One of the major challenges I faced when moving to the big city is not having enough storage. Oh the struggle! Trying to find places for all my stuff, but at the same time have a clutter-free and pretty place. When I first moved into my condo I envisioned something totally different for my front entrance, but as I was unpacking and realized how many freakin’ shoes I had, there was no way I was fitting them all in my tiny entrance closet. Ugh! Onto plan B! After getting some inspiration on Pinterest, I decided to go with a practical and great idea of getting a storage bench. I went on the hunt for the perfect one and didn’t really find anything I liked and in my budget. Soooo… I decided to make my own! The bench project actually turned out to be super easy! You can get it done in one day. I’m very pleased with the outcome and the best part was I saved a good amount of money!!! If you are interested in making one yourself keep on reading.
Materials you need:
- A bookcase
- Piece of wood (1/4 inch MDF, Masonite, or any board you have laying around)
- Feet for your bench (optional)
- Foam (I recommend going to Walmart and buying a bed foam topper for WAY cheaper than from the fabric store)
- Fabric for your cushion
- Strong glue
- Staple gun
- Your toolbox
Details below…
First you need to assemble your Bookcase. I bought the IKEA BILLY bookcase in white. You can always customize it to the size you need by cutting it down, but if that’s not feasible, make sure you buy a bookcase that fits in your specific space. Measure, measure measure! Once you put it together, you flip it on it’s side.
Adding legs to your bench is totally optional. I found these candleholders at Dollarama! Super cheap and goes well with the rest of my décor. I bought 6 of them. I used gorilla glue to attach the candleholders, 4 on each corner and then two down the middle. Wait 18 hrs or so for it to dry and then flip the bench over so it can stand on it’s brand new feet!
Now for the cushion…
Cut the foam to the size of the wood. My wood was already pre-cut to the size that I wanted because I took advantage of the free cutting service at Home Depot! Take the foam and place it on top of the wood. If you have adhesive spray, it may be easier to use it to keep the two together before wrapping it in fabric, but if not, you can totally do it without, but you might need a helping hand. Take the fabric and cover the foam/wood like you’re wrapping a present and use the staple gun to keep in place. Make sure to pull the fabric very tight around the edges!
AND…
Voi-la! Now you have a beautiful custom bench seating! So what do you think? It wasn’t too hard, right? I want to hear your experience on this DIY project. Please share and leave a comment below!
Happy DIY-ing!
xo
