Wooden Rustic DIY Bench for the Bathroom

Have you been looking for a classic farmhouse seat or storage shelf for your bathroom?  Today I am showing how I built this very simple and classic farmhouse DIY bench for the bathroom with very little budget.  This little bench is as sturdy as it is beautiful.

Using two pieces of lumber we actually made two benches, one in a modern walnut, and a second one in white pickling stain.  It’s always amazing to me the difference the colour makes.

DIY Bench Supplies

1 -2 by 10 lumber

1- 2 by 12 lumber

Sand paper 120 grit and 150 grit

Kreg jig

12 – 2″ wood screws

Walnut, or White Pickling Stain

Cutting List

Cut the 2 by 10 into one piece 14″ long.

Cut the 2 by 12 into 1 piece 20″ long for the seat

2 pieces 16″ long for the leg

1 piece 14″ long for the cross piece  shelf.

Sand all the wood until smooth, first with 120 grit and then 150 grit sandpaper.

Using a Kreg Jig to Drill Holes for Connections

This is the first time I used a jig on my own.  If your comfortable with a jig go ahead and skip this section.  If your new to using a jig I hope you find this really helpful.

Jigs allow you to drill a smooth angled hole deep within the wood so that you can attach two pieces of wood together without having ugly metal screws showing.  It keeps your wood finishes smooth.  They are easy to use, especially with a little practice, but I admit they are a bit strange looking.  Here is a picture of my little Kreg jig kit.

The items in the plastic bags are some screws and wood plugs you can use to fill in the drill holes.  In today’s project I didn’t these.  If you want to practice go ahead and practice on a scrap piece of lumber first. Like a bit of 2 by 4.  You will only need ten minutes to play with this before I am sure you will feel confident.  I had to tell myself to just try.

Here is the underside of the little jig.  The only moving part is the grey portion which adjusts for the thickness of the wood you are drilling into.  Make sure to actually measure the thickness of your wood lumber, not the commercial dimensions.  My 2″ by 12″ are actually 1 1/2″ thick, so that is what I set the jig too.

The marks show clearly on the jig, but sorry they are a bit hard to see.

Once you have the slider adjusted for the thickness of your wood, flip the jig over.  Fit it tightly against the edge of your wood.  Measure it an inch from the outside, and clamp in place.

Place the long drill bit that came with your kit into the drill.  Holding the jig so it doesn’t slide around, fit the drill bit into the open slot of the jig and drill.  The hole your drilling does not come out the end of your wood.  It just creates an angled hole for the screw to slide into next.

Once the hole is drilled, reverse the drill so the bit retracts.  Repeat for the other holes.

Jig Hole Placement on a Wooden Farmhouse Bench

The next picture shows the placement of all the jig holes in the bench.  It took me less than half an hour to drill them all.  Check the placement of the holes it should make it straight forward for you.

Note the bench seat wood does not have any holes.  The legs have three holes at the top.  The two outside ones are an inch from the outer edge, and the third hole is in the middle.

The cross piece has four holes all an inch from the edge.

Please note, when screwing the cross piece in, put the holes facing the floor.  I have them facing upwards to show them to you.

Sanding the Wood

Once all the wood is cut and the jig holes made, sand with 120 and 150 grit sandpaper until smooth.

Assembling the Wood into a DIY Bench

Now that all the jig holes are done, it takes about ten minutes to put this awesome little bench together.  Start by attaching the cross piece to one leg.  You will be putting the screws into the jig holes on the cross piece. (not the holes on the legs, they are for the top.)

Measure three inches from the bottom of the legs and make a mark.  Center your the cross piece on the leg, and screw into place.

The jig set came with the long bit needed for adding the screws.

Once you have the cross piece attached to the two legs, flip the legs over so the jig holes of the legs are against the bench seat.

Center the legs over the bench seat.  Measure to make sure it is centered and then attach the legs to the bench seat with the six screws.  Once done flip over.

I love how classic and simple and sturdy this bench is, especially with all the wood grain.

Finishing the Rustic Farmhouse DIY Bathroom Bench

The choice of finish is obviously yours,  I have three variations to show you, walnut stain, white pickling stain, and what I call modern farmhouse stain.  I finished one bench in modern farmhouse stain and the second one in white pickling stain.

Here is the comparison of the finishes.

Natural Finish

Clear coated with polyurethane, no staining at all.

Dark Walnut

The dark walnut finish is two coats of dark walnut stain.  I applied stain and spread it evenly over the wood using a foam brush.  Once dry, I added a second coat.

White Wash

The white wash finish is two coats of white pickling stain.  Apply the pickling stain and spread it evenly over the wood using a foam brush.  Once dry, I add a second coat.

This white farmhouse DIY bench sits outside our master bath shower.  I am using it to hold towels, but its also wonderful for doing pedicures.  It has a matching simple farmhouse towel hanger that I will share this week.

Modern Farmhouse or Final Finish

Frankly this is a new finish I am playing with.  I started by mixing 1 tbsp of white latex paint with 3 tbsp of water.

Using a paintbrush I painted the wood and left it for 10 seconds, and then wiped most of it off with a soft rag.  Let dry for 15 minutes.

I then proceeded by adding two layers of the dark walnut.  It gives the wood a bit of a milky texture.  I love it, but it takes some fiddling to get it the way you like.  I suggest trying it on a scrap piece of wood and seeing if you like it.

This little DIY stool is in our main floor half bath that most of our guests use.  I don’t expect it to be used very often as a stool, but its the perfect size to store some fresh linens and toilet paper without using much space in our tiny half bath.

 

Both of these little DIY Benches are paired with matching Farmhouse DIY towels racks.  The racks are made and I will update this post with the links this week.