Bench Redo

The holidays are officially over.  The kids are (finally) back at school.  Honestly, a week off from school would have been just fine with me.  Any more than that the kids get bored, pick on each other and drive each other crazy.  (And their Mom too!)   Love them and they’re awesome, but there are those days that if I hear “MOM!” just one more time… well, they are at school now, so all is well! ; )

I went out in the world today to do a little browsing at my favorite stores and guess what??  It’s not Christmas anymore, it’s Valentines Day!  Who knew??  The retail stores certainly did.  Red, pink and white decorations, candy and hearts are everywhere!

Anyway, I started this bench before the holidays and it’s finally complete.  I had an old Kirkland’s bench I bought some years ago and it wasn’t being used.  Not to mention my style has changed and any thing “scrolly” has gotta go.  So, I took the thing apart.  I have always wanted to have a bench at the kitchen table, so that was where the inspiration came from.  I had four table legs I bought at an antique show just lying around, so they were cut to size with my table saw.  I pulled the padding off the bench a bit to drill holes through the seat and into the center of each leg for screws.  The legs and frame are glued as well, and supported with L-brackets.  I love L-brackets!  They come in handy when you don’t have the right nail gun or drill bit.

After paint and fabric I have a new bench!  Oh yeah, I am doing all this (except painting) in my empty dining room.  Since Nate Berkus hasn’t come to my house yet to figure out what to do with a dining room I don’t want to use as a dining room, it’s my workshop!

My old bench

        

The legs are screwed in from the seat as well as glued.

         

The support frame is attached with glue and L-brackets.

       

L-brackets. I used a lot!

       

I actually painted this thing 3 times! The third time was the charm!

        

My kids now sit side by side nicely so they can sit on the bench! ha!