When we disassembled the side yard fence there were a bunch of rotten 4×4″ posts left over. I’ve been considering building a small bench for the master bedroom for some time and when presented with the wood leftovers, thoughts of a very cheap but super chunky piece of furniture danced in my noggin. Paired with a pair of left over Eames LTR bases (salvaged from our old beat up surfboard table) this little reclaimed wood bench was pretty easy to assemble.
Here’s how:
Materials:
4 – Reclaimed wood fence posts
2 – Eames LTR bases (I salvaged mine off a broken Eames elliptical table)
4 – 12″ metal straps
Bunch of Screws
Teak Oil (or Danish Oil)
Sander
First, we cut off the rotten ends of the fence posts which left us with a usable length of 56″.
Then, I inset the bases 6″ from the end.
The straps were placed evenly around the bases and screwed into the wood.
To finish up construction, the the bases were then screwed into place.
Boom. Done.
Almost…
I gave the wood a quick sanding to remove any residual gunk, dirt or splinters.
After the dust was cleaned off, I rubbed the wood down with a few coats of teak oil (I had it laying around) to seal and protect the wood. Then done!
The treated wood darkens up a lot with the oil.
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143 Comments
OH NO YOU DI’INT!
My mind just blew out the side of my head. Love, love, love.
What else can anyone say. LOVE at first sight!
It’s gorgeous! Great job!
looks phenom!!! great job and i’m super impressed by how easy the construction was. oh, you and your good ideas.
Shut. Up. That is amazing!
I’ve been lurking your blog for a few weeks, and I totally love what you’ve done with your home. I absolutely adore this bench. What a super great idea. Your resourcefulness never ceases to amaze me.
Splabooey!! Absolutely brilliant and it looks amazing. Wish my brain was clever like that.
double boom!
double boom!, again…….
lovely!!!! Super cool reclaimed wood table?!!!! you are a hero
Oh man, I really like this a lot!
It amazes me that you thrift the things you do and have eliptical table bases just lying around. Reminds me that I need to keep Danish oil lying around the house, just in case.
amazing! love it.
Good job, green idea! I really love reused items.
Riell from Hungary
Great idea! Is Crisis time…recycle is the keyword!
Wow…looks amazing!!
And I would’ve tossed that wood in the bin. Your bench looks amazing. I love it!
Genius. The hits just keep on coming!
Oh yes. Boom. Double boom. Genius. Amazing. Brilliant. And all other words of praise that have been and will be posted.
That is ultra super great and I am sooo using this for inspiration.
Great job !
Looks so expensive…!
wow! super duper amazing.
love it!
You have to be kidding! How do you even come up with this. I am in love with your house. My house was built in 1955 and I want to start incorporating more of a midcentury feel to it. I love your blog.
looks like the captain approves.
Wow that looks awesome. I would never have thought of this. Nice work and good use of old Eames bases. I bow down to your mid-century modern meets eco-friendly repurposness.
love, love, love it…and it goes so great in your bedroom
Wow, I am SO impressed! That bench is beautiful! This might just be my favorite thing you’ve ever posted.
If you keep saturating the wood in teak oil, over the course of 6 months to a year, it will harden and begin to a nearly impermeable finish. It ends up a little glossy, though, which might not be what you want. Looks fantastic!
Seriously one of the nicest things you have in your house. And that’s saying something.
nicely done!
That looks fantastic.
Well…snazzy razzy.
Morgan! Gah!
You just blew my mind with awesome.
Wowee!
What a fantastic bench! You are my home renovation idol! Love your blog
awesome! very inspiring!
Does the design part of your brain ever rest? You are awesome.
that’s frickin beautiful.
Simply awesome.
Holy cats! You rule! How do you not have a HG show yet? We need to start a write-in campaign to make this happen.
Dude, I can’t even. You are the best. The BEST!
This is fantastic!
WOW! Bootiful!
super-sex.
It looks great! And it looks like it’s a much better height bench than the coffee table was.
Awe. To the Some.
woah. super. cool.
your DIY eye is off the hook.
this and your pipe shelf thing, are such happy marriages of green + MCM.
i want. must look for a fence to destroy…
YOU ARE MY HERO!!!
yuss! *fist pump* this is gorgeousss!
Um. That’s SEXY.
What? Seriously, this is awesome, and it was free, it looks like a million bucks.
Such an awesome DIY project. Question: How did you ensure that the legs when attached sit even on the floor? It seems like there would be quite a bit of unevenness with the warped wood.
eff yes!!!! yep. long-time lurker, but this bench kills it.
i love this blog, your creativity and humor are infectious.
i check here daily; never disappointed!
