Curbside Treasure

Gee, it was back in June that I wrote this post about my nameless front room. I discussed this set of wicker furniture by my front door and how I wanted to get it out of the room:

I didn't want to get rid of the wicker altogether, because I still liked it and thought maybe, someday, I'll have a big farmers porch where I can make better use of it. But I was willing to let someone else I knew and trusted use it for what would probably be a long time.

In place of the wicker I wanted to get something smaller and more functional, along the lines of a bench like this:

Well, one of my best friends moved within the past month and she was talking about how she still needed to get some furniture for the sunroom in their new place. She was thinking along the lines of wicker but didn't want to go out and pay for new furniture. I immediately responded that I had a wicker set she could essentially have.  She was thrilled to score what she wanted for free, and I was so happy to send them off to a new loving home where I would still be able to visit them. :) 

As happy as I was to see them go, I didn't have that replacement bench I'd been thinking of yet. Within the last few months I had looked at a few at discount stores such as WalMart, Christmas Tree Shop and even Big Lots but they were all too small, too big, or too cheaply made. I wanted a bench made out of real solid wood, and with plenty of storage beneath, but I didn't want to pay a lot. All along, I kept hoping I would come across something at a yard sale, though I haven't been out treasure hunting for many weeks. At the same time I just knew that if I was patient, the right thing would turn up eventually.

So this past Sunday afternoon I was driving down the hill from my in-laws and as I whizzed past a house I realized out of the corner of my eye there were some pieces of furniture out by the edge of their yard. I thought one of them was a bench so I did a big u-turn at the upcoming 4-way stop to go back and check it out. Sure enough, there was a parsons bench. I pulled in the driveway and the owner was outside. I rolled down my window to ask if the furniture was for sale. Even better, it was FREE!!!! So I got out and took a better look. Solid wood. Perfect size. Psyche!! I told him I'd take it. I called my mother-in-law who met me there within five minutes with her SUV to take it back to our house.

It's definitely not what I would have bought new. It is stained a honey oak color with a high-gloss polyeurethane coat. Between the color and style, it is more country than I prefer. And it nees a little TLC - some drips of latex paint needed to be scraped off, and one of the sides is pulling apart and needs to be re-nailed for it to be sturdy enough to sit on. BUT - it will work for now. The size is just right and the seat lifts up for storage underneath:

This new storage space will most likely be used for hubby's books.

It certainly has potential. I can bang a few nails and chip off a little paint for now and then refinish it with a darker stain down the road.  What the heck, it was FREE!!! And it takes up so much less space than those oversized wicker chairs and ottoman.

This is what it will usually look like on a daily basis:

Not only is it a place to sit and put on/take off shoes, but its a place to dump my purse, diaper bag, kids backpacks and stuff I need to remember to take out of the house to bring to people (like bags of maternity clothes).

I just can't even believe how God provides - not just the big stuff, but even in the details we often think are trivial to him. He knows the desires of our hearts and he is faithful to us. Have I ever shared my favorite verse?

"Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!"  Isaiah 30:18