Before+After: Window Bench

I took my old desk from Ikea that was at least 14 years old and decided to re-purpose it. I did this project a couple months back, pre-blog; and now realize that I didn’t take any before pictures. Since this desk is soo old, Ikea has no images I can show you. Sorry! So…I decided to draw it to give you an idea.

This is the one and only pic I could find. Sorry for the really bad quality.

It was a pretty basic desk, typical Ikea style but with a pine top and 4 drawers. After much thought I decided to turn it into a window bench for my office.

First, I took measurements to decide where to make my cuts and if it would even work. I know this is not a standard bench height but I used what I had to work with.

My goal was to leave the existing drawer glides as is and just cut evenly down the middle of each side piece. So, there would be 2 drawers on each side. I then took everything apart and marked where to cut. I set aside the drawers and the top.

After cutting the sides I realized I’d made a mistake. Still, not sure how I measured wrong, especially since I measured like 10 times. But, I had to take 2 glides off and move them down. Oh well!

Next I took an extra piece of plywood that I had and used it for the bottom. I cut it to size at 46 1/2” x 19”. I kept the rest of the plywood and set it aside. Then I started building the bench.

First, I took the top and screwed the left side (top cut piece) and the right side (top cut piece) to it. Then I screwed in the left side (bottom piece) and the right side (bottom piece). Hope that makes sense!

Next, after a slight sanding, I attached the bottom piece of plywood with screws. I then put all the drawers in so to make sure it all lined up. I decided not to add anything to the back since I’m using it as a window bench and it would always be up against a wall.
Once it was good I started to paint. I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in “Pure White”.

I then found extra knobs I had around the house and painted them with my favorite Rust-Olem Universal Metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze. I believe the knobs were originally from Target.

I finished the wood with MinWax Wipeon polyurethane.

Now the fun part…The Cushion.

I took the remaining sheet of plywood that I had and cut it slightly smaller than the top piece. I wanted to be able to see some of the wood.

For the rest you’ll need:

• 2 1/2″ – 3” wide foam
• a small thing of batting, I used a Twin bed size
• fabric of your choice
• staple gun

1st- cut foam to be exact size of the plywood. You can use a steak knife for this.
2nd- apply batting over foam. The easiest way to do this is to lay the batting down on the ground, then the foam, and finally the plywood.
3rd- start stapling! Pull batting tight on all sides and staple to plywood. I made sure to keep the corners tight to give the rounded affect.
4th- fabric. You’ll need to cut it to the size of the plywood; but, remember to leave about 3-4” extra on all sides. You’ll need the extra for wrapping it around. Then start stapling away. Once done, turn over and your cushion is complete!

Finally, you can attach the cushion to the bench several ways. I used small brackets and screwed one side to the bench and the other side to the cushion. You can lift the cushion up and down, which serves no purpose here, but at least it stays in place.

Here are the After pictures, hope you enjoy!

I also added a basket to the center for extra storage.

This is who really uses it!This project has been linked up to:

Enjoy!

Follow Along:
Bloglovin // Pinterest // Facebook // Etsy // Google+ // Instagram // Hometalk