You know the lyrics.  ”Come on baby, let’s do the twist!”

And this bench sure does it.

I’ve declared my love of antiques in depth before (here) so it will come as no surprise to know that I scour antique shops, Craigslist, flea markets, and consignment stores on a regular basis.

After scoring our bar cart last spring at an antique store…

…I decided that I loved barley twist.  You know, those twisty legs and arms you see in the photo above?  Swoon.

Around the same time my love of barley twist was established, I made public notice via the vast viral world (maybe on Facebook?) that I was looking for a bench.  In response, a friend texted me a photo of a bench that was gorgeous.  And this bench just happened to be covered in barley twist.

Literally.

That’s the photo of the bench when we bought it (this is actually the photo of it in the consignment store).  French toile and lots of fussy small pillows.  But be still my heart!  Look at the framework!  The barley twists!  The intricate detail!  The cane back!

How did this antique check out?  Great, in our minds.  The bench is solid wood.  There aren’t any nicks or scuffs, just some worn spots on the legs.  The bench is unique, which really captured us.  It has intricate woodwork and is different than anything we’ve seen.  We sat on it and it’s super comfortable.  The cushion is all down (awesome!) and we knew it could easily be recovered.  A quick check underneath it and we found the cane back was in prime condition.  No tears or sagging.  We were good to go!

We immediately sold the pillows (they were not the sizes we wanted) and the bench sat with its toile seat for a while….and a while longer….and then finally, we were just recently ready to cover it with the perfect fabric.
What better to go with a traditional antique bench than something a bit unexpected, like a bold velvet stripe?

I love a lot of things about this fabric.  I love that it compliments the warm neutrals in our living room and holds all the colors in our patterned chair.  I love that the strip is a sharp contrast to the curves of the bench.  I love that the velvet pays homage to the history of the bench, being such a popular material of the past.  It’s not crazy bold, but it’s punchy enough for us!

Now, the bench needs pillows.  Speaking of, we had some leftover fabric from the bench and, wanting to tie it into the living room even more, we made a pillow for the chair by our fireplace.

I love these details on the pillow.

That’s the evolution of our great bench find; from frilly and stuffy to updated and lively.  And speaking of great finds and Craigslist…I have a killer find to post soon!

Hospitably Yours,
Stephanie