Repurposed Chair Bench

I have always wanted to do a repurposed chair bench project like this—ever since my friend Rose made a triple chair bench back in 2009. The problem is, I’ve never had 3 chairs that match.

I got those chairs two years ago. A friend dropped some stuff off by the house while I was out of town.

Then in June, our contributor Mindi made a triple chair bench of of two old chairs. That was my AHA moment! Thank you Mindi for inspiring me to make my own bench.

How to design a repurposed chair bench

This is the design stage of my bench. Much of it is just like Mindi’s design. The first step was to remove the wooden seats, then use some scrap wood pieces to join the two chairs together. I used my clamps to hold everything together as I worked it all out. I had just the perfect pieces to make up the seat.

Using a router to add slats

To make the faux third (middle) chair, I needed to add some slats. I used a 1/4” straight bit in my router to make grooves for the slats.

This is how I attached the middle of the repurposed chair  bench. I used pocket holes to attach the top and bottom of the new chair back. I used Gorilla Wood Glue to hold the slats in place. The slats were ripped on the table saw from a 2×6.

Kreg Jig Pocket Hole Joinery

I also used my Kreg jig to attach the front and back braces that would join the left and right chairs together to make the third chair in the middle.

Need more details on using a Kreg Jig? See my article How to use a Kreg Jig Pocket Hole System

Use original chair seat as a pattern

To make my bench look like it really was from chair seats, I used the original seats to trace a pattern on the 3 1x’s.

It sort of looks like three chairs, right? I really do like the shape of the seat. I may do something like this on the next headboard bench I make.

When I started this project, I thought “I should add arms”. This is me just trying to figure out how I want to do that.

Should I add arms to the repurposed chair bench?

Initially I thought I would use the arms left over from this butchered rocking chair. They were too long.

I found some hardwood scraps in my stash. I cut them to size, and nailed the two pieces together. Then I used the arm of the rocking chair to trace a pattern, cutting it (them) with the jigsaw.

They look a little funny, but I’m okay with that. I cut and sanded them while they were connected together with the nails from my nail gun. This is before I separated them.

There is definitely a left and a right arm rest. I think this left one ended up on the right side.

I screwed through the armrest into the brace. Then, I used pocket holes to attach the armrest to the chair and the brace to the seat. I had already begun the process of patching the holes when I remembered to take pictures.

Using a Finish Max Paint Sprayer

Off it goes to the paint booth for some DIY Chalk Paint Primer with my HomeRight Finish Max. Speaking of the Finish Max—HomeRight has a new part for this paint sprayer that will make it easier to clean. Check out their new Foam Splash Guards  in my latest contributor post HomeRight adds Foam Splash Guards to Finish Max Sprayer. You will also get some paint tips from me over there.

As soon as I got it out of the paint booth, I noticed that a little something was missing. Do you see it?

To make that middle (third) chair LOOK like a chair I needed to add that piece in the middle. Wouldn’t it be great if I knew what these chair parts were called?   I added it by using pocket holes—easy fix.

Back to the paint booth for a topcoat of a sort of creamy white that I mixed up. It is also chalky paint. Click this link for more HomeRight Sprayer Projects

How to use an auto buffer for furniture wax

I used my AutoRight buffer to apply and buff the wax. To apply the wax, I use a foam applicator, and then use this blue bonnet to buff the wax. You can see more details in my post Plastic Radio Cabinet Makeover.

After waxing, buffing, and a little distressing.

Finally, I can check this off of my to-do list!!! Plus I got two more pieces of furniture out of storage.   Win/Win!

gail

See one of my first, and an all-time favorite chair projects here

You can see more chair projects here

how about some bench ideas