18 Days in December: The Bench

First: A Witch in the Mill, the 9th book in The Admiral Inn Series has officially launched and is available on the Amazon store. Grab one at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DRWBBSM1

Second: The book launched on the last day of 2024 because my husband and I ducked into Santa’s workshop for 18 Days in December. One of four gifts, the Bench below was created for my nephew as a house-warming/Christmas gift from an antique double bed frame and brand new maple. All parts of the frame were reused maintaining the rails functions such that the entire bench breaks down flat just as the original bed did. Other than the original slot brackets, sex bolts at the intersection of the footboard halves and the head board were the only additional fasteners. The birds-eye maple “bed skirt” was crenulated by carving along the wood’s natural figuring and functions as the inner ledge for resting the “mattress” blanket chest. Rounded and soft, the lid of the chest is reminiscent of a comforter and completes the removable trunk.

I’m not ashamed to admit that while the pieces where either there or simply made, there was a lot more problem solving to this repurposing than meets the eye. Carefully curating the old, adding the new, and riffing on the antique bed theme kept us both engaged and a little scared that we wouldn’t reach our deadline of Christmas Day. We’re happy to report the gift seemed to resonate with our cherished nephew and now sits in his century-old Victorian home.

TLTR: Double or Full beds have fallen out of fashion but due to the time in which they were popular, these beds are often great examples of beautiful craftsmanship. This bench design was our attempt to find new function as well as honor the craftspeople.