how to create a headboard bench

Happy Sunday everyone! Today, I'm sharing with you a project three weeks in the making. A few weekends ago I tackled building this monstrous bench using an old full sized headboard I bought off of a friend, but I hadn't had the time during weather permitting days to get it painted. But finally yesterday, Ohio decided to give us some gloriously warm fall weather, perfect for painting!

Here you can see what I started with. The pillars for the headboard aren't attached to the metal, but you get the gist. As you can see, I did end up with an extra piece from the footboard, which I plan to turn into another bench I will sell.

I chose to spray paint the metal a bright, clean white and painted the rest of the bench in Behr Cathedral Gray ( I have so much left over from house projects).

Here's a time lapse of this bench build. To attach the surrounding 2x4 frame, I simply drilled pilot holes at an angle and secured with exterior deck screws. You could also use L brackets. I used a jig saw to cut out the notches in the seat boards for the pillar pieces.I would recommend having someone help you stabilize the bench while inserting screws. I turned the piece on its side, because I did not have an extra set of hands.

Because this bench was more on the wide side, I opted to add an additional center support.

And there you have it! In its completed state! I am so thrilled to finally have a permanent seating solution for our front porch! I hope you have enjoyed this post and if you have any questions, feel free to ask away!

P.S. If you'd like to see the tutorial for this brick exterior lime/white wash technique, click here!