My Christmas entryway bench decor is styled for the holiday season, or at least what’s left of it anyway. 😉
I still can’t believe Christmas is less than two weeks away. I still have so much left to do. There are presents that need bought. There arecookies that need baked. There are stockings that need stuffed. And whilst all of this going on, I decided to take a step back today to embrace my nostalgia.
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The bench you see in these pictures is not just any old bench, it’s a bench my dad made for me. And it’s not just any bench my dad made for me, it’s a bench my dad made for me that has an identical twin that my mom owns.
And while I love the bench in and of itself, it’s not the actual bench that has me feeling so nostalgic, but rather what the bench represents: all the memories from my childhood.
Many years ago, my dad made my mom a bench that looks just like this one. Not only is it beautifully timeless, it’s also amazingly functional. With a built-in storage unit and backside that converts to a tabletop, this little bench is more than just a bench. Growing up, my mom styled it and decked it out for every changing season and holiday, and she always let me help. It sat in our dining room, right beside the front door entryway. Isn’t it funny that that’s exactly where mine sits now?
The original bench lives at my parent’s house, but it’s not the same house that we grew up in. They have since moved on from that home, and while I love that they’re closer to me, I do miss visiting my childhood home. I miss the memories in that home most of all.
The memories that I miss still live in that bench. That bench, after all, saw every step of my life, from childhood all the way to college and beyond. It watched me learn to walk. It saw the decade that my dog Freckles stared out our bay window at my brother and me as we walked home from our bus stop. It watched my best friend and me dress up as clowns for Halloween and eat chocolate until our stomachs hurt. It watched my mom yell for my brother and me to come inside every Friday night after our weekly neighborhood games of flashlight tag. It watched me leave for college and make rare appearances home with new haircuts, new piercings (I miss you eyebrow ring), and a new tattoo. It watched me every stage of my childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. It saw me grow, learn, fall, cry, and laugh.
And while that exact bench isn’t the one you see in these photos, I still feel nostalgic looking at my replicated bench. It didn’t take much to convince my dad to make me a bench just like my mom’s because well, I’m his only daughter…and he’s also the best.
So here lives my little piece of the past. Every time I walk by it, I think of all those memories from years ago.
Now that I have a family of my own, I’m excited to make new memories in our family home. I hope that one day this bench will hold as fond memories for my daughter as the original carries for me. And with that trip down memory lane, I’ll leave you to take a minute to think about the true meaning of Christmas. 🙂 Happy holidays, everyone!
