How to Make a Shoe Storage Bench out of a Habitat ReStore Wall Cabinet
We had a great turnout at the Habitat ReStore demonstration on Saturday! Thank you to everyone who showed up. It was nice meeting some new friends. There will be another talk at 1 pm on Saturday, December 10th at the Cary, NC Habitat ReStore! I hope you can make it, because I’ll be showing how to turn some common ReStore items into holiday gifts and décor.
And now for the tutorial that you really wanted to see — but couldn’t make it to see — making a shoe storage bench out of an kitchen wall cabinet!
Wall cabinets that fit over your fridge or stove work really well for this shoe storage bench project. Ideally the cabinet will be 18″ in height (standard seat height). If it is shorter, you can build a base for your bench to raise it up a little.
It is more than likely that these cabinets will be coated with about 5 lbs. of grease. But, have not fear, I found THE BEST cleaner for removing grease. Hot water and ammonia! You must work in a well ventilated area when working with ammonia. Sponge on the ammonia and hot water concoction and wait about 10 minutes. Wipe off the cabinet and repeat until clean.
Materials:
- Ammonia, hot water and a sponge or rag (to clean off grease)
- Screwdriver
- Hammer
- Nail set
- Miter saw
- Pencil
- Level
- Tape measure
- Wood putty
- Sandpaper
- Construction or thick wood glue
- Primer
- Paint
- Paint brush
- 2″ finish nails
- 1 and 1/4″ finish nails
- Quarter round moulding for base of cabinet
- Cove moulding for top of cabinet
- 1″ thick board (cut to fit inside cabinet dimensions)
- 1×4″ pine firring strips
- Plywood or pine board cut to fit 3″ wider and 1.5″ deer than finished dimensions of the cabinet (after moulding is added.)
- Optional: Thin plywood to use as a filler strip
Remove all the hardware and the doors. Remove any nails that are poking out or hammer them flush with the wood.
Measure the inside depth of the top of your cabinet.
Cut three 1×4″ boards to sit on top of the cabinet and use for the bench support and to give your nails something to grip when attaching the bench top. (Without these supports it would be very difficult to nail or screw into the particle board cabinet without it flaking and chipping.)
Use thick construction glue to attach the boards. (Glues that have a toothpaste consistency.)
Nail finish nails into the boards at an angle to secure them.
For good measure, nail two more finish nails through the back of the cabinet and into the ends of the support boards.
Measure your cabinet sides and front. Cut quarter round (convex shape) for the base of your cabinet and cove moulding (concave shape) for the top of your cabinet.
Here is a close up of the moulding I used for the base and crown of the cabinet.
If the face frame of your cabinet juts out past the side, you’ll have a gap (see below). No worries, we can fix that!
Slip a piece of thin plywood to fit behind the quarter round (and cove moulding). Draw a line at the top of your quarter round (and bottom of the cove moulding). Cut the plywood piece with a jig saw.
Glue the thin plywood strip onto the cabinet.
Rest your moulding on top of the filler strip.
Predrill holes in your trim moulding, then hammer finish nails to secure the trim. If you are using a finish nailer to secure the moulding pieces, you won’t need to pre-drill.
Fill any nail holes or cracks with wood putty.
Fill the seams of the filler strips with wood putty too.
Allow the wood putty to dry and then sand it smooth.
Your cabinet should look something like this:
For the top of your bench, cut a piece of wood that is 3″ wider and 1.5″ deeper than the top dimensions of the cabinet (be sure to measure to the edge of the crown moulding.) Sand it smooth. Stain or paint the bench top.
At this point, you can attach your bench top by screwing a few screws from inside the cabinet up through the support pieces and into the bench top.
*For demonstration purposes, the video will show how I attached the bench top with glue and finish nails from the top: Add some construction glue to the wood supports. Then, nail the top into the three support boards on top of the cabinet. Fill the holes left by the nails. And touch up the spots with stain or paint. Either way will work, but the screws from below will save you the work of adding wood putty and/or touching up the nail holes.
To install the shelf, level the board you cut to fit inside the cabinet (or shall I call it a bench since we are almost done!)
