My Shabby Bench is Done!

I finished this last week but was waiting for the drawings to be done to include with this post.  My husband put the dimensions to paper with a concept for folks who may wish to try their hand at making one.  It is not exactly like the one we built but you can easily make it so.

Here is my inspiration bench..



Here is my finished bench, in all it’s shabby glory.

 

The plans have it made from studier material instead of the 3/4 inch plywood I built it from.  I wanted to do the prototype from a material we had on hand and that is why I used the plywood. I did not know if my idea would pan out thus I had no wish to spend any $$ on it.

I first started with some basic dimensions.  I wanted the seat to be 18 inches from the ground and 18 inches deep.  I used circular items to make the curves.
 


Once the sides were done everything else was fairly straight cuts. We made a frame to support the seat.



We attached the sides to it with screws.  We will use the Kreg Jig for the next one but you could use self tapping screws and fill the holes or screw from the inside rather than thru the outside. 



I made the sides with the little joggle to support the back but a better design is to have the back attach inside the side panels, the drawings reflect that change.  Remember this was the prototype.



The frame will support the seat well enough even though it is plywood.



I painted it with homemade chalk paint, the Calcium Carbonate kind.  I need to distress it some yet.



I can’t decide yet if I want to paint some roses on the side panels yet.



I may add a padded seat..


 

I am working on the Subway art signs and getting them posted on my website.  Soon I think I will feature some on the blog.  Here is a sample of the Lake Rules signs..