What does the Captain think? LOL Love it, looks abs FAB!
OH MY LORDY THIS IS GORGEOUS!!! YES I AM YELLING!!!
Really…. How amazing are you anyway??
Damn! That’s hot!
LOVE it! You are a genius.
Could you please stop being so awesome? You are giving my apartment a complex!
This is ridiculously awesome! I want one!!
Thanks all! The best part was it only cost about $20. Those straps are the priciest part.
You could also use hairpin legs if LTR bases are hard to source.
brilliant, amazing and all kinds of other super-fabulous adjectives. Cue the green jealousy.
LOVE it! I love the apron on the front, it helps to give a more substantial look. It is awesome in your space!
LOOKS GREAT in the bedroom.
got any more of those posts to spare? haha..
That’s REALLY nice. had you used a router to recess the straps then i’d make a really nice detail even on the bottom side.
That bench could easily sell for a few hundred as is!
We don’t have a router, and it was so low that you don’t see them…so we went the simple route. Routered out would be nice.
Knowing the wood is of historical origin (I mean, think about all we’ve heard about that fence, what it means to this blog, if that isn’t historical !) that should add a few more hundred to the value.
If benches/fences could talk….
So clever, so beauiful. I can vicariously feel your pride and joy in creating something so amazing.
Beautiful!!!! Now I know what to do with some of my fence when I tear it down! Love your creativity!
-A Real Hemet Girl haha
Brilliant idea! It looks so impressive. Bravo!
I love how OCD perfectly composed all your photos are. Everything is so straight and square. Makes me happy.
OMG that is amazing. Incredible! Again! Gah!
LOVE this…..totally looking at our pile of wood from our renovations, what can I make?
uhh.. you make me feel like an underachiever.
First of all, WELL DONE! Looks fabulous.
Secondly, this post is popping up on all my favorite sites today. Congrats on all the well-earned recognition!
Delurking to say Absolutely Perfect! I wish I had half your vision and talent! Fab, brilliant, etc., etc., etc.!
beautiful. really, really stunning.
I just spent months searching for the perfect coffee table, finally bought one,and now this makes me feel like I’ve settled AND blown my budget.
You are an all-star.
GAWD that is incredible. APPLAUSE, APPLAUSE. You exhaust me in a good way.
Also I love that you made another table!
So so awesome. That’s pretty much all I can say. It makes me long for a busted fence…
Dear Morgan, you are the coolest person in the universe.
Thanks again all, you guy are nuts!
BTW the metal straps – I just got them at the hardware store. Super easy to find.
How can one person possibly have so many awesome ideas???
Talk about thinking outside the box, or fence. I love it. You are one resourceful girl.
i LOVE it! I see these kinds of projects and *almost* wish for a fence to fall down on my property so I can use it for something cool!
SHUT THE FREAKIN’ FRONT DOOR…open it…then shut that bad boy again! This is genius! I’ll be out, while the neighbors are away on vacation, scouring their yards for broken down fences. God. Why can’t my fence be broken?
Salvaged and beautiful. What more could you ask for? Nice work!
For lack of a better word…. PERFECT!
I am sooo jealous. I would do almost anything to have 2 of these.
I can’t be the only one thinking it: when are we going to be to buy your designs?? Table auction anyone? LOL! Really tho, you are amazing and never ever cease to impress! Happy Thanksgiving!
bootiful, brilliant idea
wauw stunning! looks like a real designer piece.
oh my god, you’re like goddamn mcgyver!
that is seriously cool – looks terrif.
Nothing like rustic modern furniture and you made it! It’s an original!!!!! Beautiful at the base of your bed. Simply stunning!!!!
truly beautiful, Morgan. Your design eye is so good.
crazy love.
Wow! We have some left over fence posts and boards and I actually thought of building dining benches from them using hairpin legs, but couldn’t visualize it until now…thanks! You did a great job. I love the top/leg proportions.
awesome!
Great green recylcling job you and the boy did! Yeah it’s a
dirty hard job, but the two you, with help, not ont only saved some bucks but a tree as well, at least part of one. And the bonus bench looks great!
Yer fuckin’ ridiculous.
Like, talent-wise.
Niiiiice! Your fence would look amazeballs if you could somehow do the same type of finish on it.. Slip on some metaly hardware deliciousness…..drool. Neighborhood fence, “show off psh!” Brick House Fence, “U jelly?”
