5 Board Bench

I'm so gonna make this one, thanks for sharing with us!

love your blog!

I don't need a bench, but I think I'm going to try this on a sofa side table. Thanks for sharing a finishing technique. I love the effect. What type of poly do you use? I love all your posts!

I've wanted one of these benches for a long time and I never see them. I will definitely make this one! I actually haven't done any wood work since highschool, but I'm looking forward to this one. Thanks for the great tutorial.

I LOVE this post! I've been keeping my eye open for an authentic old bench in JUST the right slightly oversized depth but that's not going so well. :) This way would ensure I gitter done.

Thanks for the insructions! This one's a keeper for me!

I've never built anything myself from start to finish so this could prove interesting. :)

Donna
http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

I can't keep up with all these amazing plans- I want to make everything :)

Oh my goodness! My heart is leaping with delight! I have just the place for this little cutie. I Think I will make one! Thanks for sharing ALL of your wonderful ideas and plans!

My husband made me a very similar little bench for our porch (and our dining room in the winter). I love it. We didn't distress it, though. Next time.

Thanks for all your plans. I'm a pretty new reader and my husband and I have been loving going through your archives.

(PS - If you have a second, check out our version of the bench here. http://newlywoodwards.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-bench-built-for-two.h…)

Just found your site through Ohdeedoh, and I have to say you are an angel for providing all these plans! The furniture is gorgeous... haven't gone many pages back yet but I already know my husband and I will just be aching to build every piece on the blog. Amazing work!

My first visit to your site, I have wanted one of these little benches forever, I can't wait to build one, thanks for your hard work!

I am so excited that I found this! I have been wanting to find one and now I can make it!

My husband built two of these benches, one for each side of my big, reclaimed lumber dining table. They turned out great! We needed 60" benches, so he added a third leg to provide support to the center. Thanks for the plans. :)

As a side-note, we are stationed in Hawaii, and we left most of our woodworking tools in storage in California, thinking we would not use them while we were here. He used only a 18v battery-operated circular saw, a drill gun, and an electric jigsaw. The total build-time was probably about 30 min.

[...] Her site has fantastic free plans for building your own furniture. Wow!  I particularly like this rustic bench -I once saw a picture in a magazine of 3 benches like this stacked on top of each other (big to [...]

Thanks Ana!!!

Love your website!!! I look at it every day!! I didn't know to use wax, thanks for the tip!!

~ Big fan!
Sherry

[...] this bench from start to finish, including the distressed painting technique. The Bench plans are here Read more from Woodworking Patterns Click here to cancel [...]

[...] this bench from start to finish, including the distressed painting technique. The Bench plans are here Read more from Benches and Chairs, Woodworking Click here to cancel [...]

I made this bench out of scrap wood & sample paint from Home Depot. I spent $5 total, and took me about 3 hours to make! I love it sooooo much and keep moving it around the house because there are so many places it looks good!

[...] in Brag Blog Put on my TO-DO List Save as PDF Print this PostShare/Bookmark Builder: DeAnna Experience Level: Absolute Beginner Estimated Cost: $5 Estimated Time Investment: 3 hours From Plan: http://ana-white.com/2010/01/plans-7-steps-to-distressed-bench-from.html [...]

Thanks so much! Helping to plan the After Prom party for our high school. My decorations committee wants to build bench seats for the "Coffee Barn" area....Barn themed. SIMPLE is the operative word, here. We will not take time to do the fancy finish, but LOVE the instructions for building the bench(es).

Would this be a doable project for a 12 yr old for 4-H project. With adult supervision of coarse, that being mom. Mom is no craftsman.

Thanks
4-H mom

My husband is forman on a construction crew and is always bring home "trash" from the job sites. The other day it was a truck load of lumber that was used for forming a foundation. Normally as he is unloading his "treasures" and my "trash" into the garage Im rolling my eyes but now that I found your site Im feeling a bit more excited about his collecting. Tonight I was sitting on my porch wondering what I could use as a bench when I remembered seeing this little bench on your site. I went to the garage and lucky for me the husband's trash collecting has paid off and I have plenty of wood to make a couple of these benches for my mums! I also picked out enough boards for the reclaimed headboard but thats another post.

On the way back from "House on the Rocks", I purchased a mag called Weekend Wood Projects. In it was a bench similar to the one that's shown. I made 5 of them using 3/4" birch plywood that I got from a friend when he put in new kitchen cabinets. I took the plans and a bench to the school where I taught and showed it to the woods teacher who fell in love with it. He said it was a perfect project for his 9 week class of 8th graders. After that, every nine weeks it looked like a furniture factory when anywhere from 40 to 60 benches were lined up in the classroom the day they were to be taken home to their families. I had one mother tell me that she had 7 of these benches scattered throughout the house. I heard of arguments when the kids tried to take them to college or to their new living places. I joked with my teacher friend calling his room "Illini Jr. H.S. Furniture Factory." (He used 2x12's for the legs and the side boards were placed on the outside of the legs instead of being cut into the legs.) Your great project has brought back many fond memories.

On the way back from "House on the Rocks", I purchased a mag called Weekend Wood Projects. In it was a bench similar to the one that's shown. I made 5 of them using 3/4" birch plywood that I got from a friend when he put in new kitchen cabinets. I took the plans and a bench to the school where I taught and showed it to the woods teacher who fell in love with it. He said it was a perfect project for his 9 week class of 8th graders. After that, every nine weeks it looked like a furniture factory when anywhere from 40 to 60 benches were lined up in the classroom the day they were to be taken home to their families. I had one mother tell me that she had 7 of these benches scattered throughout the house. I heard of arguments when the kids tried to take them to college or to their new living places. I joked with my teacher friend calling his room "Illini Jr. H.S. Furniture Factory." (He used 2x12's for the legs and the side boards were placed on the outside of the legs instead of being cut into the legs.) Your great project has brought back many fond memories.

Oh I love this bench. Just wanted to say thank you thank you thank you.

Is this bench sturdy enough for someone to sit on?

If the joints are tight, this thing is sturdy enough for a couple of people to sit on, or one person to sleep on if you add a couple of feet to the length (and you're good about securing your arms).