DIY Entryway Bench

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One space in my home that needs a little love is our entryway! We certainly don’t have a nice big entryway in our current house, but we do have a cute little space to keep some essentials. I looked for a bench at a bunch of different stores, but couldn’t find one that I loved that was in the budget! So I decided I would try to make my own! I’ve always wanted to try to build some furniture. Although I’ve done plenty of crafts over the years and I’m very comfortable with an electric drill, I really don’t have a lot of experience with woodworking or building furniture. Nonetheless, I’m so thrilled with how this little guy turned out! Not bad at all for my first attempt at furniture building!!

DIY Entryway Bench

Luckily, I found this super helpful tutorial online that totally guided me along the way. I followed it almost exactly, but I did make a few changes. Instead of a 2×4 for the legs, I used a 2×2. And instead of a 2×12 for the top, I used a 2×10. The overall process, though, is the same!

Here’s what you’ll need:
* 2×2 (92 inches long)
* 2×10 (4 feet long)
* 2.5″ screws
* miter box
* jigsaw
* gray wood stain
* white paint

For each leg, I needed 4 pieces of wood: two horizontal pieces and two vertical pieces. But they need to be cut at angles. They join together to form a A-frame. Set your miter saw to 10 degrees and then cut a piece of wood about 15.75″ long. Do this 4 times (two pieces per leg). The smaller horizontal piece measures about 3.5″, while the longer horizontal piece measures 8.5″. Here is my pile of wood with all the pieces cut to size.

Now, I have a confession to make. My miter box didn’t have a setting for 10 degrees, but that didn’t stop me. I whipped out my trusty ol’ compass and marked the proper angle with a pencil. Then, I used my jigsaw to do the actual cutting. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked! This is how it’s all supposed to fit together. It’s okay if the joints don’t look perfect- it won’t be too noticeable in the final product! 😉

Next, drive two screws into each joint to stabilize the A-frame. Use wood filled to hide the screw holes and fill in any gaps around the joints.

Finally, paint the legs white! Meanwhile, make sure you sand down the lumber that will serve as the top of the bench. Here is what mine looked like in its original form.

Here is a close-up of the lumber after it was topped with the gray stain.

I love the look of this gray stain. It shows the wood grain but gives it a beautiful, subtle color! To put the bench together, simply drive four screws through the legs right into the underside of the bench top. Done!

I’m really so impressed with how this came out! It totally complements the look I’m going for in my entryway!

If you enjoyed this post, check out these other DIY projects I had fun making and tell me: Would you make your own bench for your home? Have you ever made furniture?

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