When we purchased this home in August 2013 we immediately struggled with the kitchen layout. While the previous owners had opted for a large dining set in the middle of the room, we felt like this was a cramped setup, and struggled to make the space work with a centered dining table.

So, the struggle continued, until we finally started searching for better options for the space. Finally a photo on Houzz delivered inspiration.

After assessing our space we stared the build by taking off the baseboards.

Mike then started building the frame and supports for an idea of how much of the space we wanted the banquette to take. He started by cutting 3/4″ plywood for what would become the major support structures in the banquette.

After cutting seven pieces, Mike lined them up and clamped them together.  Using a belt sander, we made sure they were all the same shape.

The first segment was a bit of an experiment.  We needed to find a way to use as few 2x4s as possible so that we would have as much interior storage space as possible remain for multiple kitchen uses. We also had to keep the frame sturdy enough for multiple butts and think about what would need to be attached to the seat in later steps (hinges, etc).

Here you see the skeleton of the banquette starting to take shape in the dining room.

Added 2×4 supports to connect the corners together.

The corner needed angled supports for the seat backs to rest against.

OK, the next series of photos will be dealing with the technical details of how to angle a seating area into an imperfect corner. We understand if you want to jump ahead and just look at the progress photos below (I know I would).

Before you read the following details, please keep in mind that I was a “C” student in math growing up (Sara has no comment regarding her Math grades). You know how when you’re in high school math, and you joke with all you friends, “When will we ever use this information?” the answer is: after you buy a 30 year old home and decide to build a series of things that attach to the settled warped walls (except for proofs – you will never in your life need to write a Geometry proof again after 10th grade, that shit is useless).  For this project, I needed to accurately calculate and mark lines to make compound miter cuts (more than one angle at one time).  The biggest cut was going to be in the corner where the seat backs met together.  I needed to take into consideration the angle that the seat on the left would bend back, and also the angle of the seat on the right for how the two pieces fit together.  I first held an angle tool up to the bench and saw that it bent back at an angle of roughly 10.5 degrees.  I marked the board using that information:

The red line on the board below shows where the cut would have been made if I didn’t take time to measure a second way.  Over such a large distance, I minor miscalculation could have devastating results and ruin a fairly pricey piece of oak plywood.

In the original plan, the seats bent back 11 degrees, which is why I was confused when the angle tool told me otherwise.  Using a tape measure, I double checked the height and width of the boards I had already cut in the dining room.  I used an online angle tool to compare the angle of 10.5 degrees I had marked with the original dimensions.  Here’s what I found:

There is the moment I started to scratch my head.  I knew from the original plan that the area I was dealing with had a height of 20.5 inches and a depth of four inches.  Measuring 3.81 after marking the 10.5% angle made me want to re-calculate with an 11 degree angle instead:

Using this different method of measuring the angle, I marked on the board where 3.985 would be.  It was about a quarter inch away from where I marked the other cut.

After I had that angle marked, I simply adjusted my handsaw to 11 degrees and made the cuts.  Then, the fun part.  Piecing them together:

Once the wood for the seats was cut, it was time to start staining.

Like previous projects, we used a Cabot Black Cherry wood stain.  We wanted to continue the theme of dark stain and white paint that was used in previous permanent projects in the house.

The boards were secured from beneath with 2x4s so no nails or screws would be visible from above.

I love this part, you can finally see a banquette coming together.

For the sides of the banquette, we went with a pre-finished decorative wood paneling and poplar wood for the trim.  I used a router to leave space for the plywood to fit beneath the trim pieces and also to give the trim a beveled edge around the sides.

On the right side of the banquette, I installed an electrical outlet to plug in the microwave.  It is essentially a glorified extension cord with a fancy face plate, with a plugin on the inside of the banquette connected to the existing wall outlet.

For the base of the banquette, we used the same decorative plywood, but went with vinyl trim pieces to give it a finished look.

Here’s what we’ve all been waiting for (this includes every friend/family member we’ve had over in the last two years that we invited to eat with us in the living room).  After a few throw pillows and a new table (that’s actually a dining table and not a desk), we have a place to eat our meals and entertain guests!

Edit: Now that this is all put together, we’re seriously considering painting the entire banquette white (i.e. not having the top and seat stained). But that’s another project for another post.

WAYYYY back in the summer of 2013, before we had even begun the home buying process, I had started looking at home blogs for ideas of what sort of style I want to bring into my own home. One of my favorite blogs is thehouseofsmiths.com – go check it out. Everything that they do is so clean and sleek. It was while pursuing their site one day that I found the inspiration for our next big DIY project. A front entry bench (check out the inspiration).

So here is what we started with. While I don’t think our front entry closet was by any means useless, it just wasn’t necessary. We’re also lucky that we had a full-size closet to begin with, as the inspiration blog did not and removing wall was necessary in their case.

I questioned whether or not I wanted to post the picture on the left of the inside of the closet, but whatevs – you needed to know my plight (and we’re all family here -right? – so no judgement).

Using the inspiration blog as a guide, we started with creating a simple frame for the seat. You can see in the photo below we also nailed up a 2×4 as a guide for the height of the bench.

After the frame was in place we added four more 2×4 beams to further support the weight of the sitter. Lots and lots of giant nails and screws were used in this part of the build. My biggest fear is that I’ll be showing the bench off and the admirer will bust the seat off the wall.

We wanted the walls of the interior to have some texture, as it really helps break up the “look” of the design so that you don’t notice that you’re just looking into a closet that’s missing its doors. The inspiration bench had a thick beadboard backing and we were able to find a similar look when out searching for our own materials.

First “mistake” – which was not at all our fault nor was it in our control. The trim piece we bought for the front of the seat was warped beyond use and we had to scrap it and purchase a new piece. The process of picking out trim is beyond my skill set – I have no idea how to tell is a board is perfectly straight when put up against a million others like it.

By far this is one of the projects I’m most proud in this home. The new bench is so much more useful than the closet. We’re lucky that this home had other storage closets that absorbed our other seasonal jackets/parkas/vests. We’ve realized that we only wear one or two coats on the regular, and having a plethora of others in a closet elsewhere is much easier to deal with!

Thanks so much for stopping and reading about our closet transformation!