Breakfast Nook & DIY Storage Bench

HomeCrafts

Aug 30

Written By

Full product details are listed at the end.

This corner of the house has been a total waste of space since we moved in. It's an awkward spot at the end of our galley kitchen and we've mostly used it for a place to feed our pets and kept the litter boxes. However, I always loved homes with a little built-in nook with bench seating, so I figured why not make one!

I started thinking more seriously about making a nook in January and began brainstorming what I wanted it to look like. The first thing I found was the vintage hanging light, found at an estate sale warehouse in town, and I knew it would be perfect.

Next, I thought about the table. I had seen people rave about Article furniture for a while, but had yet to actually try them myself. I was pleasantly surprised by their oak offerings - I wanted a lighter wood for this space since our dining room has more of a dark wood pallet and I wanted to switch things up. I also love their mid-century inspired style. I decided to reach out to Article to see if they wanted to partner - and they said yes! I am beyond happy with this table - it's real wood (none of that painted plywood like a lot of new stuff) and it feels really well-made. The assembly was also easy - I just had to twist the legs into the bottom. I'm including my discount link to Article here, you'll get $50 off your purchase until the end of September 2020.

I managed to find the chairs randomly at Ross - I had a gift card from like 3 years ago from my grandma and thought it was a great opportunity to use it. And the shelf is from Ikea!

The Bench

As for the bench - I decided it would be fun to make it myself! I made it out of 2x4's. Each 2x4 was 8 feet long and I used a total of 7 of them for one bench (I bought enough to make 2 benches, but have yet to make the second one lol). I'll try my best to walk you through my process, but I did not follow a tutorial online or any plans, sorry!

The finished bench dimensions are: 4 feet wide x 2 feet deep x 14 inches tall (16 inches with the cushion).

I recommend reading through the entire post before starting because there are a couple of things I would have done differently, which I will share :)

*note: I did not use 2x4's for the top of the bench. I used a piece of plywood that was 4ft by 2ft. I also am keeping the bottom open.

First, I started by sanding each 2x4 on all sides to get things smooth and to remove the stamp markings. The raw boards are shown above and the post-sanded boards are shown below.

The panels for the bench are made up of four 2x4 pieces glued to each other to get the desired height I was looking for (I will explain this more in the next step). So, I used my Miter Saw to cut the boards to my desired lengths! I cut four boards in half, resulting in 8 pieces that were all 4 feet long (these will go along each of the long sides). I then cut two boards into 2 foot long segments, resulting in 8 separate pieces (these are for the shorter sides).

As mentioned, I am stacking four 2x4's together in order to get the desired height of the bench. To do this, I applied wood glue on each of the sides and then used a clamp to make sure I was getting a tight hold. I left the boards on the clamp for at least 10 hours before removing and then let dry completely for 24 hours before handling them again.

This is a photo of the front side of the bench being glued together.

I then cut up some wood to act as reinforcements going vertical (shown below). I used a total of 6 - two each on each of the long sides and one each on the shorter sides. These reinforcements help reinforce the wood glue and also make joining the corners easier.

I should have taken a moment here to sand the edges of all sides so that they are flush and flat - I did not so there are some small gaps. It's still very sturdy and okay - it just looks a little less finished.

Here you can see all the pieces assembled and the reinforcement pieces attached on the inside of the bench. The box frame sits on a 4' by 2' piece of plywood (this will become the top.

To finish the bench, I used two screws on each end of the boards on all sides. I did not attach a bottom piece of plywood to the bench because it didn't seem necessary.

For the top piece - I used the plywood that is shown above (2 ft x 4 ft). I added a piece of 2" thick foam on top, and covered in my fabric of choice (a basic mustard yellow cotton). I simply wrapped the fabric around the foam and plywood, and stapled it to the underneath side of the wood top.

I did attach the top to the bench using hinge brackets on the backside of the bench to allow me to lift up the seat compartment and store things in the bench.

That's pretty much it! If I was doing it again, I would have used thinner pieces of wood. The 2x4's make for a sturdy bench, but it is so heavy when it's all put together. I think I could've gotten away with 1x4's to keep things a little less bulky. I would also do a better job at sanding the edges :)