DIY Farmhouse Bench Converted From Twin Headboard

3 Materials
$40
1 Day
Medium
The most difficult part of making this bench was finding a headboard. Once you have a headboard you like, the rest is straightforward.

The Before

All too often I forget to take my before picture, my apologies but this is the before picture after I removed the two long spears that were where the arrow is. The spears were used as legs and you can see where I cut them off.

This bench is super simple to make, the exact amount of lumber you need will depend on the size of your headboard.  This headboard is a single so we used two 1 "by  6" pieces of lumber and some leftover melamine board, 1/2 " plywood works as well.


We measured the distance between the centers of the two legs on the headboard, ours measured 40 inches.    Hubs placed markings on the headboard for the placement of the wood frame making sure the markings on both legs were level.


We cut the long boards 40" and the short boards 17".



Next, we filled the holes in the top of the leg holes using dowel and wood putty.


Then we made the front legs by attaching the headboard's spears to the front of the box frame.


The legs were attached by predrilling and countersinking the holes first. 


Hubs then used screws to attach the leg to the bench frame. 


Countersinking allowed me to fill in the holes and hide the screws.


The headboard had a little bit of scroll work on both the legs and the back, I  find them really pretty and well worth taking the time to hand sand around it.
The bench was sanded, primed and then painted.
Bench Seat


The seat was cut to the dimensions of the box plus 1 inch for overlap.   Once the board was cut I  began adding the upholstery.



You will need fabric and some sort of stuffing material,  For our bench, we had some leftover packaging foam and polyfill.  Alternatively, you could use the stuffing from old comforters, pillows, or cushioning. 


Search around your home for anything soft that may work.   Cut the foam and polyfill to the same size as the board.  Cut the fabric 5 inches longer and wider than the wood.  This will give you adequate fabric for stretching and stapling over the stuffing.
Layering the Cushion Material


Lay out the fabric.


Center the board on the fabric and mark with chalk. Use these marks to place your stuffing material.    Place your stuffing layers on top of the fabric.   Cover the stuffing with the board. (seat bottom)
Make sure to fold over the edge of the fabric a little bit before stapling.  This will keep any stray threads under control and make the bottom of the bench neater.


Fold the center of the two long sides first, then work your way out stapling every four inches or so.


Repeat this process on the short sides.


Once the four sides are done start on the corners.


The focus is on how the top will look, the underside is secondary.  The seams will be hidden by the wood frame so don't fret too much about it.


Trim any excess fabric away from the corner.  Make sure to pull a little bit of stuffing over the corner.


Fold over the center of the corner and staple in place.


Fold one side over and staple. Then fold over and attach the other side.
Repeat for the other three corners.
If you need some more details check out my post at Faeries and Fauna.
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Leanna Forsythe
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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2 of 11 comments
  • Leanna Forsythe Leanna Forsythe on Feb 05, 2018

    That's great, please let me know if you do go ahead and make one.

  • Heje Heje on Oct 09, 2018

    The headboard design and the upholstery made the bench for me. Hope I can find a design similar to this. Thanks for the idea!


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