Back in the good ‘ole days before indoor plumbing was widely taken for granted, the bucket bench played an important role in people’s lives. A bucket bench was typically a wooden bench that could be found on the porch or outside of the summer kitchen. On it sat buckets of well-drawn water for quick access to water for doing dishes, cleaning the home, and cooking meals.
A common practice was for the man of the household to keep the buckets filled and easily accessible for their wives to complete the indoor tasks that required water. Throughout the day, when the buckets were emptied, they were refilled from the well.
If you enjoy decorating in a primitive style, the well-worn patina and beauty of bucket benches are highly sought after. Bucket benches were typically small, so they can be placed in just about any space to add a primitive accent in our homes.
The bucket bench is a nice addition to any home decor, and each bench has its own special story. Adding a bucket bench to your collection is a nice way to give a nod to the past by incorporating this once necessary and practical furnishing into your home and making it useful once again by giving it a new purpose to meet the needs of the lives we live today.
Bucket benches come in all shapes and finishes. Some are painted, some stained, some very plain, and some are even ornate. Typically, they were built to be sturdy, utilitarian objects, so many of them have stood the test of time and the elements quite well. Because most bucket benches were originally used outdoors, they may have a naturally weathered look.
There are virtually unlimited ways to use a bucket bench in our homes today. They can be placed in entryways, kitchens, dining rooms, or even on stair landings. They look very attractive when old wooden buckets or crocks are displayed on them, but many other primitive objects can be placed on them as well.
Excerpts from a story written by Dan Weaver
