Project: Dining Room Bench

Hooray, the bench is done! We can officially host a party for 3!

So the hunt for the perfect chairs to match our dining room farmhouse table is still underway, but progress has been made, in that we now have a bench!

Alright, let’s do this.

1. I found this bench on Craigslist, originally from Ikea for $70, but mine for $15.

The bench was a little sad looking, but that was quite alright because I knew that finding a bench that would already match the color of the new table, and have some white detailing to go with the white apron I painted was impossible – so sanding and staining was going to be a must regardless.

2. Once home, I took apart the bench and got to work with my orbital sander.  I seriously sanded the crap out of this thing, as Ikea furniture has some hardcore poly on it, and when you’re using stain, you need 100% bare wood for it to work.  In fact after sanding I even went over the whole piece with a liquid deglosser (removes the gloss without sanding) juuuust to be sure.

-Insert: I suck and forgot to take a pic of this.  Sorry!-

3. Then came the stain!  I used two coats of Minwax stain in Mahogany, and applied it using a small foam brush.  I actually stained one of the under pieces first to make sure it would match the table before going too crazy. Fortunately the color was perfect!

As you can (kind of) see in the back, I also painted two of the wood sections white so that they would tie into the white detail that I painted on the table.

4. Once the stain and paint were totally dry, I put the bench back together, so that I could apply the polyurethane.  I used Minwax Polyurethane in a Satin finish (the least glossy) using a regular paint brush.  The poly not only serves as a nice protector, but it makes such a difference, since the stain doesn’t always take the same in every area.  Those “wet” looking sections below are actually dry – just places where the stain dried thicker.  I took a photo to show you the difference.

5. The poly took about 24 hours to dry… and then it was time to bring it upstairs to meet the table!

Our dog is such a ham.

Doesn’t the white detail make such a difference?

I’m super happy with how it turned out!  And the entire project cost me less than $35, which is less than the original bench itself, and it’s custom to our room!

Bench = $15
Stain = $7
Poly = $9
Foam Brush = .89
(Already had sander, deglosser and sandpaper)

Level of difficulty: Moderate

Now it’s full out chair search time so we can start enjoying this room!!!

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