Bedroom Shoe Bench

When Brian and I started talking about our ideas for the master bedroom we both said we wanted a shoe bench for the foot of the bed. I don't know if anyone else calls it this but we wanted a spot to sit to put on our shoes. Our room is super long and skinny so we have plenty of room for a nice sized seat at the end of the bed. 

Originally we both wanted an old steamer trunk (with a flat top). I found a potential trunk but I can't pick it up until May (it's in California) so in the meantime we decided to DIY one.

I was painting a little bench the girls have in their playroom and thought it would look really good a little bigger. I threw it out there to Brian and after we picked up some wood Brian finished it in a ridiculously short amount of time. No joke. I would love to be the one that builds things but he is so fast is just makes sense. So 30 seconds after asking I had my bench!

The bench measures 4' long, (almost)2'deep, and 18" tall. I think the wood cost us around $30 total. 

After Brian finished I got to work with a little stain and top coat. I used what I already had which is dark walnut (miniwax). I wanted it to be pretty light and a little uneven so I rubbed it on with a cloth. Normally I would paint it on and then rub it off to get a uniform look. Since the room is so crisp and white I wanted a little character to come in with the bench. 

I used a clear coat of polyurethane over the top. I sanded it down with a super fine steel wool once that was dry just to rough it up a little. I LOVE it! I have entirely forgotten about the potential steamer trunk, I am all about this bench.    

There is a little sneak peek of my newly painted bedroom furniture in there too. 

I looked at a few comps online just to get an idea of how much we saved by DIYing. Similar benches sell from $200-$600.  We spent around $30 on the wood and we already had all the supplies to build and finish it. 

The room is coming together just how I imagined it. Also when you start to paint and fix things up it really emphasizes other features like our beautiful floors. Rug comes in on Tuesday!!

Happy Wednesday!