When I first told Brian that I would love to have a bench built in to the kitchen wall, he asked me how I wanted it to look.
"How about one of those ones built right in without any legs or supports? That would be so great for sweeping and keeping the room feeling open…you can do that, right?"
He looked at me (again) like I was crazy. I'm very used to that look.
Apparently doing something like that is not quite as easy as I would like to think.
And the lack of any examples or photos or how-tos on the internet was proving him right.
But even after I relented and gave in to the need for some floor supports (multiple times, for the record), he still went ahead and figured out just how to float them.
(I knew he could.)
(I always do.)
We outgrew our kitchen table several years ago and our cheapy kitchen chairs were quite literally falling apart. The five and three year old were still sitting in makeshift high chairs. It was time.
Look at all that room! No chair legs! The ease of the sweeping! You know you'd be excited, too.
Anyone with multiple children learns quickly that a bench fits more bottoms and makes cleaning so much easier (both on and under). We can now probably double the amount of kids that can fit here which will make get togethers more manageable.
The boys have been oddly excited about it.
So there it is! The new bench which is one more thing to check off the before-baby list. Yay!
In case you happened to click on over here thinking about making one of your own (or you just like DIY pics and/or cute pictures of my children), below are a whole lot of pictures of the process. If you happen to have specific questions about measurements and supports and all the details, I can ask my builder and get back to you in the comments...
Wood delivery :)
The process was complicated a bit by the present (necessary) radiators.
Every worker needs a devoted assistant...
Two coats of primer then two of paint to match the rest of the woodwork.
Brian wanted to be sure to make it seamless to prevent crumbs and junk from getting lost forever between and behind boards. So he did an excellent job with seaming and added a piece of trim to the back.
Next up a kitchen table.
Because…yeah.
Not quite charming rustic. More like "preschool arts and crafts table" rustic.
It turned out awesome! Great jog, Brian!
ReplyDeleteWe love our new dining room bench - it's 10x better than chairs!
Great *job*... unless of course, you're back to running again now that it's "Spring" ;)
DeleteVery impressed!!! How fantastic for you!:):) Will be showing to my'builder' cause you know our guys just love to see what other guys do and then hear their wives say "so can you build me one of those too?" lol
ReplyDeletewow! beautiful job brain! it looks amazingly perfect. you should drop the insurance gig and get into woodworking. you are truly talented! and you are one lucky lady mary to have such an awesome hubby. give that man a back rub or lots of hugs and kisses. he deserves it! brain's work is always completely impressive and at the same time utterly charming because it shows how much he loves you :)
ReplyDeleteLooks great!
ReplyDeleteJust wonderful! Very impressive results. I'm so happy you have a fantastic husband to make your dreams come true! The two of you with your crew of kids make me smile and inspire me! True love, true devotion, true caring, true family! May God bless you always in all ways!
ReplyDeleteOh, that is sweet and humbling. We're pretty normal, I think, but there's definitely lots of love…usually ;)
DeleteI love them! We recently invested in two large benches for our kitchen table (though not 'floating' like yours) and they are so much better than chairs in every way!
ReplyDeleteMay I ask the name of the paint on the walls (above the wainscoting) in that room?
Hey Laura. Thank you! That paint is 'healing aloe' by Benjamin Moore but I had it matched at Sherwin Williams (they have coupons!). I had them do it at 75% strength, though, since our house is pretty dark with all the trees.
DeleteThank you!!! Such a gorgeous color. We will be painting our kitchen soon so I've been on the hunt for the perfect color lately! :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great Idea! We also painted our table but I used chalkboard paint!
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you originally where going to use the 2 x 6 hangers on the wall, but then put up a 2 x 6 on the wall (below the cleat) to attach them to. Is that true, if so, why?
ReplyDeleteFrom my husband: "The joist hangers needed something to anchor into so I screwed a long piece of 1x6 to all of the studs along the wall and then screwed the joist hangers into the 1x6 piece. I lined up the joists with the studs. Without the 1x6 they wouldn't have had anything to anchor into besides the drywall. Let me know if you need more details."
DeleteHello!!
ReplyDeleteThis is wonderful. We are doing a small scale version of your bench, and I am wondering: Where did you get the wood supports? Joists? Did you cut them or buy them?
Thanks!
Thank you! My husband had to cut those to size to fit the exact space and accommodate the radiator. Good luck!
DeleteIs that strong enough? The bench does not fall forward?
ReplyDeleteYes, it's very strong! We've had ten kids on there at once and have had kids and me walk all over it and have never had an issue.
DeleteGreat bench- looks awesome! First time homeowner and I’m going to attempt to replicate it. What size wood did you dowel together for the bench, 2x6? And did you use pine or a red oak? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteYes, 2x6! It's pine :)
DeleteAny issues with supporting heavy loads? Were you able to figure out how much weight the bench can hold? It looks great! Thank you for your time.
ReplyDeleteNo issues yet! We've never done any official sort of test but we regularly have roughly 250 lbs. spread along the long side without problems. We've never done a whole line of bigger adults, though. I could see that putting stress on it but since it's more for the kids anyway, that hasn't been an issue.
DeleteDo you have plans for this at all?
ReplyDeleteWe are trying to do something similar in our kitchen, and I'd love a bit more info on the dimensions and mounting. We would be using the benches for adults as well, so would that require a from leg as well as the wall bracing? Thanks in advance!
ReplyDeleteSorry, I'm just seeing this comment! Our benches held several adults just fine without a front leg. We no longer live in the house so I can't measure but in the one picture you can see a close up of the mounting system we used.
DeleteWhat kind of wood did you use for the top of the bench? Size and type of wood?
ReplyDeleteThe tops are 2x10 pine. Since we knew we'd be painting them, we went with simple inexpensive pine.
DeleteHi! I have baseboard heaters too (mine are hydronic, not electric) and I'm looking for a solution like yours so I can add a window seat in my living room. Have you had any issues with inefficient heating because of decreased airflow to the units? My contractor believes that anything over the heater will seriously decrease its functionality, but I see lots of ideas like this on Pinterest. Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteWe had the same concerns but decided it was worth any compromise on heat. Thankfully we never even noticed any difference. We also had hot water radiators. (We moved to a new place last year!)
DeleteWhat type of joist hangers are these?
ReplyDeleteFace Mount 2x6 joist hangers like these: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Simpson-Strong-Tie-LUS-ZMAX-Galvanized-Face-Mount-Joist-Hanger-for-2x6-Nominal-Lumber-LUS26Z/100375105
DeleteHope that helps!
Thank you for the informative article. Very nicely done. How were the dowel holes made and aligned in gluing up the 2x10 pine boards?
ReplyDeleteThey took the two boards and put them flush standing up next to each other marking them equally every 8 inches. They then used a dowel jig to make the holes before placing the dowels and glueing/clamping together. My husband said you could also use a Kreg jig with screws. Hope that helps!
Delete