You guys!! My entryway shoe situation has been looking like it needed some major help lately. Like, it looked bad, real bad. I mean take a look for yourself…😬🙈😳. (I can’t believe I just showed you that!)
So embarrassing, but I wanted to show you just why building entryway benches was becoming a number one priority on my build list! I mean, look at that pic!!!! Yikes! And to think that’s one of the first things people see!!!!🤪🙈
I knew benches would be a super simple and cheap fix to this situation. It cost me $18 dollars in lumbar to build two benches. I already had all the other stuff on hand so it may be a little more for you.
Hopefully your entryway looks better than mine did, but if yours is in need of a makeover like mine was, then this is the perfect quick and easy project that can transform your space. These benches could also be good for outside, a laundry room, mud room, playroom… you get the idea; anywhere!!!!
Now let’s get to the fun part. Making them!
Here’s what you’ll need.
This post does contain affiliate links, which means if you make a purchase from any of the provided links I will receive a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you. So thank you so much if you do make a purchase from here. Your support is greatly appreciated!
- 2 x 12 x 8(for me) yours could be longer if you need a bigger bench.
- 2 x 4 x 92 Stud (per bench)
- 2 -1/2 ” construction screws
- Chop Saw
- Drill
- Nail Gun(optional)
- Wood Glue (optional)
- Pencil
- Tape Measure
- Sander
- Stain or paint color of your choice. I used Minwax’s Weathered Oak stain, and then a whitewashed white paint.
- Polyurethane
Now you’re ready! Let’s get building!
- Measure out your space and decide how long you want your bench(es) to be. My benches are each three feet long based on the spaces I was putting them in.
- Cut your 2 x 12 to size. Tip: For the first time ever I took the nice Home Depot worker up on his offer to cut my 2 x 12 for me, and man, how have I not done this sooner! It was so much easier for them to do it! Trust me, if you know how long you want your bench to be, use them! I think they like doing it, too!
- Now you’re going to make your legs. I made my legs at a slight angle. I did this by setting my chop saw to 10 degrees. Grab your 2 x 4, and make a cut right off the edge of your wood so that you have an angle on this side as well. Then measure 15″ from there, and make your second cut. This is what my legs looked like when finished and why I used the 10 degree angle.
- Now that you have your leg, use that to mark and measure out all your other legs making sure to only do one leg at a time. I made eight legs for two benches.
- Now that you have your legs, it’s time to attach them to your bench! Measure where you want your legs to be on your board. I went 2” in from the ends and a 1/2” in on the sides.
- Now that you know where you want your legs to go, pre-drill into your wood about 1-1/2″ up on the inside of your legs going about an inch into your wood. That way the screws will go in easily when you do drill in your legs.
- Now that you have your holes pre-drilled, I used wood glue to hold my legs into place, but you could just go straight to the drilling. Up to you! Glue your legs into place making sure they’re all going the right direction. This is what the legs should look like when you’re finished.
- My husband came up with the idea to add a support piece of wood in between the legs so we could drill the legs into those as well at the actual bench piece of wood. I do think it helped to make these benches more sturdy and strong. So for this step, you’ll measure out the space between your legs and cut your 2 x 4(I had leftover pieces that I used) to size. See picture for reference. Then drill those into your 2×12.
- Now you can drill your legs into place. Using your construction screws, drill into your pre-drilled holes and keep going until you’re a good distance into your 2 x 12. Once that’s drilled in, drill into your support piece of wood as well. I did two screws into the support per side on the back sides of my bench and then used a nail gun and finishing nails on the front side so you couldn’t see the screws, but that is up to you! Another optional step is to use wood filler to fill in your drilled holes.
- Now it’s built and it’s time to choose how you would like to finish your bench! I used Minwax’s Weathered Oak, and then once that dried (24 hours of dry time), I did a layer of whitewash (this dries super quick, so maybe an hour of dry time), then I finished that off with a polyurethane sealant to keep it protected from all these boys I’m surrounded by!😉
You’re done! You did it! I’m so excited to see what you’ve come up with so either tag me on Instagram @thedecormama or post pictures in the comments below so I can see what you came up with! I can’t wait to see!
Thank you so much for coming, and I can’t wait to see you back here very soon for my next project!
XOXO,
Lauren
The Decor Mama