more cities
Used furniture DIY: benches
As you may have already seen from my headboards to benches post, I do love a good bench and I love to see used furniture upcycled.
This post is about repurposing an old bench or simply giving it a bit of a revamp to better fit with the style of your home.
If you’re looking for a bench on your local Used.ca site, simply search for the word bench as this is where you will get the bulk of results. Of the two benches I featured today, I found one in the Plants and Gardening category and the other in Outdoor Furniture, so keep that in mind when searching. This means you might want to do a broad search of the site rather than pick one category to search in.
An old, thin bench can easily be turned into a storage and decoration piece. You’ll need:
- Hose clamps
- Mason jars
- Bench
- Picture hanging kit
- Drill and screws
To begin with, drill a little into the bench where you want the mason jar to go. (Note: if you don’t want to use the full length of the bench, you will need to saw it down to the desired length). Then use the drill to make a hole in the clamp, this may be tricky as clamps are metal so bear that in mind. Then line the two holes up and drill the clamp to the bench. Repeat for the number of jars you want attached. To hang, you can nail picture hangers onto the wood. For more details, DIY Playbook has an awesome step by step.
Now, on to the easy part.
Time to decide what to store in the jars. I love the idea of kitchen cutlery as this is both unique and functional and lends a rustic vibe to any kitchen. Another one for the kitchen is the option of growing fresh herbs in the jars. There’s also the floral option; flowers arranged in the mason jars would make an eye catching piece. An option not pictured, but utilized by DIY Playbook, is holding toiletries, such as toothbrushes, Q-tips, make-up brushes, you get the idea. There are endless possibilities – which would you choose?
Another way to use a bench is simply to give it a revamp. An old garden bench can be updated easily with a little paint and some decorative pillows.
The CSI Project has a great tutorial on how to make pillows for an old bench. A good material to use is a shower curtain so that the pillows will be water resistant and the bench can still be used outside if desired.
Pick up some paint to give the old bench a bit of life. Suddenly your bench will look like new! You can use this on any bench. If you don’t like the backless example and want to add something to lean against, why not add an old headboard for a touch of detail?
I hope this bench upcycle has been helpful! I would love to hear if you’ve tried any of these projects.
Useful links
