Log Trunk Bench
| October 17, 2011 | Posted by Jessie under Build it Yourself, Wood |
My mother-in-law’s birthday was September 27th and Mike and I decided to build something special for her this year. When we were down at the cabin a couple months ago, I remembered her talking about how she would love to have some sort of bench seat at the end of their bed to put her shoes on in the morning so I told Mike about it and we started brainstorming ideas. We thought about making a bench similar to the one in our entry, but Mike came up with a great idea to make a trunk-type seat with storage for more functionality. Here’s what we ended up with:
We took some of the leftover log siding from the house when Mike and I were down there with friends one weekend.
We had plenty of foam, plywood, and scrap wood to make the frame so the only thing we had to buy for this project was the material. Mike started by building the base frame.
Then he worked his way up and made an identical frame for the top and took some boards to connect the two around.
We used the log rails from their front porch railing system as corner pieces. Using the table saw, we cut the corners out of the rail so it would fit tightly against the box.
And secured it to the corners.
Next, we faced the box with the leftover log siding. Mike simply cut and nailed them into place.
We used stain from the beds and interior cabin walls so the seat would fit right in.
And the trunk part was finished {ignore my dirty car}
For the top seat part, we actually used some melamine board leftover from our concrete countertop forms and siliconed some foam to it {Mike brought home some physical therapy beds that his clinic was getting rid of so we used the foam from that-free!}.
We had snatched up some hinges for .25 a piece during a trip to the Habitat ReStore so the seat could open easily and attached those to the melamine first. Then I took the 2 yards of fabric we bought and stapled it to the the bottom of the board, sort of wrapping it like a gift as I went.
I had to be careful to make sure I went around the hinges so they would still open correctly {it was nice and smooth after I stapled it-not how it looks in this picture}. Then we secured the hinges into the base frame and it was finished!
The whole trunk cost $13 {fabric} and makes a special addition to their bedroom. I love giving handmade gifts-they hold so much more meaning. What gifts have you made lately?
I’ll be linking up here:
DIY Showoff: DIY Project Parade
Skip to My Lou: Made By You Mondays
Today’s Creative Blog: Get Your Craft On
Home Stories A to Z: Tutorials and Tips Tuesdays
Not Just a Housewife: Shoe Me What Ya Got
Blue Cricket Design: Show and Tell
Shabby Chic Cottage: Transformation Thursday
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
Tatertots and Jello: Weekend Wrap-Up
great job on the bench. I love how you used leftover cabin siding to make it.
What a special gift! And it looks just fabulous with the bedroom furniture! I’m sure they will love filling it for storage too! Very nice!!!
I LOVE the bench. It turned out really nice. I’ll have to keep my eyes open for log siding. I’d love to make one too.
Rachel
Love it! Please post this, and anything else you may have,in my link party at
http://diycraftstomake.blogspot.com/
Thanks,
Peggy
AMAZING…ingenious…BEAUTIFUL!! How nice that it’s just like your bed too!
Deborah (visiting happily from http://upcyclingmylife.blogspot.com…hope you might take a minute to stop by and say hi!)
Wow – this turned out fantastic!
You have done a great job, this looks awesome!
Just popped over from TT&J
This bench is wonderful. I love how it turned out. Excellent.
Ruth
Nice…really nice…original and fantastic job!!
What a great gift that you made. It’s so neat and looks perfect in their room.
Great job!
Pam
That turned out really lovely! Great job
Wow! I am so impressed that is a lot of hard work and it looks amazing! Good job. Thank you so much for sharing and linking up to our party Show and Share. Make sure to come back this week and link up your latest projects. We would love to see them.
A mommy’s life…with a touch of YELLOW
tyandwhitneyulrich.blogspot.com
Wow – that is about all I can say!!! What an incredible piece of furniture. Your mom-in-law is so lucky to receive such a gift. I can only imagine how much it will mean to her knowing that you made it yourselves.
Incredible job!!!