$25 DIY Rustic Dining Bench

Hi friends, the days are going by so fast, I seriously can’t believe we moved into this house a full month ago!  We’ve been settling in sort of slowly, and (going against my very own advice) I’m itching to see *any* space complete at this point.  One area of the house that I’m finding is getting a lot of use right now, is the dining room.  In our old house, we very rarely used our dining room, and now that everyone is home, it has definitely become a work space for us all.

When we decided to move we actually sold a majority of our dining room pieces, because we had envisioned using the dining room in this home as a formal living room, but that plan has changed majorly!  So we we took along the dining furniture that luckily didn’t sell in time:  our dining table and the two metal windsor end chairs.  I’ve had my eye on some other dining chairs, but with the dining table being in front of the fireplace, I thought it might be a good idea to just have a large dining bench on that side.

After searching online for an appropriate sized dining bench, and being blown away by the cost, I decided to just give DIYing a try.  And thus the impetus for my DIY rustic dining bench.

Going into building this bench, I had no real plans, just an idea of what I wanted it to look like. It’s pretty simple, and once I figured out the proper angles, it was a pretty straightforward build.

Are you interested in building this simple bench?  If so, read on!

Tools and Materials:

• 2-2x6x6 pine boards
• 2-2x3x8 pine boards
• Miter Saw
• Kreg Jig
• 2″ pocket hole screws
• 2 1/2″ Wood Screws
• 3″ wood screws
• Speed square
• Tape measurer
• Drill
• Sanding block
• Paint/stain

Cut List

The 2x6s:

• Cut both to 5′ for seat top

The 2x3s:

• Cut 6 pieces at 8″ for seat supports
• Cut 2 pieces at 8″ with ends cut at 10 degrees off square not parallel to each other for leg supports

• Cut 4 pieces at 17 3/4″ for the legs-each end should be cut 10 degrees off square  with ends parallel
• Cut 1 piece at 44 3/4″ for main bench support

What to Do:

Step 1:  Layout your wood

• Line up your two seat boards leaving a small space in between the two to allow for expansion.
• Measure 8″ from each end using one of your support boards and place another support board in the center to use as a mending plate.  Screw them down on each end using 2 1/2″ screws.
• Space out two more support boards evenly between the end boards and screw them down as well.

Step 2:  Mark and Drill Pocket Holes

• Layout your legs in an “A” shape and mark for your pocket holes
• Drill pocket holes in each end of the 8″ pieces that were cut at 10 degrees
• Drill pocket holes in the top portion of the legs (as seen above)

• Mark each leg 5″ from the bottom and line up the brace, using 2″ pocket hole screws, screw the leg frames together.

• Next, place the assembled leg next to the mending plate on the underside of the seat.  Screw the 2″ pocket hole screws through the leg into the seat.
• Using 3″ screws, screw through the side of the leg right in the center, into the mending plate on each leg.

• Sandwich the legs with the extra 8″ mending plate, screw  into the seat bottom for additional support.
• Using a 3″ screw, screw through the side of the final support (mending plate) into the outside of the leg. (see below).

Repeat on the other side.

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Lastly, I decided to add an additional support beam for stability. I measured the remaining 2×3 and cut it to 44 3/4″ and positioned it in between the center of the leg braces, and screwed them in from the sides.

Depending on how rustic you’d like your bench you can sand it lightly or sand it smooth.  I sanded mine lightly, because I think perfection is overrated 😛  and gave it a coat of Black paint in a Satin finish.

I’m so happy with how this turned out! I’m even happier that I was able to create it for under $30, in an afternoon, with my own two hands! Winning!!

https://pin.it/59cTSHS