DIY Craftsman Porch Storage Bench

Once again, it is DIY day and right now I am in storage mode. My nesting instincts are leaning to organized before designer chic right now. I love my little bungalow and my favorite part is the front porch living. We spend an enormous amount of time “porchin” it with our family, friends and neighbors. However, in our neighborhood most of these old bungalows (including ours) do not have a garage and without a garage comes piles of crap on my beloved front porch!

My goal was to create more seating and hide as much crap as possible while leaving it easily accessible and organized.  The “crap” on the porch is there, after all, because it is stuff we use all the time!

I looked for storage benches and they were expensive and not the size that I needed.  I saw costs of $200 for a small bench up to $800 for larger wood or cedar benches.  Even at that price, I did not see what I was looking for.  I ended up making my bench for approximately $85 plus $20 for 2 additional milk crates to go inside.

If you have a porch, either screened or covered, this is a great and simple way to get a custom storage bench!  You can get as fancy as you want trimming out the basic box.  I am lucky that I was going for the craftsman style – easy peasy to get those mission squares!  I am going to make a cushion for the bench at some point when we figure out what colors we are going for out there, but right now it is great to sit on and it definitely hides a ton!

You Will Need:

2×4′s : As many as you need for your measurements!  I used 2x4x12 Foot boards because my length was 6 feet for the bench but a 4 foot bench would be super simple with 8 foot boards.

Plywood:  Since my porch is covered and does not get actual water on it, I used double sanded furniture grade plywood for my outside.  I only needed one sheet but that is because I had scrap from other projects.  Without any scrap you will be limited to a 4 foot long box with one sheet of plywood.  You could use pressure treated and then cover it with cedar or whatever you like!

1×4 whitewood (cheapest) strips for my trim

Nails & Deck Screws

Fence Hinges:  Or any kind of hinge that can lay flat.  You could also use piano hinges.

Paint:  I used my porch paint (Bronzetone) for the squares and the khaki paint from my laundry room for the trim and top.  I hate to buy new paint if I don’t need to.

Basic Tutorial:

1.  Lay Out Your Location.  For my height I knew that my top needed to fit UNDER the window.  Other than that I wanted a bench that could seat at least 3 adults and look like a real built in part of my porch so I went with 6′ wide and 21″ deep.

2.  Figure Out Your Materials List.  See above.

3.  Cut Lengths of 2×4 to Build Frame.  Since I did not have any official “plans” I made sure to measure measure measure.  I let my full length be the front and back 2×4′s with the sides and mid supports fitting between them.  Use deck screws at an angle where necessary to attach the pieces.  I used deck screws to attach the 2×4′s to the porch and to each other.  I knew I wanted easy storage so I made my “spacing” on the floor so that milk crates would fit in the spaces.  Genius!  I love it!

4.  Add Top of Box Frame.  Again, measure the whole time.  Porches are not always level and you want to have your top lay flat on your box so make sure you make any small adjustments to your supports so that this happens!  This is really simple with a 4 foot level.  It need not be absolutely perfect.  Because my house is brick, I did use a few tapcon screws I had in the shed to attach the 2×4 on the top to the brick but really, I do not think it was going anywhere!

5.  Cut and Attach Sides and Cut Top.  It was dark and raining by the time I did this so I do not have a picture of this step but it is really the simplest.  Now that you have your frame you are just measuring and cutting and screwing.  For the top of the bench, remember that it will need to come over your side trim, so add to the measurement.  My trim was 3/4″ thick so I added 3/4″ inch to the front and 1 1/2″ to the side measurement.  Once the top piece is cut and you make sure it is the right size, figure out how much to cut off the back to make it a lid.  I needed the back of the top to clear the window sill and leave enough room for the lid to rest back on the house so I cut off 4 inches.  This long thin piece is permanently attached to the 2×4′s in the back with many deck screws. 

6.  Attach Trim.  I used 1×4′s for a boxy and simple craftsman look but if you think about all the styles of cabinet trim you see – the sky is the limit.  This particular style works well with many styles as it is clean and simple.  I sued my nail gun for this because it just goes so fast but you could easily use hammer and nails.  Just make sure your nails are long enough to penetrate both your trim and about 1/2″ of your siding.

7.  Attach Top.  First permanently attach the slim longer piece to the back and then fit the larger piece up to it and attach using hinges.  The type and weight of hinge will vary depending on the weight of your top and the material.  I used 3 decorative fence hinges of a fairly heavy weight from Home Depot to make sure my top was secure.  I then put a lock on one side to keep little fingers from lifting the top.

These pictures will show how the sides are attached to the 2×4 and then the trim on top of that!

8.  Fill Holes and Paint.  Get out your wood filler, plug those nail holes and paint away!  I chose to make the background match my porch floor and have the lighter color be the khaki from my laundry room.  Free and I knew the color scheme would work.  I still might make the top the dark color – we’ll see!

9.  Put all that stuff away and enjoy your new found organized storage and bench!  We fit all the car wash and dog wash stuff in one bin, all of the play doh and kids helmets in one, frequently used tools etc in one and frequently used front garden tools and bulbs or seeds in one.  Perfect!  When the fall gardening is done I will probably use this bin for winter boots and such.   There are just so many neat possibilities.  Now we can sit on a bench instead of stare at this junk!

10.  If you are a mommy blogger and DIYer – show off your gorgeous little helper with your DIY project!

I am linking this post up to the fabulous Kimba’s DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land.  This is my favorite link up!  You will find so many fabulous ideas and great DIY bloggers! 

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