From Trash to Treasure: Roadside Benches

Day 9 of the Twelve DIYs of Christmas 2025

In the span of one week last summer, I found not one, not two, but three awesome pieces of roadside "trash" that came home with me as treasure. First, while driving through a neighboring town, I saw these two stone benches, disassembled and lying flat in a pile of trash on the berm of a road. (A herculean task of lifting them into my car, but worth it!)

A few days later I took a 10-hour road trip to visit my dear friend in Bangor, Maine. The day I left, which happened to be the Monday after a Bangor community yard sale took place, I found this bench on the side of the road, too.  

Apparently, people in Pennsylvania and Maine alike were going wild throwing away perfectly good benches. And who am I to question their decisions when I'm the person who found them?

For the wooden bench, the restoration was simple. I sanded the seat, which is a beautiful thick plank of wood. Then, after removing the basic original legs, I added sleek metal legs that I ordered from Amazon. The restoration for the stone benches even more simple. All they needed was a thorough power-washing, which happens to be a bizarrely therapeutic activity. I sold the shorter stone bench, which earned more than enough profit to fund the metal leg purchase for the wooden bench.

We placed the remaining stone bench in our backyard, which feels like owning our own park bench. It's worn, but it's perfect.

The wooden bench now resides in our bedroom, adding a touch of warmth against the gray walls and drawing out the natural wicker in the salvaged basket I placed on top.

Like I said, it pays to be observant! And a sincere thank you to the bench-thrower-outers. Your trash became my treasure. 

May your DIYs be merry and bright!

Visit again to see the remaining twelve DIYs of Christmas 2025!