French Farmhouse Bench

Gary Hardman
by Gary Hardman
3 Materials
$50
18 Hours
Medium

A friend was selling her old head and foot board and I snapped them up. In spite of the broken trim and wavy veneer I envisioned an elegant bench. $60 for the head and footboard was a great deal and multiple projects

The first task was to make a box. Measuring the width and depth of the bench seat I used 1x 4’s to make a simple box.

I attached the box to the headboard using 2.5” wood finishing screws. The next job was to attach legs. Looking through my collection...yes, if I see legs I buy them, I pulled out two French Provençal ones.

I added one foot pieces of 2x4 to the top of each leg with screws. This provided more strength to the legs. I then added the legs to the front corners of the box.

With the legs on I then added 1x4 pine boards for the seat. I stained the seat, frame and legs in MinWax Provincial stain. I sanded the wavy veneer and filled all cracks with wood filler. I cut the decorative side rail and added it to the front of the box.

After sanding the wood filler, I painted the bench in Benjamin Moore’s Gauntlet Grey. Made a cushion from 3” foam with a plywood base. The last step was covering the cushion in Frontgates’s herringbone material.

The headboard turned out so well, I decided to make one out of the footboard. Two beautiful French Farmhouse benches have now been happily placed in new homes.

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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 7 questions
  • Pineapple Pineapple on Oct 09, 2020

    Why does the first headboard look tilted?

  • Ellen Staub Smith Ellen Staub Smith on Oct 10, 2020

    How can I stop my wooden stairs from creaking???

  • Bjc4409216 Bjc4409216 on Jan 12, 2022

    I really like the look of this piece.

    What colour are the raised pieces. Are they just stain or are they painted?

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