Crib to Patio Bench
During a long period of state ordered quarantine I was looking for a project that I could do which wouldn't require me to go out to stores to buy supplies. I thought and I thought and I thought and while I thought I decided to clean out my garage and then I saw it!
The old crib/toddler bed that has been sitting in the rafters of my garage for years, needed to find some new purpose.
I had just the purpose in mind!
First I took what had been either end of the crib and I cut the legs off quite a bit.
Then I took those same end pieces and I cut the top rail and the bottom rail to make them narrower.
I removed any and all hardware that had been on there relating to the function of the crib.
And then after carefully pre-drilling my holes, I screwed the end pieces into the back piece.
At this point I got excited and I told The MR to come quick and see my masterpiece.
He didn’t get excited.
He said “what is it supposed to be?”
When I finally gave up on him ever guessing, I told him it was a bench. Couldn’t he see that?
He said no. He said it looked nothing like a bench. He doubted me.
Those were fighting words! I set back to work to show him a thing or three!
I used the rails that used to hold the mattress frame in place and I made a frame for the seat and I pre-drilled all my holes and I screwed this frame into every one of those vertical supports.
Then I took the piece of plywood that had been the final piece of the puzzle for the crib which actually held the mattress, and I ran it through my tablesaw to make it narrower from front to back.
And then I got some old cans of spray paint I had laying around and I set to work again.
And I showed him!
So in the end I did not buy a single thing to build this bench with. I even dug out screws I had on hand and used a few that I took out of the crib hardware when I took it all apart.
I did buy the cushions for the seat and I did buy the throw pillows but I was going to buy new cushions and new throw pillows anyways for the old swing bench that I used to have.
And besides, I had to show The MR that I could make a crib into a bench!
Who’s laughing now?
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
What do you think the weight limit is on the finished piece?
I see this is labeled “advanced.” I’m new to DIY but absolutely love this project and my mom saved my old crib. I’d love to do this with my dad for my house. Exactly what tools would we need?