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Monday, November 26, 2012

Turning a Bookcase into a Banquette


We have a great dinning room table and it would have accommodated our family just fine....if we had stopped with 4 kids. My mission was to come up with an inexpensive, cute, semi-easy solution to our dinner table problem-o. I decided on a banquette. Then I figured out I could turn this...
....Ikea's Expedit bookcase $59.99, into a banquette.

*Side Note: Yes, occasionally I do derive some of my genius from a magical fairy land called, Pinterest. But this is NOT one of those times. While we're on the topic.....does it drive anyone else crazy when people comment: "ooo, did you get that idea from Pinterest?"  If I got it from Pinterest I will let you know....but for now I will take the credit for this.

I feel so much better! I just had to get that off my chest, fewwwww. Okay, I decided to go with this bookcase because it's sturdy and would be almost the exact seat height to accommodate my table when laid on its side. Time for the pictorial:          

Before Picture

     The Building Process
 First, I assembled the bookcase, laid it on its back, removed the section of baseboard from the wall where the banquette would be located. I also mitered pieces of baseboard moulding and applied them to the exterior of the bookcase with a nail gun and liquid nail to give it some decorative detail.
Best stuff on earth to prime with. No sanding needed. Zinsser water-base interior primer. I found it at Lowes.
Primed and painted the banquette. Those Ikea frog bowls came in handy :)
Added the lid using two 30" piano hinges. Oooo, look at all that storage! I propped the lid open, then finished painting the underneath side.
Hello banquette! We used a couple of screw to secure it to the studs in the wall.
Then I sewed a nice soft cushion for my kids chubby buns to rest upon. I used indoor/outdoor fabric so that future spills would just wipe off.
 ....and there is my cute little rag-a-muffin enjoying her new throne. The whole family is able to eat at the table once more....although cute little Miss Meg (in the picture) has to sit in a regular chair to eat. Otherwise, she has a tendency to throw her food through the window into the family room.





18 comments:

  1. Such a brilliant idea! Although I did find this on Pinterest, I now know it was all your thinking and doing that made it fab! Ikea no longer makes Expedit, they have a new line that looks the same; Kallax. I am going to take some measurements to see if this will work for my intended space. Thanks so much.

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  2. when you add a lid to the bookcase does it hold a lot more weight? This is exactly what I want to do for my dining room, but I want to make a U-shape. I just wasn't sure if I a bunch of adults sat around on these if they would break. Do you think it would hold the weight? How is yours holding up? Also, I wanted to remove the shelves in the middle so I would have a lot more storage space for large items. Would that make it a lot weaker?

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    1. Kayla,
      My banquette has held up great! I quite often have several adults sitting on it without a problem....and we're not small people in my house, the adults range from 5'9 to 6'5. I might be able to get away with taking out one or two shelves but, I do believer the shelves help with it's stability.

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  3. I love this idea. I want to do something like this in our future home. I have pinned it for future use. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. I love this idea! Banquettes are really the best - seating, style and storage. Also, baseboard mouldings are a great idea - profile done without building up trim!

    Cheers,
    Cherie

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  5. where did you get the lid from? What type of wood did you use?

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    Replies
    1. I was just about to ask the same questions! :)

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    2. Yes, please, more details on how you constructed and attached the lid.

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    3. I would love to know as well!!!! Please!

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    4. what is the lid? And did you put anything on the bottom?

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  6. hows the height for kids to sit easily? in other words, what's the height compared to a regular kitchen chair. Thank you!!

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  7. Hi - love this - question - what did u use for the lid and also how did u attach it to the storage?? Thanks

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  8. awesome hack!! love it. what is that design on the sides? that is definitely not baseboard molding, is it? I am specifically talking about the square design on the side and the two rectangular design sections int he front?

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  9. What would you say the total cost to make this was?

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  10. where did you get the "pieces of baseboard moulding" from?

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  11. Wow what a brilliant idea. Thank you for sharing!!

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  13. Ooohhh did you put that on Pinterest? :) It's lovely!

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