Twin Captain's Bed Repurposed Into An Outdoor Bench
In a heap of debris accumulated from various projects we did around our house over the winter, I found a twin captain's bed. It wasn't just any captain's bed, this one has been in my family for almost five decades. It started as my youngest brother's childhood bed back in the 70s and then was passed down to my children growing up.
While sorting through all the debris to take to the landfill I didn't have the heart to load this onto the truck because there were too many sentimental memories attached. Besides, I really like the spindle rail on the headboard and footboard and that's when I decided to turn the Twin Captain's Bed Into An Outdoor Bench.
This is the state I found the bed after pulling it from the rubble.
Against my use what you have on hand rule, we purchased lumber for this project. Believe me, I searched high and low for lumber I could salvage but to my disappointment, came out empty handed.
I am not including a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how we built the bench but you can get a fairly good idea from the pictures below. I do, however, provide a detailed tutorial for a similar bench here in my Outdoor Garden Bench For Two post.
The bench was painted white using Behr Plus Exterior High Gloss Enamel paint. The captain's bed drawers came in handy as makeshift sawhorses. I love how fresh and clean the bench looks painted white.
In the photo below, you may question my decision to have the scalloped edge of the footboard above the height of the seat slats. This was intentional because a 2-inch cushion will be used on the bench and this will hold it in place. Trust me, there is plenty of clearance and you'll see what I mean further down in this post.
I had full intentions of sewing a custom cushion in a green chevron stripe fabric. Enroute to the fabric store I popped into HomeSense (Canadian retailer) to pick up items for another project. On display in the front of the store was a clearance bin filled with assorted outdoor cushions. The choices were limited but I found a striped cushion that works and the price was right. Saved me loads of time - win-win in my books!
For more headboard bench ideas and inspiration, I've dedicated an entire page to the ones I've made over the years and you can find them HERE.
While sorting through all the debris to take to the landfill I didn't have the heart to load this onto the truck because there were too many sentimental memories attached. Besides, I really like the spindle rail on the headboard and footboard and that's when I decided to turn the Twin Captain's Bed Into An Outdoor Bench.
Twin Captain's Bed Repurposed Into An Outdoor Bench
This is the state I found the bed after pulling it from the rubble.
Against my use what you have on hand rule, we purchased lumber for this project. Believe me, I searched high and low for lumber I could salvage but to my disappointment, came out empty handed.
I am not including a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how we built the bench but you can get a fairly good idea from the pictures below. I do, however, provide a detailed tutorial for a similar bench here in my Outdoor Garden Bench For Two post.
The bench was painted white using Behr Plus Exterior High Gloss Enamel paint. The captain's bed drawers came in handy as makeshift sawhorses. I love how fresh and clean the bench looks painted white.
In the photo below, you may question my decision to have the scalloped edge of the footboard above the height of the seat slats. This was intentional because a 2-inch cushion will be used on the bench and this will hold it in place. Trust me, there is plenty of clearance and you'll see what I mean further down in this post.
I had full intentions of sewing a custom cushion in a green chevron stripe fabric. Enroute to the fabric store I popped into HomeSense (Canadian retailer) to pick up items for another project. On display in the front of the store was a clearance bin filled with assorted outdoor cushions. The choices were limited but I found a striped cushion that works and the price was right. Saved me loads of time - win-win in my books!
For more headboard bench ideas and inspiration, I've dedicated an entire page to the ones I've made over the years and you can find them HERE.
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