Old bench

I debated about putting this here or in the Garden art forum. It's not really trash because I wouldn't throw it away, but it's not really for the garden either.

I inherited a wooden bench that sat on my Grandmother-in-law's front porch for years and years. I have no idea how old it is, but that's besides the point! It's painted with a redwood/stain/paint color and it's pretty blah. This bench gets a lot of use. The boys sit on the bench all summer long and eat their popsicles, the girls sit there and talk about the boys and in the winter the kids sit there and wait for the bus.

I want to do something fun with it. I'm thinking of painting it some whimsical colors and patterns, maybe each section a different color/pattern. Maybe it would liven up my porch. The only other thing that sits on my porch is wicker furniture in the summer and firewood in the winter! Since it doesn't sit with my wicker furniture, I don't think it's imperative that it match or even resemble the wicker...what say you?

bench:
http://picasaweb.google.com/michelle.katt/March13/photo#5041893880943730450

You can see where the bench sits in relation to the rest of the porch furniture in this pic:
http://picasaweb.google.com/michelle.katt/GardenAndIrises/photo#5026374509445979858

This is similar to what I am thinking of doing:
http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/seurat/531/