Small-Large Rustic X Bench

We made eight of these benches for Christmas gifts this year. It was a lot of fun and we learned so much along the way. We made 5 benches in the standard 30" length, 2 in 36" and 1 42" bench on request.

Suggestion for building: Make jigs so that the legs and side boards are the same size. It doesn't exactly matter if the measurements are a little off from the plan, as long as they are consistent in each bench.
We chose to paint the bottoms off-white and stain the tops for an elegant rustic look. However, we fully stained a couple of the benches as well because we thought they would look best for a few of our family members.
It was hard to tell exactly how long each bench took because we worked on all eight at once when we had free time, but one bench shouldn't take more than an afternoon if you are new.

I also added a picture of the one bench we chose to distress.

Built from Plan(s)
Estimated Cost
$20/each
Estimated Time Investment
Afternoon Project (3-6 Hours)
Finish Used
Minwax Jacobean stain
Martha Stewart "Glass of Milk" paint
Helmsman spray spar urethane
Recommended Skill Level
Beginner

Comments

Pam the Goatherd

Mon, 01/14/2013 - 11:10

Love!Love!Love! these!!!!! I so badly want to make some of these benches, but have too many more important projects to complete first. You did a great job on them. How do I get on your Christmas gift list ;-)