DIY Breakfast Nook Bench
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This DIY breakfast nook bench is the stuff of my dreams, but oh boy, it taught me a lot.
The build for the DIY breakfast nook bench took me a couple of weeks of going bit-by-bit, and a whooooleeee lot of measurements.
You can read a full breakdown of this project HERE.
Make your cuts
Fair warning: This took A LOT of 2x4s.
We used over 92 feet of 2x4s to build the structure of the bench, which was the vast majority of the wood. Here's a breakdown of the cuts used for the structure:
36 @ 20” (for the structure rectangles and joins)
16 @ 17.5” (for the structure rectangles)
7 @ 16” (scrap pieces to mount the drawer slides to)
Assemble the frame
We used pocket holes to assemble squares where the drawers would go between. We used 2x4s between each of the squares to connect them and then attach to the wall.
Assemble, install drawers
We used 5/16ths” thick plywood with wood glue and a nail gun to nail it all together, with the bottom piece sitting inside all the others, not underneath them.
I found it easiest to attach the sides to the bottom piece first, then attach the front and back pieces. The front and back pieces should go across the whole length of the bottom and side pieces combined.
Don’t be stingy with the nails.
Nail plywood to top, trim around sides
Give your plywood top pieces a good sanding and wipe them down to remove all the dust.
Slide your plywood pieces into place on the top, then lift up the edges and run a bead of wood glue along the whole top of the 2×4 structure.
Slide the plywood tops into place then nail it all into place as best you can.
Paint, add hardware
This DIY breakfast nook bench truly made such a difference in our dining area and is such a space-saver for our small home.
Resources for this project:
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Comments
Join the conversation
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This is really awesome. Love the color and functionality. Great job, thanks for sharing!
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I love that you made this with drawers. My only comment would be to use either grooved on the underside of the drawer trim or handles that are a smooth curve. The square corners tend to snag the legs as you scoot into a bench, especially if like me you have an older person whose skin has become fragile. I never thought much about that until it began to happen to me.: )
Frequently asked questions
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