DIY Wood Bench with Box Frame and Chevron Top
Build a DIY wood bench with a chevron top and easy box frame base. The chevron bench top detail is beautiful for a dining bench or entryway bench!
Add more chevron (aka broken herringbone) style to your home with a chevron wood barn door, an easy chevron garden trellis, a chevron wood ceiling, or a pieced wood modern chevron headboard.
DIY Chevron Wood Bench with Easy Box Leg Base
Hi, it’s Amy from Hertoolbelt back with another build plan.
This wood chevron bench, with a pieced stained wood top, will look great at your dining table, at the end of your bed, in your entryway, or anywhere else you need a bit of extra seating.
I love the look of the rustic chevron top, and this DIY bench is a great addition to a farmhouse style or a more modern style with the sleek legs.
I used pine for the top chevron, which can easily be switched for any wood type that you like (reclaimed lumber would look awesome).
You can easily customize the look of this bench with various stain colors and paint colors.
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This chevron bench is inspired by a super cute bench from West Elm that’s no longer available.
Their version had metal legs/frame, but my version sports all wood legs to make the building process simple and less expensive.
The legs for this bench were changed a little to make a sturdier rectangle end with a more modern box frame style.
Prefer to buy instead of DIY? 45 Mudroom Benches We Love
How to Build a DIY Wood Bench with Chevron Top
The printable woodworking plan contains all the details to build your own DIY wood bench like this for an estimated lumber cost of under $50!
The chevron top looks intricate but is really a simple pieced wood top for beginning woodworkers. You can build it from 1×3 or 1×4 lumber, or whatever you have on hand.
The 2×2 bench base is really easy to build, and you could use just a couple of boards for the top if you prefer a faster bench seat.
Tools Needed
You’ll need a compound miter saw, brad nailer, and drill/driver to build this plus a table saw or circular saw with edge guide if you choose to rip any boards to width to help straighten out the edges of the cheap pine furring boards (like I did).
Read more about choosing straight boards and ripping your own boards.
You’ll also need a Kreg Jig pocket hole jig to assemble bench base frame and a countersink drill bit for attaching the chevron top to the base. A rafter square is optional but always helpful!
Bench Dimensions
The 4-foot bench is built to standard 18” bench height. Finished dimensions: 48” W x 15” D x 18” H.
Finishing the Chevron Wood Bench
After you’ve followed the woodworking plans to build the bench base and chevron top, you’ll dry fit the bench top to the bench, then stain before attaching the top.
After filling in cracks and blemishes and sanding both pieces smooth, I finished the bench with a golden oak top and white painted base.
- I primed the base with paint primer then painted it with white latex paint.
- I stained the chevron top with Minwax golden oak and followed that with Minwax aged oak to add a little definition in the cracks and define the chevron pattern. The aged oak made the top slightly darker that I hoped, so I let the stain dry overnight and lightly sanded the dark from the surface of the pine and reapplied a light coat of golden oak.
- I let the stain dry and applied a coat of Minwax semi-gloss polyurethane to protect the surface.
For a different style, you could paint the base to look like metal and stain the top in a more aged farmhouse finish like this.
You can also use our favorite color washing technique to stain the wood any color you like (or adjust the stain color like Cassity did on the barn door baby gate).
For fewer stinky fumes, you can even make your own DIY stains!
Click here to add this DIY wood bench plan to your cart.
For more build plans check out Hertoolbelt:
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Grand Island Console Table // Scroll Console Table // Crate Coffee Table
More DIY benches to build:
- easy DIY farmhouse bench with angled legs
- modern DIY woven bench
- mid-century inspired DIY triangle leg bench
- easy DIY 2×6 bench with waterfall edge
Published 08 Oct 2016 // Updated 07 Mar 2021
Amy is the tool lover at Hertoolbelt. On Hertoolbelt, Amy shares DIY furniture plans, handyman tutorials, and craft patterns. She has three pint sized 'helpers' that help fix things around the house and build fun projects.
What wood filler do you use? I have a hard time finding a good one for stain finishes. Thanks!
I have the same problem. I have been using Minwax wood filler lately, seems to work pretty good but not perfect.
Nice bench and instructions, good job!
Amy, thank you so much for this plan. The bench is so cute. I’m a novice builder trying to increase my skills. Yesterday, March 7, 2021 I bought the materials and started to build it! I had to buy a Kreg pocket jig and it was my first time using that bit! It was my dads birthday so due to a small family dinner I had to stop working on it early. I’ve build the bench and only have to cut/assemble from the chevron. But…today I logged in and saw this was updated to a paid plan. Is there any way I could have just the last half emailed to me so I can finish it up correctly? I would be so grateful! Thank you!