Purple Outdoor Country Bench

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR! ...and sit outside on this cute little country bench! Here's day #6 of September's 7 Days of Seating!

I'm not positive how comfortable a seat this would be because it is rather narrow, but it sure is cute! A friend gave me this sweet little bench because they are downsizing. I seem to be getting lots of her stuff <insert squeal of excitement here!> This little bench sat outside on her deck for a couple of years like this:

I thought about sanding it down, but the wood was unfinished and pretty smooth overall. So, I just took a scrub brush to it with some water to get as much dirt off of it as I could. Then I put 2 coats of exterior paint on that cutie. Recognize that color? It's the same as my front door!

 I'm planning on doing some bush rearranging in my front yard to incorporate this bench. Do you think it would be too much purple? I want to pull up that middle bush and center the bench under the window. What do you think? There's not many options of where to put it since we don't have a porch. :(  Alas, that's a post for another day!

 The paint does not say that you have to seal it, but I'm thinking I might put some polycrylic on top of it before I leave it outside to the elements. I can't decide if I should or not. If you look at the before picture above you'll see a darker spot on the right side of the seat. Well, I'm not sure what that was, but in that same area the paint is staying sort of sticky. I'm wondering if polycrylic will fix that problem.

 I'm so happy with her, even if she doesn't work out in the front yard. She'll make me happy in the backyard, too!

Tomorrow's the last day of September's 7 Days of Seating. I have no idea what I'm posting about yet, but I hope it'll be fabulous so don't miss it!