kitchen

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I had a lot of projects this summer. I like to try to get some things done during those short weeks when I am not also trying to school 4 children. Of course, working at a summer camp means there are no “lazy days of summer” for me, but still I have a little more free time. So this summer I finished a quilt that I had the pieces cut for and sitting on my desk for about two years now. I painted a wall with dry-erase paint. (Which is an awesome thing if you are homeschooling!) I built a bookcase to fit a very specific spot where one was needed. And now my latest project, and probably the last for the summer was to build a nook bench in my kitchen. I’m sitting on the completed work now, enjoying that lovely feeling of finishing something.

I documented the process on this one, in case it inspires someone else to give it a go. Please know, I am no carpenter, and it is not perfect, but I think it will do the job nicely!

First, the need. We have grown to a family of six, and while we do fit around our little round kitchen table, the six chairs are annoying. They are always in the way. And is it just my children or are kids just rough on chairs? I am CONSTANTLY telling them to sit correctly, stop leaning in their chairs, and keep those chair legs on the floor. Constantly. So we have broken like 4 chairs and resorted to keeping little stools meant for the kids’ coloring table at the main table for sitting on. And those are starting to break. We also had a lovely folding chair with a ripped seat. Nice right? But they held you up……mostly. So I wanted something to replace a lot of the chairs and something that was un-tippable and very sturdy. The idea to build a bench was born.

I looked up some ideas on the internet and said what I often do. “I bet I can do that!”

 

 

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I made a basic box frame out of 2 by 4’s. Which aren’t actually 2″ by 4″. Why is that anyway? I mean when we call them 2 by 4’s they should be but they are more like 1 1/2″ by 3 1/2″. Crazy world.

I had the nice guy at Lowe’s cut all my wood because I don’t like using the saw. It makes me nervous.

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I essentially made two rectangles and then connected them at the side with brackets.

When done I made sure this sat flush on the floor and didn’t rock or anything. I had one side that was up a little and learned that those little pads you put under furniture legs so they don’t scratch your floor also work well as little shims.

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Next I bought a sheet of luan plywood and again had the guy at Lowe’s cut it to fit the four front sections of my bench. I did not do the back. Who would see it anyway? I could attach it to the wall and then it really wouldn’t matter if the back was finished. I tacked on the plywood with small siding nails.

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Now I add trim pieces to box it out. Admittedly it was not perfectly square, so I used some of these trim pieces to correct that a bit. Also they were handy for finishing off the edges. I little tiresome though because I had to measure each piece to fit. I had to only measure a few at a time and had my awesome husband cut them for me. It’s a good thing I am not a perfectionist or I would have had a fit that these pieces weren’t all perfect and that I had not made it perfectly precise earlier.

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Now to paint. It took three coats of a white paint for it to really be solid white. I used a sheer paint so it would be smoother.

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For the top I used 1/2 inch plywood cut in a few pieces. I always want to use what storage space I can, so I wanted it to open. The square in the corner is fastened down but the other sides have a 2″ strip at the top to attach hinges to so that they can open.

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On to the cushions. I planned two rectangle cushions for this space. I bought 2″ high density foam and the yardage I needed of an outdoor, water-resistant upholstery fabric. I cut the foam to size using a serrated knife. An electric knife works great for this. Do I have one? No. So, the serrated knife works.

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I looked up a bunch of tutorials on how to make a cushion cover on the internet. None of them were the way I had thought to do it in my head. So, I went ahead and did it my way. And that could have been bad. But, it worked! Yay for me!

I cut three pieces per cushion. one that would go all the way around it, like the hot dog bun wrap sort of way. With about an inch and a half extra for my zipper seam allowance and an extra inch for my sides. The other two pieces were the size of the short edge, plus one inch extra each way, planning on 1/2″ seams.

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I made what looked like a big tube, sewing my long zipper into this seam.

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Then I turned the whole shebang inside out and sewed the small rectangles into the side edge, turning the corners to make them as square as I could manage. I had to be careful to open the zipper a bit so I could turn things back right side out when done.

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After that, all there was to do was to stuff the foam in the cases and put them on the bench. Voila! All done.

 

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It’s not perfect. It has flaws. But I don’t think anyone is going to crawl around down there and point them out. It is sturdy and it is doing its job well. I learned some good things from the experience and next time I take on a project perhaps there will be even fewer mistakes. But really I think these things teach me not to worry about that. Nothing  I make is going to be perfect. I can live with that.

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