Ikea Expedit Shelving Bench Hack

Before I went on my unannounced break – which I explained a bit in Tuesdays post – I teased 5 in-the-works projects happening over here at {House. Food. Baby.}

So, after quitting my job in San Francisco, chopping off 14-inches of my hair and moving across the country, I’m back to share a few updates on a few of those in-the-works projects I shared with you in April.

First up is the Ikea Bench I first started back in October. You’ve probably seen this one before – Pinterest is alive with Ikea hacks – and the Ikea Expedit Shelving Bench Hack is one of the most popular. I bought the unit, put it together in about five minutes, shoved a bunch of books in it {I’m a book hoarder, and therefore am always in desperate need of book storage} and shoved in against the wall in my dining room…where it sat, untouched for the next 5 months.

Then in April, while at Home Depot looking for something else, I found these uber cheap, raw wood furniture feet. With a newfound inspiration to finish that darned bench, I snapped up six of them {and forgot all about what I went there to buy in the first play. Doh!}

What you need:

(6) Furniture legs
Spray paint
Wood glue
Drill
Sandpaper (I used 120-grit)

While I found my legs at Home Depot, there are plenty of places to search. All the big box hardware stores have them in various sizes, wood types and styles, along with the typical online stores, like Amazon. Ikea also has a wide array of legs, though we never saw anything short enough for our purposes. And our final recommendation would be hairpin legs. If we weren’t already in the process of creating another piece using hairpin legs, we might have done them with this bench.

I prepped the six furniture legs by sanding them with 120-grit sandpaper and then wiped the dust up with a damp cloth. Once they were dry I used a high gloss white spray paint to finish them off. The raw wood soaked up the paint like a dehydrated marathon runner and since I’m overly careful when using spray paint {light coats to avoid drips}, it took about 6 coats to get them fully covered.

Then I simply drilled holes into the base of the bench; one at each of the four corners and one at the back and front of the center and screwed the legs into the base using the pre-drilled holes. I did not use flat plates or brackets…because I didn’t think it was necessary and I was being cheap. Instead I coated the screw peg with heavy-duty wood glue, which will keep the legs sturdy and solid for years to come.

And that’s it so far. Once I find the perfect fabric, I plan to add a cushioned seat and add a few more pillows. Until then, we’ll call this hack complete!