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Drawer bases turned banquette

March 9, 2011 |
15 Comments
posted by hillarylouise
Additional Photos
Drawer bases turned banquette
Drawer bases turned banquette
About This Project

I took Ana's open base and drawer plans, added a few inches to the height (so that the base trim on the storage units would clear the base trim on our walls), and put them together to create a banquette-style bench with tons of storage underneath. We use the drawers for our family board games and photo albums.

Blog Link: 
Game Storage...check!
From Plan (new): 
Drawers for the Cubby Storage Open Bases
Open Bases for the Cubby Storage Collection
Estimated Cost: 
$100-$150
Estimated Time Investment: 
Weekend Project (10-20 Hours)
Required Skill Level: 
Beginner
Type of Wood: 
I used MDF for this project. Next time, I would use something lighter for the drawers.
Finish Used: 
Sherwin-Williams Pro-Classic in semi-gloss followed by Minwax Polycrylic.

bench, drawers, storage

15 Comments
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Ana White's picture

So Fabulous!

I'm rather speechless, perfect drawers, and lovely colors inside too!

posted by Ana White | on Wed, 2011-03-09 23:16
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Daisies and Crazies's picture

The drawers!

Look at the colors inside!! Awesome.

I am so blessed to have a good job working for a company that I like, but WHY am I stuck at my full-time desk job right now?!

Cindy
posted by Daisies and Crazies | on Thu, 2011-03-10 11:02
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kyo's picture

Amazing!

I love this... great in a playroom, too.

Follow me on Pinterest http://pinterest.com/pearlofafrika/

posted by kyo | on Thu, 2011-03-10 11:39
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mycreativeescapes's picture

This Rocks

I just left a comment on your wall - I love this!! Love the color pop on the inside!

www.mycreativeescapes.blogspot.com
posted by mycreativeescapes | on Thu, 2011-03-10 13:21
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redhead_61's picture

AWESOME

I am massively of the opinion that everything should be drawers!  Love this!

posted by redhead_61 | on Wed, 2011-03-23 10:55
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QueenMahin's picture

Great idea

What a terrific idea!  I'm thinking of making a banquette in my kitchen and was keeping my fingers crossed that Ana would post a plan, but you turned an existing plan into a banquette.  This is just beautiful, and the drawer colors take the cake!

Mahin
http://queenmahin.com
posted by QueenMahin | on Sat, 2011-03-26 05:25

Love this..what wood for bottom/trim?

Hello! Love how the piece has a craftsman look to it. What is the trim/wood you used for the bottom of the piece to get that wide flat, clean look? I am very new to building so don't know all the terminology yet. :) Thanks!

posted by Mara (not verified) | on Wed, 2011-05-11 12:58
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hillarylouise's picture

Base trim

This unit is made out of MDF which I had cut at Lowe's. While they were cutting the MDF for the boxes/drawers, I had them also cut a long piece at about 6 inches wide. If I were building with real wood like I normally do, I'd probably use a pine 1x6 for the base piece.

http://dickmanfam.blogspot.com
posted by hillarylouise | on Wed, 2011-05-11 13:04
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Jackie Solomon's picture

incredible

Soo awesome. It looks just incredible, love everything about this, especially the fun color pop inside! Great job.

posted by Jackie Solomon | on Wed, 2011-06-22 13:06

Dimensions?

Something very similar to this is what I want for the base of my storage project. I have a 10’ wall I want to create a storage wall. These drawers will be the base, and then Ana’s cubby project for the top. I plan on making at least two of the cubbies into pull out lateral file drawers, so I know I’ll have to have custom dimensions on those. My question: Did you use Ana’s original dimensions, or create your own?

posted by Nicholin (not verified) | on Mon, 2011-07-18 18:57

dimensions

I pretty much used the original dimensions. The only thing I changed was the height -- I added a few inches to the side pieces to accommodate higher baseboards.

posted by Hillary (not verified) | on Mon, 2011-07-18 22:48
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mcclourkeli's picture

The cushion

Did you make the cushion yourself or buy it? If you made it, what materials did you use? I cant sew ANYTHING, but Id make an attempt! Lovely bench btw, looks very high quality!

posted by mcclourkeli | on Thu, 2011-08-25 18:10

cushion

Hey! I did the cushion myself. I contemplated making a box cushion but didn't want to deal with the welting and zippers, so I used a bunch of MDF scraps, joined them with the kreg jig to make a board wide and long enough for the top of the bench, attached foam with spray glue and then covered with batting and fabric, stapled underneath. I was planning to screw the cushion into the bench from underneath, but it is so heavy (b/c of the MDF) that it hasn't moved.

I think there might be photos of the process on my blog. Here's a link:

http://dickmanfam.blogspot.com/2011/01/game-storagecheck.html

posted by Hillary (not verified) | on Thu, 2011-08-25 19:02
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mcclourkeli's picture

:)

Thanks!!

posted by mcclourkeli | on Fri, 2011-08-26 07:43
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lucywilson's picture

perfect for game storage!

This is just what I was looking for for under our window :)

posted by lucywilson | on Sat, 2012-07-14 11:13

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