We Built Benches

The wife and I repurposed two cubbies into benches with storage.

First we started by cutting 1.5 inch foam and 1 inch MDF board and some kiddie owls fabric to the dimensions of the top of the cubbies, and we made a hidden brace for the extension piece of seat that would take the seating all the way to the wall.

This is a picture of the store bought cubbies and the extension brace we built. The cubbies were made to stand up but the height, length, and width when laid down makes them the perfect fit for making them into childrens benches.

 Close up of the extension brace. Simple and probably overkill in the strength department.

We drilled holes through the MDF board and the cubbies and countersunk  bolts that would go completely through both. We used hot glue (should have used liquid nails, but it would have taken longer to set) to hold the bolts in place. 

View of the bolts set.

We hot glued the 1.5 inch foam onto the MDF board over the countersunk bolts

View of the foam, board, and bolts before the fabric was applied over.

We applied the fabric to the foam covered boards with hot glue and construction staples. After the first seat was finished we sized everything up then bolted the finished seat onto the cubbies and extension brace. 

View of the hidden extension brace doing its thing.

We added hard wood sliders to the bottoms of the cubbies and the extension brace.

We cleaned up the area and put the benches in place.

Here are the new cubbies/bench seats in action.

Next project : Turning an old childrens table into a chalkboard table.