Upcycle broken furniture by making a classic European style bench from old chairs that’s perfect for your entry, dining room or foot of your bed!
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As promised, here is a tutorial on how to make a high-arm bench from old chairs in a classic French/European style. With a few basic tools you can create a high-end looking bench from a pair of broken chairs and pine or scrap wood. It’s a great upcycle project!
The chairs we used were 50-ish year old knockoff Duncan-Phyfe style chairs (meaning, thin wood, cheaply made) that were falling apart. We’re calling this a “French-style” bench because I saw a similar bench from Ballard Designs (for $300+!) based on a French antique, but I’ve also seen this style simply called a “window bench” as well.
What I really tried to emphasize in the title, though, is that this isn’t one of those benches I’ve seen where they line two or more chairs up side-by-side and add a plywood seat to make a bench. Personally, I think those look kinda odd (sorry!) and this is a more classic style to me.
This how-to isn’t super thorough, meaning I don’t have pictures of every single step, because Brian did it himself without my help (how dare he?). We’ve tried to provide enough detail to at least be a starting point if you’d like to make a bench from old chairs, too.
Also, we are not woodworkers, carpenters, or craftsmen – just DIY-er’s figuring things out as we go along. There might be other (better?) ways to do this, but hopefully, you will be inspired and use this as a springboard to think about what you can do with old, broken chairs!
Last May I wrote about how we started this DIY bench with a set of these these fake Duncan-Phyfe dining chairs that, being all fake and poorly made, began to fall apart on us – literally. After I made over our new, sturdy ($5!) Craigslist dining chairs, these were sent to a shed, waiting for…what? I don’t know, we just couldn’t get rid of them.
Then one fine day, Brian just decided to make a bench from the chair backs, with no help or prodding from me. This is odd, because usually our DIY projects go like this:
Me: “Wouldn’t it be cool if we did (fill in the blank with crazy, time-intensive diy or remodeling project)?”
Brian: “No.”
Me: “But we could (fill in way to do it cheap or easy) and all you’d need to do would be .”
Brian: “Well…”
So paint me surprised with this project – and happily, since it’s turned out to be one of my favorite projects ever!
How to Make a Bench From Old Chairs
Step One: Find Two Chairs
- Look for chairs that look good from the side. Chairs that have a slight curve to them are best. The backs need to be one piece from the top down to the back legs. Also think about the height of the chair backs (ours are 16″ from the top of the bench seat) and if they have a cross-piece spanning the back legs where the wood for the seat can easily be attached.
- Remove the front legs and seats. These knock-off Duncan Phyfe chair seats were held on by four screws. The legs were falling off and just pulled apart – the glue no longer held the dowels tightly.
Step Two: Create The Bench Seat
- Make a rectangle box the length you’d like the bench to be and secure the ends with two wood screws each, as pictured above (ours was 36″ x 12″). Use a sturdy hardwood and long 3.5-inch screws on each corner to make the box as immovable as you can. We salvaged the wood for our box from a portion of an Ikea oak countertop we didn’t need when we remodeled our bathroom. Brian cut the sides into 1″x 2-1/4″ pieces (oak boards like these are similar).
- Attached the box to each chair back by screwing from the chair into the short ends of the box. It’s hard to see in the above picture, but the dark slat of wood is the part of the chair back that the original seat was attached to. Brian drilled holes and then used three screws spaced evenly across this slat to securely hold the ends of the box to the backs. He also drilled through the legs of the chair to be able to insert two 3-inch screws into the box from the back of each leg– for a total of seven screws on each end. Whew- you can probably guess why I’m emphasizing secure at this point- our whole goal was to actually be able to sit on the bench!
Click the arrow for more steps + a video & cushion update!
Just saw this and I have the EXACT same crappy inspired chairs, actually six of them and have been thinking what the heck can I do with them they are so wobbly. This is a stellar idea thanks!
Yeah – you don’t even have to go on the hunt to find them! move on to step 2. 🙂
This is such a great idea and it seems relatively easy. I never would have thought of putting 2 chairs together to make something so beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
I LOVE THIS BENCH IT IS A NICE ONE AND IT REALLY LOOKS STURDY
I have 2 of those very chairs and I love them, and this is an awesome idea for those chairs love this cant wait to do this!
Simply lovely! I just love projects that take something old and practically useless and create something new and fabulous. You certainly did that.
Congratulations on your feature – so exciting!
Enjoy a beautiful weekend, Jami.
