Do you ever look at an area in your home and wish you could find the perfect piece of furniture to fit your needs and your space? Sometimes it's easier to just create exactly what you want. A friend of mine always wanted a piece of furniture for people to sit on to hang out near her kitchen. The space wasn't big enough for a table and chairs but a bench would work. She talked about it a few times but never found what she wanted to put there. At the time, she was in nursing school and getting close to graduation. I just knew I had to do something and was so excited to surprise her. I consulted with my Dad, as usual, to figure out a plan.
Isn't he just the best?!
As soon as I bought the supplies, I jumped right in and got to work. I cut my 4 x 8 sheet of plywood just as he instructed and ended up with the exact shape I told him I needed. Then I created a frame underneath it so that I could attach legs and trim work.
Then I started adding the trim.
She already had this same trim in the room where the bench was going so it was the perfect choice. I had wanted to line up the trim exactly but I was not successful. I will need more practice with things like this in order to get it right. For this project, I knew I was going to paint it and that would make it less obvious. The next step was to get to work on the cushion. This proved difficult because of the odd angle at the back. It was cut at 133º so that it would fit in the bay window. The only way I could figure out how to create the cushions was to make several of them to piece together. If I had it to do over again, I would have made one cover for all of the pieces instead of covering them separately.
For the legs, I took a shortcut and bought already turned legs with a screw at the top.
For cushions, I took another shortcut and bought pillows and made pillow cases to cover them. Then my daughter and I snuck into her house (with the help of her family members) when she left early for her graduation ceremony.
It made for a really nice, extra space for guests at her party that day. There are a lot of things I would do differently, but I am very happy with my first custom piece of furniture. Once I get a decent workshop space set up, I will be eager to try new pieces. Do you have a space that needs something interesting? I have a few spaces in mind for our new house along with a custom gaming table for our dining room. I hope to start on the table soon. For now, I have to get back to the basement kitchen. Now where is my plumber's putty?
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