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    Home » Repurposed Furniture » Child's bench made from a foot board

    Child's bench made from a foot board

    Published by Gail | Published November 25, 2009 | Updated April 9, 2019
    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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    How to make a child's bench out of a foot board!

    100_2701

    repurpose old headboard foot boardA good friend of mine was making some changes in her bedroom. They had a squeaky bed, and decided to attach the headboard to the wall. Therefore she decided she didn't need the foot board, and she called her good friend gail, cause she knew gail would take it off her hands! I did!
    It was a petite foot board, but oh so cute!

    how to make a kids bench from a foot boardI actually started on this bench by myself. I should have waited for Cathy, cause I got confused and cut the sides too short. This was a queen foot board that I intended to be 12 inches in the seat. For it to be 12 inches in the seat, I should have measured from inside the post toward the middle 12 inches. I measured from the end of the foot board toward the middle (12 inches). That made the depth of the seat about 10 inches. I simply cut some off of each end, then swung those 2 pieces around to make the sides of the bench. You can see we also cut off some of the height of the posts. They stuck up way too high. We saved the balls to re-attach at the lower height. We used a 2x4 as a brace across the front, and a 1x3 to use as a cleat across the back. (for the seat slats to rest on.

    Here you can see a closeup of the place where the side rails would have fit in the posts. There was a large metal piece there. When we removed it, there was this huge gap. We usually use wood putty to fill holes and such, but this was much too big for that.

    how to patch large gap We used some leftover slats from a shutter, cut to size, and shoved in, they filled the space nicely. Then we were able to putty.

    how to space boards for bench seatWe used some wood flooring for the seat slats. We used some very thin shutter slats as "spacers" to get an equal space on each slat. I cut the tongue and the groove off of every piece. Flooring has tongue and groove on the ends too, so I made sure that both ends were cut blunt. (removing the tongue or the groove)

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    You can see we re-attached the ball.

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    I used brush on primer.

     

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    I spray painted the bench pink. I also spray painted the ends of the slats pink. (using newspaper and tape to keep the paint off of the finished wood)

    kids bench made from foot board From this angle the seat doesn't look too bad. But...

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    From a lower angle, you can see the ripple of the bottom of the slats. I did not like this at all.

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    I changed it out, and used regular 1x3's cut to size and painted them pink.

    100_2702It was looking better to me now.

    100_2699I dressed it up with a small child's quilt. (leftover from my teaching days)

    100_2700It matched really well. We took this to Glendale, and it sold pretty quickly. The lady who bought it walked right up and immediately said "I'll take it". She didn't even think about it. Turns out that she is a photographer, and she bought it for taking portraits of children! Isn't that cool!
    Our little bench will live on through infamy! hahaha yeah, I know, a little dramatic!
    gail
    Over the years, I've changed how I make headboard benches. See my favorite Mission Style Headboard Bench with Storage-The Complete Tutorial

    See other fun bench project ideas here.

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    Reader Interactions

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    1. Anonymous

      February 12, 2012 at 5:01 am

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      Reply
    2. Shanarun

      September 22, 2010 at 11:34 pm

      This is the cutest, sweetest bench ever! Just perfect!

      Reply
    3. Kelli

      December 03, 2009 at 2:27 pm

      I LOVE that! I never thought to do an alteration like that, but now I'm itching for it...

      Reply
    4. Stephie Hicks

      December 03, 2009 at 5:53 am

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Reply
    5. Jane

      December 01, 2009 at 1:55 pm

      Oh this is soooo darn cute! I love it...thanks for sharing.

      Jane @ Finding Fabulous

      Reply
    6. Tammy@InStitches

      December 01, 2009 at 2:20 am

      I love the way your bench turned out ! The color is perfect.

      Reply
    7. Marilyn

      November 28, 2009 at 6:35 pm

      Love this!!! Now to hit the thrift store for a foot board!!!

      Reply
    8. Andy Porter

      November 28, 2009 at 3:47 am

      Gail, of course that is so totally cute!! I am always so impressed with your projects.

      Reply
    9. Katie@Yoga Gal

      November 26, 2009 at 10:57 pm

      I would have snatched that up too- my toddler would love it! 😀

      Fantastic job!

      Reply
    10. Miss Mustard Seed

      November 26, 2009 at 2:15 am

      What a clever idea and a cute result! The shade of pink is just perfect.

      Reply
    11. Maryann @ Domestically-Speaking

      November 26, 2009 at 1:04 am

      That bench is adorable & I love the shade of pink.

      Reply
    12. Renee

      November 25, 2009 at 6:19 pm

      What a cute bench, I love it with the quilt!

      Reply
    13. Pam

      November 25, 2009 at 5:37 pm

      Another one well done.
      Pam

      Reply
    14. Elizabeth

      November 25, 2009 at 5:04 pm

      I just found your blog and I fell in LOVE!! Now I have to go find some supplies so I can make stuff! Thanks for posting!!

      Reply
    15. Gina

      November 25, 2009 at 4:51 pm

      I love the pink-what a great little bench, I could imagine lots of cool portraits in this!

      Reply
    16. sweetpicklesandchocolate

      November 25, 2009 at 4:23 pm

      Wow! I love this, what little girl wouldn't enjoy this bench?!
      You did an awesome job on it.

      Dena
      Happy Thanksgiving!

      Reply
    17. Rebecca D.

      November 25, 2009 at 2:38 pm

      Way to go! I am super impressed! I love a revamp and this one is impressive! Thanks for the link up! Be sure to come back every Wednesday and keep the great links comin!

      Becca @ Blue Cricket Design

      Reply
    18. Laurel @ Ducks in a Row

      November 25, 2009 at 2:37 pm

      Now that is darling - and the color is to die for!

      Reply
    19. Randi

      November 25, 2009 at 1:03 pm

      I love that ... what a fun addition to a little girl's room! Thanks for sharing.

      Reply

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    Hi, there! I’m Gail Wilson, the author and mastermind behind My Repurposed Life. I’m obsessed with finding potential in unexpected places and believe that with a little hard work and imagination, any old thing can be made useful again—myself included! I hope you’ll enjoy the journey and pick up a few tools along the way… literally!

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