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Monday, October 17, 2011

Back in the day: The latest gossip

When I was a kid, everyone either had a phone table, also known as a gossip bench, or a built-in shelf in the hall where the telephone was installed. Both had a special cubby for the phone book, and there was almost always a pencil holder and a pad handy.

I've had a teak gossip bench that's needed some attention for a while, but I couldn't find fabric I liked. I happened upon a 50% off sale at Jo-Ann's today, and there was a bolt of upholstery fabric just the right shade of orange.

The project was simple but a little messy. All I really had to do was a little wipe-down on the finish and a quick seat recover job, but the foam had completely disintegrated into a fine powder, which invariably spills everywhere, no matter how careful you try to be.

The gossip bench is now in my entry hall, sans telephone, even though it has a drawer for pens and a cute little pull-out shelf for phone numbers.

13 comments:

  1. I love a good gossip bench... not that I'd EVER gossip. Honest. Everything I say is a FACT, no exaggeration. Almost bought one I fell in love with a few years ago, hesitated and it was gone. It remains the one that got away.

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  2. i love gossip benches, my grandaunt had one whle i was growing up...ur z looks lovely...:)..and hey i did a post on them too :)

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  3. Hey. I know that this isn't gossip bench-related, but did you happen to get your spindle clock from The Foundry yet? Mine still says "in fulfillment", but it was supposed to get here on the 13th. I called them up, but nobody seems to know what is going on with them.

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  4. @DearHelenHartman: I'll cross my fingers and do a little gossip bench dance for you. Maybe the perfect one is right around the corner.

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  5. @Sudha: I remember your post. I enjoyed it very much.

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  6. @Nick: No, mine isn't here either. I guess they must be having some trouble with the supplier. :(

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  7. I called them up last Friday and tried again this afternoon. Their answer today: "We have no idea what's going on. We've been trying to get in contact with our supplier, but they aren't picking up the phone and haven't responded to any type of communication since last Wednesday. It doesn't even look like they have pulled them out of inventory for shipping yet." Awesome.

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  8. @Nick: This may be my first and last order from The Foundary.

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  9. I just love these telephone tables. Great job on the reupholstery - love the orange!

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  10. @Rhan: I had some fiberfill left over from another project, but I think I'm going to pick up some high density foam and do it over. There are a couple of places where I pulled the fabric tighter than others, so I don't have as sharp an edge as I'd like. I think I'd achieve that better with foam. So much for trying to save money and use something I had on hand. :)

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  11. "Gossip bench," another one of my "so that's what it's called." Love it! My folks had one years ago, but yours looks cooler. I like it that it has that phone book shelf.

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  12. Your gossip bench looks great in the entry! Especially because it's more bench than chair. I love the mid-century style of it, and the orange was a good choice.

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  13. @monogirl: Thanks! It definitely looks better after I recovered the seat. Before it was green...that really drab olive green. The foam was so shot that I thought it was batting that had all migrated to one end of the cushion, but actually the foam had totally turned to powder and had all lumped at one end, leaving about 3/4 of the seat just fabric against board. Someone flattened out that spot sitting and gossiping, I guess.

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