I’m amazed! Your bench is just beautiful.
such vision! its gorgeous.
love it!
on a sad note…i located a black chair (like the one in your bedroom) in a pile of stuff along side the road. i finished my shopping and was going back to load it in my car on the way home…BUT….when I got there, an entire tree had been chopped down and the chair was now buried underneath it. I was so bummed!
Love! I have a bunch of wood like that that I’m trying to find uses for (dining table is on the list)…other alternatives to those legs? I’m thinking I’ll need to find something from the hardware store.
what are you, some sort of genius? you’re making me look real bad, lady. gobble gobble
Aren’t YOU the CRAFTY ONE!! Looks so fab!!!-
That is absolutely fantastic! Pruxxx
You know, there is no one on the interwebs, not a single soul, that is even in the same league as you Brick Housers. You outdo yourself time and time again. Damn. Nice job.
I am trying so hard not to hate you right now…truly amazing and creative work!
i agree with jennifer… you make verything sound so simple and look simple. You have done an amazing job!! love your ideas
stupid good.
This is gorgeous! Totally excellent use of materials.
Looks fantastic, had no idea you could salvage a piece of outdoor-wood like that.
But I hope you didn’t use an original Herman miller base for this…
WHAT?! NOOOOOOO.
You are killing me with your badassical skillz. I’m not even going to read the other 873,000 comments, but I know they say the same thing.
dang girl!
Oh, man! I just discovered your site. This is (as in the site and this project) fantastic!!!
Looks great, but pressure treated wood indoors?? Thought that was a big no no.
Looks great! I would have liked it with the rough edges in the first shot. One question (and not to get all Nervous Nellie on you): are you sure it’s not pressure treated wood? That shit’s got some nasty chemicals that maybe don’t belong in the house, especially for your tiny pups.
http://www.origen.net/ccawood.html
It’s not pressure treated. It’s very old redwood, if it was treated it would be greenish and probably not have as much termite damage. The fence seems pretty original to our 60 year old house.
Love this
Looks really nice! Hope all the termites have vacated the non-rotted parts.
decades ago…
shut your face. This is amazeballs.
What?! Filed Under: Awesome!
Wow, that is beautiful.. and so inspiring. Thank you for sharing.
I want!
I love your page. Its so amazing. Bam. And the DIY-Tips are awesome!
fab; if only i could find some Eames LTR bases i have some wood.
did you guys attach the wood together? im confused. what exactly is holding it all together, just the metal straps?
id like to do something similar to this but have no experience in woodworking. i thought you had to attach the wood panels together first side by side?
This is absolutely gorgeous!!!
this is my top pick for DIY, so much so i had to feature it on my little bloggity blog ; ) and it’s a “green” DIY, bonus.
http://finelittlehome.blogspot.com/2011/04/diy-earth-day.html
thanks for sharing all your fab ideas!
I love this bench! I love it so much I just blogged about it
Thank you for sharing!
gEEZ LOUISE…..YOUS IZ THE SMARTEST. CAN YOU MARRY ME?
HOLY CA-BOLY!! Almost too clever for words!
I wanted to make this for my mom but I can’t get the powertools! It looks so easy, affordable and modern. So nice, but maybe when I get those powertools….
BH, I love you. You should make a Brickhouse store(:
Haha, thanks for the endless inspiration, as always
I WANT ONE
Wow incredible do you know if there is anyone that sells just the eames bases or something similar
Awesome idea for reusing our extra fence wood. We are replacing some old good for new one. Our wood fence is more than years old. Lots of green areas in the backyard, I like the Xeriscape concept,. We live in the desert, conservation of water and minimizing maintenance are great for our landscaping.
This bench will look great in our backyard.
beautiful bench. Nearly impossible to find the leg hardware or even anything close.. i think there needs to be a DIY tutorial on making legs similar?
What are you some kind of Genius or something!? Brilliant!
Awesome! Did you do the brick and gravel under the bench? If so do you have a how to? Thanks!
I have been tryign to convince my bf to get a bench for his new wooden bed. He’s not kean on ‘reclaimed wood’ but maybe I can convince him with this super amazing look. So simple and easy (sort of…probably not). But we can pretend.
Love it!
I have been trying to convince my bf to get a bench for his new wooden bed. He’s not keen on ‘reclaimed wood’ but maybe I can convince him with this super amazing look. So simple and easy (sort of…probably not). But we can pretend.
Love it!
I love this bench!!!! Where can u buy a Eames LTR bases?
How did you cut the 4×4′s? My table saw hates going through anything that thick… old school hand saw perhaps?
Comment It Up!