Barn Knock-Off

#1 I need to apologize for not having the dining room make-over posted yet . . . I just got the china cabinet door hung last night.  I have been way to busy to photograph it as I'm getting ready to take off to be in a wedding 8 hours away this weekend. I PROMISE next week I will have that and the BIG delivery photos up!

I'm always scanning catalogs and magazines for ideas for the house.  I've seen this bench in Pottery Barn for awhile. I always drool over it! It just makes sense for an entryway space, to put your boots on or drop your groceries while you unlock the door.

Once we got the carpet pulled up in the breezeway I knew I had the perfect spot for this entryway bench.  Cost, however was a problem.  But it was so stuck in my mind that we needed a place to hide out recycling bins, generally when this happens, you hear this through our house . . . "Bruuuuuuuuuce, can you build me this????" 

I'm so lucky, Bruce was able to create this bench for our breezeway! We had to cut the handles off of one of the benches so that the bench could be build to a size that fits that space.  The boys had to drop it into place in between the stairs and the wall, it's so custom! Once I have a color scheme for the space I'll make a cushion for the top and get a basket to make faux front for the recycling bins. I know the tile is a little scuzzy but way better than the stained, smelly green carpet!  How much did we save? With shipping it would have been around $600 (at the time) we spent about half that on the lumber and the paint is the trim color that will go in the main living spaces in our house!