Crossing the Finish Line: Benches Done!

We have done it.

The benches are done.

The frames are built. The cushions have piping and are sewn. The pillows are put together and fluffy! The extra storage space is used.  It is wonderful. I love my kitchen! It is now uncluttered and can seat more people. WINNING!

Lets start with the before.

And now today here are some picture showing off the amazing, DIY, kitchen benches.

The great this is the extra storage I gain. I can put my canning supplies, corningware, and cast iron all under there now! YAY!

Lets total the cost of the project:

Wood                  FREE (Shipping containers from local company)
Stain                   $ 2 (Habitat for Humanity ReStore)
Nails                   $ 3
Fabric                 $ 30
Pillows                 $ 5 (Scraps)
Rope (Pipping)  $ 5
Foam                    FREE (Thanks Mom- From her old benches!)
TOTAL                $ 45

What a great deal. Being on the lookout for Free stuff really does help!

I am so happy this project is done. I can now move on to other projects in the kitchen. Stay tuned, they are going to be awesome!

Where do you have extra storage in the kitchen? In a garage? Over the Fridge?

P.S. See the process in my previous posts Here, Here, and Here! (Yes it has taken awhile!)

Kitchen Benches – Part I

We have a very small kitchen in a very small duplex. The only complaint we have is the lack of storage in the kitchen  – we decided to create our own and hopefully be able to host 4 people comfortably at our table. Nate and I started to dream about how to do this. Should we make a cabinet, benches, or boxes? There are so many ideas and not a lot of space.

In the end we went with the benches. The house I grew up in had benches in the kitchen with TONS of storage underneath. I loved those benches, they where comfortable and when I ate at them I felt like I a roman goddess getting to eat while reclined. Which is probably why Mom & Dad always ended up sitting on the benches before us kids could.

Here is where we are going to put the benches:

All of the wood pictured here we got for free from Nate’s employment: (holler!)

I spent this past Friday staining about half of that including the 100 1×2 slats….

The Habitat for Humanity ReStore has a great selection of stains and paints, so for $2 I got this sweet “Golden Oak” stain. I like it a lot!

And on Saturday, after drilling, sanding, staining, and checking measurements for hours all we got was this little preview:

But I love it already. Its going to be awesome to have storage and seating for more than just two!