently in the midst of a project that is focused around our Frankentrees, the very trees that were the subject of a post I published two years ago.

I have been patiently training these apple trees into an arch, dreaming that one day I might set a pretty garden seat beneath it.  It would, I imagined, be a place for this gentlewoman gardener to rest her weary body between the endless cycles of deadheading and weeding. 

Recently I happened across the garden bench of my dreams, an English Regency-style iron example. I believe it was made at the beginning of the twentieth century and was originally painted bronze green but has since been painted white.  Its sturdy construction is far superior in quality to anything available for sale today at mass-market garden centers and big-box chains. Besides, this is not a style which one typically sees for sale at such outlets or elsewhere, come to think of it. I am, to say the least, tickled pink to have found it.

A Regency iron garden bench, circa 1810, with characteristic serpentine back and curved arms - the diamond-shaped embellishments make this bench much fancier than was typical of the era

Source

Our Regency-style garden bench shares the same serpentine back and curved arms as the Regency example shown in the preceding photograph.  Notice, too, the similarities in the curlicues which decorate the top corners of both benches
Photo: Chronica Domus

The bench was perfect in every respect but one.  The painted surface was in such a state of degradation that it would literally fall away while being handled.  I spent the better part of two uncomfortably hot days with my face encased in a dust mask laboring and scraping - in between muttering words not fit for print - until, finally, the ghastly stuff had been eviscerated.

I had every intention of repainting the bench until discussing the matter with my husband who came up with an excellent suggestion.  The result, he promised, would provide a durable, long-lasting finish that would greatly delay the need for future maintenance.  Best of all, it would immediately relieve me of several more days of hard graft.  Now, how could I possibly argue with that logic? Thank you, dear!

Loading up the Volvo with our shabby-looking bench, we set off in search of West Coast Powder Coating, a small local workshop which performs minor miracles on all manner of metal objects, including this one:

A familiar item from the shores of the United Kingdom, a red K2 model telephone box
in the midst of receiving a facelift

Photo: Chronica Domus

We left our garden bench in the very capable hands of Chris and his team, having selected just the right shade of white and degree of gloss in the finish (70%).  By the way, Chris told me I need not have bothered scraping away the paint as the bench would be sandblasted prior to receiving its coat of primer and powder coating.

A week later, we returned to find this:

Chris rightly beams with pride and joy as he shows off the workmanship involved in resurrecting
our Regency-style garden seat

Photo: Chronica Domus  

We could not be more pleased with the skillful work Chris and his team performed, insuring our old garden bench will be enjoyed for many years to come.  The industrial-strength finish, he tells us, should last for many years.

The hard toil is certainly not over yet (is it ever "over" when it comes to the garden?).  Plans are afoot to complete the area around the Frankentrees and directly beneath the bench.  For now, I can at least rest my wicker basket upon our garden's newly restored installation while I gather the remainder of the apple harvest, which arrived rather early this year.    

Rosy-hued apples await picking

Photo: Chronica Domus

Finally! The perfect Regency-style garden bench to place beneath the apple arch
Photo: Chronica Domus

I do hope you enjoyed reading about the revival of this particular garden bench and that it might inspire you too to breath new life into a tired piece of outdoor furniture.


West Coast Powder Coating
165 Mitchell Ave, South San Francisco, CA
Tel: (650) 871-0400

Nota bene: I am neither paid nor do I receive recompense in exchange for applauding products or services within my blog.  I do so because I enjoy them.  If you are a kindred spirit, you too enjoy recommending nice things to fellow good eggs.