Upcycled Chest of Drawers into a small bench

Do you remember last week I showed you how I cut up an old chest of drawers to make an entertainment center? I used the top of the chest of drawers for that project. I used the bottom of the chest of drawers for another project. Here are the two projects side by side so you can get a size comparison.

Here is a reminder of what the chest of drawers looked like.

I used my circular saw to cut it apart.

This is the top and middle sections. The only parts of this chest that was not reused are the sides of that middle section.

Perhaps I should explain how all of this started. I was going to make a small bench with this foot board, but I wanted to give it a drawer for storage. I had a couple of drawers that I could use, but I didn’t really know how to “frame” them out. Then it hit me, why not used the drawers in their existing “frame” AKA the chest of drawers.

To use the foot board as a back for the bench I had to do some “trimming”.

This is how it looked if I sat it on top of the bottom. The back of the chest was thin luan plywood, not substantial enough to hold the new back securely.

I added a 1×4 with some Gorilla Glue and some screws.

I cut a top from a scrap piece of plywood.

While the top was on I noticed there was a gap above the drawer.

The piece I had cut off the plywood was a perfect fit to fill that gap.

I used Gorilla Glue and my nail gun again.

I did some patching and sanding.

I attached the top in the back with some pocket hole screws, and the front with some screws (through the plywood plank)
I used my HomeRight Finish Max Fine Finish Sprayer to spray paint the two pieces.

I used a pretty yellow oops paint.

Although I liked the yellow, I thought it would better with a glaze on it.

I used some black paint to do a wash over the yellow. But it was to much, so I added some yellow on top of the black.

Meanwhile, I couldn’t find the knobs. LOL—yeah, I’m good at misplacing things.

I found the knobs but had already put the black paint away, so here they are dressed out in yellow.

Although this piece is a little low, it really would work well at the end of a bed for someone old like me to put their shoes on. The drawer will easily hold lots of accessories. At the end of a bed, it could also give a boost up for a small dog—as they make mattresses so BIG these days. And last but not least, it could be extra storage in a child’s room, with a cushion on the top, it would be a nice reading nook.
Apparently I am in a kid’s furniture kind of mood. I’ve been working on a couple of more projects for wee ones.