How to Build your own Tufted Bench!

I was in search of a bench to place in my den and needed a certain size to fit in the small space. I looked at all my local stores and even searched online and could not find the size, style, and price that I was looking for. If I found one the perfect size and style the price was out of my budget or I found one in the budget and the size was wrong. I know you can feel my pain when searching for the perfect accent piece. So this leads me to make my own tufted bench for my den.

I like the fact that now, my tufted bench is the perfect size in the space, I picked the fabric and the color, so the bench is perfect!

I had all this wood on hand in my garage, so the only expense was the fabric.

I cut the frame to size and used my Kreg Jig to make pocket holes to attach the frame together. This wood was from a bed, I think they were the wood slates from a bunk bed. They were in someones trash, so of course, I stopped and picked them up. Who knew they would become a frame for a bench.

I added the interior cut wood to the length of the frame, these add support to the frame. The interior wood was from the underside of a dining room table. Yes, I use whatever wood I have piled in the garage. I usually don’t throw solid wood away because you never know when you can put it to use. I added the end cuts for additional support and to have a solid piece of wood to screw the on the legs. Of course, they were left over pieces as well.

The legs came from a HUGE old desk that I decided to piece apart instead of painting and reselling. The desk was just too big for most homes, but the parts will be perfect for other projects. I did have to purchase the screws to attach the legs.

I cut a piece of plywood to fit the top and used the 2-inch foam core that I had left over from a coffee table tufted bench that I had previously made. I placed the washers in 2 different patterns of the foam to figure out which sized diamond I liked better. I ended up using the 3-row diamond pattern since the bench was only 16 inches wide. It looked better and that was fewer button covers I needed to make.

I start by placing the center screw to hold the fabric in place because the fabric will shift. Stop over to read a complete step by step tutorial on how I tufted my benches. I do it the “power tool way,” of course, and used a drill, washer, and screws. I find this a much easier way to create tufting opposed to drilling holes and threading on the buttons to create the tuft.

I used Amy Howard One STep Paint in Vintage Affliction to paint the frame and used a brown glaze over the paint. I make my glaze using Amy Howard in Windsor and mixing with Glazed Over. You can make any furniture paint into a glaze by mixing the paint with the glazed over. I usually like to glaze my furniture instead of using dark wax.

I attached the tufted top to the base by screwing from the underside of the bench. I screwed into the support frame which is on the inside of the exterior painted frame.

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Make sure you check out these other great projects from the Power Tool Challenge Team! They are an amazing group of talented ladies who share the same passion as me!