My attempt at building a bench

Right along side my chair obsession is an affinity for benches and stools. (They're like chairs, right?) I often see simple, kind of primitive benches like these used as functional decor, which I love.


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I've had this photo from Miss Mustard Seed's blog in my Inspiration folder for a while.
I liked the rounded edges of these benches, which I think makes them a little more sophisticated than the blocky, square ones (which I also like).

This weekend, out of sheer boredom, I decided to try and build my very own bench with some wood scraps that I had in the garage.

It's far from perfect, but it's sturdy and functional and basically turned out how I wanted it to. And while I really wanted to be able to add the little side apron pieces like the bench above, I didn't want to have to go out and buy anything to make this, so it didn't get any.

(You can't see it in any of the photos, but there's also a 1x2 under that little shelf that runs perpendicular to it which adds some more stability.)

I sunk all my screws and hid them with wooden buttons so it'd look a little less home made.

The seat and legs were made from imperfect boards that I got out of the cull bin at Home Depot a while back. The shelf, support board and buttons were leftovers from other projects.

Since red was all I had on hand, red it became.



It now serves as a little table/foot rest in front of my porch sofa.



The sprinklers got it this morning, but I have a feeling it will hold up pretty well outside.
I can't wait to make more stools and benches in different shapes, sizes and styles. Now I just have to figure out how to convince my husband to buy me a new jig saw, and maybe a chop saw...