Thank you so much, Karen – and you, too! 🙂
I mean WOW just plain brilliant WOW the minute i saw it i had to make it .I could not stop thinking about it until it was done . I made it more of an indoor type bench a different take on this one . Its on my blog and I’ll post a link if you guys want to see
http://deliciousanddiy.wordpress.com/2013/12/28/diy-dining-room-chairs-transformed-into-a-bench/
This bench is really nice. Thinking it would be great at the foot of the bed and the bottom shelf could be used for extra blanket or for the throw pillows on the bed while sleeping. Great idea
This is a great idea. But FIRST make sure you are not using old Lair back chairs that are not broken and that can be repaired, like the ones in the picture shown. I just happen to have some and checked on the prices of antique Lair back chairs. They can go from $150. to $500. a chair depending on age and condition!!
Yes, Amy, for sure! These were only plywood knock-offs (very easy to tell), so I felt fine using them for something else. 🙂
Lyre backs………. Now to find some chairs with as nice a curve as these have…….and I have a guy ready to go to work on a bench for me…..
tout simplement splendide !!!! super idée
This is the most awesomest thing I have seen! This is on my to do list (with the help of my husband) before the snow flys this year! I dont even know where I will put it, but I will sure find a place near the garden! Thanks for the wonderful idea!
Thank you, Cassandra!
Great renovation! A simple process for damaged chairs. I LOVE it! I’m doing it!
Found some nice kitchen chairs that someone was throwing away as the bottoms where out of them. They are going to be recycled into a bench. Thank you for the wonderful idea. The legs are very nice and my hubby says he is going to use them for the legs for our night stands. So just about all parts of these old chairs are going to be recycled.
Love the bench. I was working on a similar design but it was so unsturdy I was afraid just having my cat jump on it would cause it to fall apart. But the box on the base was just what it needed.
I do have a question, though. As you’re the “queen of putty” I wanted to know what you use. I’ve used the wood putty for years, but it’s not intended for exterior use. Those that are for the outside are outrageously expensive. I have a lot of holes to fill, too!
Well, you’ve found me out, Diane – I’m only the queen of putty for indoor projects. I think a true queen would probably know about both, huh? 🙂 Sorry I can’t be of more help, but I’ve not used it outside except for a pew I re-did that sits under our porch. And I do see that the regular putty pulls apart after a season a bit, so it might be worth it to buy the expensive stuff if you want it to last.
Thanks for responding, Jami! I had heard Bondo recommended for outdoor projects, but I tried it and it’s sticky and difficult to use – at least for me. Maybe I’ll have to ask my husband for some help with it.
Could maybe put a bottom piece of plywood under the seat box…storage for a couple of books or writing paper, hats, scarves and gloves, etc. Just a thought.
Really neat! The chair back re ind me of music stands!
Cre8ivecharly
love it i want one 2
I do need to try this…
Love this idea! Saw it pop up on pinterest, but people aren’t linking it correctly. I had to google to find it. Crazy cool! I pinned it correctly. Hopefully others will.
great job, it turned out beautiful!! love the white!
This is such a WONDERFUL CLEVER IDEA! I Love it and thank you so much for sharing it with us!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Donna
I love this idea!
I just love this. Fantastic!
Lovely! Great idea 🙂
Greetings from Australia♥
~Pernilla
So sweet. I have always wanted one of these and I think I could do this! Now to find the chairs that would be perfect…
How cute is this?? I love it!
I’ve been dying to see this finished since you first posted it … well done …. I’ll have mine finished soon. You inspired me to go out and find those cool cheap chairs.
Ah, Leigh- your comment on the other post asking to see the finished bench really spurred me on to finish- I had sorta forgotten about it. {blush}. Thanks for the nudge!
Very, very clever and what a great way to recycle old chairs!
It turned out really cute. I’m impressed. :o)
Fantastic idea! I have a few old chairs and the seats are broken. Was almost going to send them to the rubbish tip. Now you have me thinking!! A beautiful job, well done.
Thus is so cool !!!!
Love it! I wanna make one!
This is great! Off to Pinterest it goes…. 🙂
What an awesome idea! I totally love this – now I have to add broken chairs to my list of garage sale items. That list is growing longer by the day!!!
I’m totally pinning this!
This is CRAZY cool! I am shouting about it on fb and pinning too =) It’s awesome!!
I have two chairs, batting, foam, and fabric just waiting to do this, just could use a bit of help from the hubby. The chairs I’ll be using are not the lyre backs (which I love and do have some I use) but they are solid mahogany and go with my inherited 20s-30s, Duncan Phyfe solid Mahogany dining table (Thank you Great Aunt Doris). I’ve already repair some of the chairs and to cover the broken backs, I used thin luan, foam, batting and made a slipcover from the fabric I recovered the seats with. I could add photos, I would.
That sounds like a good work-around, Josephine – and I agree about the mahogany chairs! What a treasure.:)