I built my own entry way bench! I did in all in one day on a Sunday, that is including going to the hardware store to pick up the wood. I started at around 9am and finished at around 7pm. The most important thing is that I built it completely on my own. Normally, I will build something but I get a lot of help and pointers from my husband along the way. He happened to be working that day so I had no choice but to rely on my own skills! My main problem with what we had going before was it just look messy all the time. As you can see in the picture below. I needed something that would streamline and clean up this area.
All the main furniture pieces were too small so everything looked sloppy. This is kind of where all our leftover odds and ends ending up after moving in. We have to cover a lot of our furniture because of our cat so it just was always looking really messy and kind of driving me crazy especially since it is the first thing you see when you walk into my house.
I went to the hardware store with a very loose drawing of what I wanted. Plus I showed him this reference picture on Almost Makes Perfect’s Instagram feed. I love her blog and she has a great sense of style. The bench/table looked easy enough to make, so I gave it a try. The wood guy helping me told me to have a half-wall in the back to create sturdiness which I took his suggestion. The great thing about making my own bench is that I can make the bench the length, width and hight that I need for a specific area. I spent about $80 on the wood and supply. If I wanted this to be less expensive I could have used thinner slats of wood and pieced them together but that is more work and I was doing this on my own so I wanted it to be the least work possible. Or I could have a bought a similar one for around $200 but I really wanted to make this.
I brought the wood home where I sanded, wood glued, screwed, stained and lastly used a clear coat of oil based, brush on polyurethane. I use to use the spray but love the smooth, shiny finish the polyurethane makes on the wood. I am now converted from spay to brush on.
It was a lot of work. So much so, I will be taking a break from wood making for a while but it was totally worth it. The way the entry looks when you first walk in the door just feels so much better. Plus, there is a lot of space to put down things when you first get in after a busy day. It is a great catch all but without looking messy and sloppy. I was going to make a blanket ladder but decided that was probably a lot harder than it looked. I am not shy of wood work but I just understand fully how much work it is!
It was so worth all the hard work! Love how it turned out and love its purpose. Plus, I love that I made it all by myself.
