I just love the Fall!  I’ve been working on getting the front porch of our new home ready for my favorite season.  There are two little alcove areas on our porch, and I have been looking around for a cute little bench to put in one of the alcoves.  Wouldn’t you know it?  I couldn’t quite find what I wanted in the stores or online.  So, I set out to make one. Here is how we made an easy DIY outdoor bench.

Plans and Materials

I scoured the internet for inspiration, and found this easy outdoor bench idea from the Loves Grows Wild blog.  Our bench was only going to be 38″ wide, so I did a little tailoring.  Here is our cut list:

  • 2″x3″ post cut to 18″ length (x4)
  • 1″x4″ cut to 36″ (x2)
  • 1″x4″ cut to 14″ (x3)
  • 1″x4″ cut to 38″ (x5)

Staining the Wood Pieces

First, we cut all of the wood, and then I stained it using Minwax’s Jacobean stain.

Minwax Jacobean stain for easy DIY bench

staining wood for DIY bench

Assembling the Bench

Next, we assembled the frame using the three 14″ pieces, and two 36″ pieces.  We used some finish nails to put the frame together, and then screwed the frame into the 2″x3″ posts.  Using the finish nails first kept everything nice and square for attaching to the posts.

easy DIY bench for Fall front porch

The next step was to evenly space the five remaining boards onto the top of the bench.  We experimented using different objects as spacers, and then finally settled on a plain old piece of cardboard.  We placed the front and very back boards and attached them to the frame first.  Then we attached each of the remaining three boards in the middle using our spacer (cardboard) to ensure everything was even.

easy DIY outdoor bench for Fall front porch

This little DIY outdoor bench was very easy to build, and it fit perfectly in our alcove.  A few pillows and accessories later, and our front porch was ready for Fall.  I’ll show you the entire front porch later on this week….it turned out great!

easy diy bench for Fall front porch