Wednesday, April 3, 2013

DIY a seating bench with storage for the kitchen (aka March project).

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I always wanted us to have a sitting bench in our kitchen - big, soft and comfortable. And now we have it!!!

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Our budget-friendly and kid-friendly bench. At first, we wanted to make it out of basic cabinets, kind of what we did in the boy's room, but just adding a frame on the bottom to make it higher. There were two problems with that. First, the price. It would cost us at least $150-200 in cabinets alone.Second is the width of the basic cabinets. The ones we used in the boys' room were from Lowes, and they were just too narrow for the bench we wanted to build.

We were considering building it ourselves but...well, we are not that crafty :) So after going back and forth, we stumbled upon a perfect solution for the perfect price in the Ikea as-is area:

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Yeah, I know, I should've taken a better picture- this is only one side :) But it was a nice cabinet with two big drawers and no top. Only after I read the tag carefully, I realized it was a sink cabinet:

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And both the price and the size (19 X 61 in.) was just right! We also bought a particle board shelf (only $5 in as-is area again) to use on top. It was a little wider (about 22 in.), so it was perfect to attach to the top. As you can see, the cabinet was partially brown but I sanded, primed and painted it white to match our kitchen better. Here's the proof at how wide it is :)

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It's like a kitchen couch for the little guys :) The cushion came from Walmart online. I actually wanted to make my own but, as I said before, I wanted it to be very soft. And do you know that 5" foam padding costs $50 per yard?? Not even counting the price of fabric to go over it. Because I didn't have that kind of money, we just used a gift card and bought a lounge chair cushion (the only thing that was wide enough). It wasn't very cheap but the gift card helped a lot! The cushion was a little too long, so I cut off the extra and made a pillow out of it.

And after a few coats of Scotch Guard (you do remember, I'm potty-training this cute little guy above), it's ready to be used!! The drawers on this bench are HUGE!! I keep things I don't use very often in there (seasonal, table cloths etc. etc.) because most of the time this bench hides behind the table. It's not a window bench- we want to (hopefully!) build a deck next year and open up the window and add a french door there. But here's how it looks most of the time:

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And this was our second March project, and the total cost was only about $65 but it's not even about the price! I just like to nap there :)

I shared this post with these awesome parties:
Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Party 
The Shabby Nest 
DIYShow Off 
To Sew with Love 
I should be moping the floor 
Marvelous Mondays 
Homemaker on a Dime 
Under The Table and Dreaming 
Pinkapotamus Pink Hippo Party 
Elizabeth an Co 
Not Just a Housewife 
Love Bakes Good Cakes 
The DIY'ers 
Little Mom on the Prairie 
Clean and Scentsible 
Hookin Up with HoH
The Shabby Nest  
Joyful Homemaking 
Thrifty Decor Chick 
Monday Funday 


44 comments:

  1. Looks great. Well done.
    Carolx

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  2. Awesome! Not only are foam pads expensive, outdoor fabric (similar to scotch guard) is $20/yd! I think the patio pad is perfect! I bet it's so nice to have the extra storage!;

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    1. And that's what I thought! With all the expenses, building it from Lowes cabinets and making a thick cushion from scratch would probably cost us $300 for the whole process!

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  3. Lena, you ROCK the DIY projects. Nice job! LOVE the bench ! Love the "little guy" photo on the bench ! and you found the right colours in the cushion too I see.

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    1. Yes! That's one of the reasons why I chose this cushion-it matches our kitchen. I love these colors!

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  4. What a great idea!! It looks so cute with that little guy showing it off.

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    1. Thank you Debby :) He really enjoys the bench.

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  5. Wow, that's very resourceful! Gotta love the price and the size. You're really going through those projects of yours!

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    1. Thank you! I have a list of at least 30 things I want to do this year, and I'm trying to take advantage of warmer days right now :)

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  6. excellent and a great deal. You are very creative, well done.

    Gill

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  7. This is great, you are so creative!

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  8. Good job, I love this idea. It would be great for my back deck! You are so talented and frugal, my two favorite things, Oh oh I just called you talented? Remember my Tuesday post:) Oops!

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  9. Your kitchen looks awesome. You have such a good imagination and an eye for things that can be repurposed. Love it!

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  10. You my friend are CRAZY talented!!! You have an awesome sense of style and i've decided you need to move close to me, or at least take a nice long visit to my home and help a girl out! ;) lol!! Great job, Lena!!

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    1. Oh, that would be so much fun!! I wish you lived closer :)...

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  11. So beautiful and it looks so good with the sons' artwork above.

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  12. Replies
    1. Thank you Leolina! And thanks for stopping by!

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  13. Great work!
    I would love it if you shared this in my Furniture/House Hacks Linky Party:
    http://littlemomprairie.blogspot.com/p/blog-round-up.html

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  14. Thanks for sharing! I am collecting kitchen bench ideas because our house is so small that we need everything to double as storage as much as possible. This turned out great! I'll have to start haunting the Ikea as-is section now.

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    1. Thank you Krissy! Ikea as-is section is the best! I always find something there- wood, fabric, lamp shades. You never know what treasures can be hidden there :)

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  15. Smart idea! I'd love if you'd link up to The DIY'ers. http://homecomingmn.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-diyers-and-more-curtains.html

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  16. Hi Lena!
    This is such a cool idea! Thanks so much for sharing at Marvelous Mondays. Pinned to my MM board. Have a great week!

    Julie @ This Gal Cooks

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  17. This is great! I am pretty sure the next time we make a trip to IKEA I am going to be on the lookout for something similar- I would love to do this in our kitchen! :)

    Thank for sharing at Marvelous Mondays this week!

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    1. Good luck on your trip to IKEA! You never know what you can score there :)

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  18. The bench looks real comfy ! Love bargains like that {doesn't matter what it was supposed to be ! } Thank you for sharing at our ALL MY BLOGGY FRIENDS party :-)

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  19. Great idea,I want one! Would love to have you link this up to our blog party: http://joyfulhomemaking.com/2013/04/welcome-to-think-tank-thursday-25.html

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  20. I am not sure where you're getting your info, but great topic. I needs to spend some time learning much more or understanding more. Thanks for magnificent information I was looking for this info for my mission.

    Look into my website - graduate certificates online

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  21. This looks so comfy and I love the fabric on the pillow and cushion! We'll be featuring this at Someday Crafts tomorrow, so come visit us if you get a chance!

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  22. What a great idea! We need to do something just like this =) Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Uncommon Designs...

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  23. I'm really inclined toward dual purpose items. And I'm sure this would bring convenience inside my tumbleweed. :D I've always liked the concept of a storage chest at the foot of my bed, and this works quite similarly. A great alternative for my tiny house. On another note, you can maximize the space inside the cabinet more if you put in more partitions. :)

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