Hello, Dining Room Bench Seating! | ORC, Week 05
I’m back with another update on our dining room progress! In case you missed it, I have been working on our dining room as part of the One Room Challenge over the past five weeks (with three more to go!) and I’m excited to share that I have actually been checking quite a bit off my to-do list this week. I had mentioned that Curt and I both took this week off work for a little staycation time. We have still been sending Mabel to daycare on her regular days so we can get some work done around the house and then have been spending some much needed family time together on the days she is usually at home with me. It’s been the perfect balance of being able to focus on this dining room project and being able to relax and make some memories as a family while we have some freedom from the regular work grind.
I may have shared in my last update that this week I intended to wrap up our dining room table project. One of my sub-projects within this greater room design was to strip down the finish on a buy-and-sell table I had purchased in order to re-stain it in a finish that better suited our style. While that was definitely my intention earlier in the week, a few days of wind and rain prevented me from being able to work on the table outdoors. While I waited for a sunny day, I instead shifted my focus to progressing on the built-in bench, which was actually a really good move. I have made quite a bit of progress on the bench and it has definitely made me feel more at ease and in control of this room makeover by tackling this big beast. I think I’m starting to see the light at the end of this project tunnel and I’m excited to show you what I accomplished this week.
The Plan
Before I got started, I did what I always do and drew up a specific plan with my measurements and cuts so I had a clear visual about how to face the frame and build a hinged top. I think I had mentioned last week that I have been basing my plan off of this tutorial from the HGTV website, but the tutorial gives a different shape and size to the bench, so I still had to really think through how I was going to execute my own version. I drew a sketch of my bench with specific measurements so I could start to pull together a rough cut list and materials list.
My biggest concern with our bench was figuring out how to extend the floor venting up and out the front of the bench. My bench frame sits directly above a floor vent, so I definitely wanted to figure out a way to keep that air flowing out into the room rather than allowing it to vent hot air into the bench interior. I have a general idea about lumber and building, but duct work is a whole new ballgame! I had a rough idea about what I wanted to do, but it took actually going to the hardware store and looking at all the parts for me to actually figure out a plan of attack for this specific part of the build.
The Progress
The first thing I did was face the front of the bench frame. I was intending to use 1/2” plywood for this, but we had a leftover sheet of 3/4” plywood from another project that fit my cuts, so I opted to just use that instead. The front of the bench was too long to only use one continuous piece, so I opted to cut two equal lengths and join them in the middle where a piece of trim would cover the seam. Before I fully attached the right front piece, I decided to figure out the venting situation so I wouldn’t have to backtrack on some of my work if my calculations didn’t line up. I cut a hole in the bench front where a vent cover would fit and worked backwards towards the floor vent. This took longer than I wanted it to and even though I lost quite a bit of work time, I’m so glad I got it out of the way right away so I could move on to the fun parts. I’m not even going to try to describe what I did because I don’t even know the name of the parts, but I’m happy to report that it works perfectly and we have a nice stream of warm air floating out the front of this bench.
I really wanted the bench top to come out flush with the front of the bench, so once I had faced the front with plywood, I decided to next tackle the front trimwork. I used pieces of squared-off 3 1/2” primed MDF baseboard to create a board and batten pattern on the front. I created the placement and sizing around the position of the vent cover, so I landed on having six equal blocks across the entire front. I attached the pieces with a little bit of wood glue and some 3/4” brad nails and filled all the holes and joints for a smooth finish.
With the front finished, my next step was to build the top. I was very intimidated by this part because I wanted to create a hinged top that would allow me to access the interior of the bench for storage. I used a piece of 3/4” hardwood plywood for the top. It’s not my intention to stain it - I really just picked the hardwood plywood because of availability. We had to borrow a truck to bring all our materials home and it just so happens that on the day we had arranged to do that, the less expensive varieties of 3/4” plywood were out of stock at the hardware store. I’m going to be painting our bench but it would look so nice with this pretty hardwood top stained.
I started with a 2” strip of plywood along the back wall. This strip is where my hinge would anchor the openable lid to the bench. I positioned it in place, but didn’t attach it to the frame right away. Next I cut out the bench lid piece and made it about 5” less than the total width of the little bench nook. I centred the 72” continuous hinge along the lid edge and fastened it in place before arranging its position on the back strip and fastening it to the edge of that piece. Once the lid was attached to the back strip, I fastened the back strip securely into the bench frame with some screws.
With the lid fastened to the now stationary back strip, it was time to fill in the stationary side pieces of the bench top. The walls surrounding this little nook are anything but straight, so it definitely took a lot of measuring, cutting, and finessing, but eventually both sides fit really securely. There are a few gaps where these pieces meet the wall, but I’m still planning to add a beadboard feature to the walls surrounding the bench so the thickness of that material will definitely cover them up.
My final step was to add some edge banding to the exposed edge of the plywood bench top. As I mentioned, I’m planning to paint this entire unit, but the edge banding will give it a really clean finished look. I still need to sand down the excess of the banding and caulk the cracks around the front trim pieces, but I’m going to wait to do that until right before I start to prime and paint. I still have to finish the wall feature before I get to that step, so for now, I'm counting the actual bench part as done.
I’m really excited to have the bench completed so I can move on to the exciting part - paint! It already makes the space feel so different just to have it in here. I can only imagine what it will feel like once the paint unifies the entire feature. I’m so excited!
The Next Steps
Add beadboard to the back wall around the bench
Caulk all the cracks and fill all the seams and nail/screw holes
Sand the entire unit
Prime the entire unit
Paint the entire unit
Make it comfortable and stylish with pillows, pillows, and more pillows!
That’s all the progress I have to share today. I know I already said it last week, but next week I will definitely be sharing about the refinished dining table. I’m just about at the point where I get to give it a new coat of stain and I am so excited to see how it turns out. If you enjoyed this update and love being inspired by what other people are doing, be sure to check out what some of the other guest participants of the ORC are up to this week. There will be no shortage of beautiful and inspiring progress updates to browse through!