Use either “L” brackets inside the cabinet to hold the shelf or hammer nails from the side and into the ends of the shelf to secure it. Luckily shoes aren’t super heavy, so you can get away with using finish nails to hold the shelf in place.
Use a nail set to sink the nail below the wood surface.
Add a small amount of wood putty to the nail hole.
Gently sand the cabinet and shelf to scuff up the surface and give it a “tooth” for the primer to adhere to. Prime the cabinet and bench.
Paint the cabinet, shelf and bench.
Protect your bench with a few coats of polyurethane and you are done!
Room for about 8 pairs of shoes! If you wanted a larger bench or more storage, you could attach two cabinets side by side.
Here is the video from my Habitat ReStore talk. (I apologize about some of the background noise.)
By the way, thanks to my sponsors Bogs Footwear (boots) and Tomboy Tools (tool belt.) I need to lower that belt a little ;-). I was rushing in and just buckled it on me without adjusting it.
Sharing this tutorial with Home Stories A2Z Tutorials and Tips Link Party and The Shabby Creek Cottage’s Transformation Thursday
Hooray! I’m so excited to do this. I have a kitchen cabinet leftover from our remodel, and have just been dying to repurpose it! This is going to be my first DIY project. Thanks so much PHG!!! 🙂
I love it! You are so fab at what you do. Oh and I love those pink tools! 🙂
great idea – gotta hold onto the idea for our next house where we MUST have a mud room or at least a mud area. I don’t suppose you have any tips for getting a husband to actually put the shoes he isn’t wearing into the cabinet? 😉
Nann, like I said in the video, making the bench is easier than training the kids (and errr, husband) to put their shoes in 😉
This is a great project I am going to do, thanks for posting the video. I also have been meaning to check out this store, so that is on my to do list!
Kerri,
I hope you go to the ReStore sooner rather than later! It is a cool place.
Brittany
Awesome! I am going to share this with my sister, because she was thinking about making a bench like this!
Tell her to send me pics if she makes one!
This is a great project. You really shine in the video! I think I am going to be on the hunt for an old set of cupboards. My sisters and I love the Habitat Restore here in Canada. Everytime we make a trip to the big city, we stop by there and usually leave with a cart full. Cheers!
Awww, thanks Karen. I appreciate your kind words.
Brittany
P.s. I love how you non-Americans say Cheers 😉
Looks great! Sorry I couldn’t make it 🙁
Question for you: Does the Raleigh ReStore sell single cabinets? I have found the one in Durham will only sell them in sets–boo!
Racquel,
Well, that’s a bummer. Yes, the Raleigh store sells both individual and sets. Usually they only have 2-3 sets at a time. But, loads of cabinets for individual sale. You should make a comment to them about wanting single cabinets.
Brittany
Great idea–I will send them a message. And I need to get myself over to Raleigh 🙂
This is great! Even though I already have your blog on my blogroll, I’m going to bookmark this post separately. I’ve been trying to come up with uses for the cabinets I take out of the kitchen when we remodel.
If you don’t use them for a shoe bench, you could use them in a garage or shed for covered storage ;-).
wow it looks GREAT! That’s so fun that you were able to do a demonstration…I LOVE ReStore!!
Christina, I was truly honored to be asked to speak. They are my favorite charity (in addition to the SPCA.)
Love this! We really need this for our entry area. Right now we just have a pile of shoes and it’s getting a little out of hand!
Stephanie, that is exactly how this idea hatched! I built one a few years ago for our mudroom. The first one I built was extra long with two cabinets: https://prettyhandygirl.com/2010/08/building-shoe-storage-bench-project.html
looks great and what a good idea! i would have never thought of it!!
Thanks Rhiannon, oh I bet you might have thought of it ;-).
Thanks soooo much for the awesome tutorial! What a stupendous idea!
You are welcome Gwen. I hope you make one 😉
What a great idea! We’ve got a new Restore in town that I haven’t checked out yet. Will have to do that soon.
Sharon, oh you definitely have to check out your local ReStore! Ours is one of my favorite destinations.
Wow, now I want to hunt me down some of those wall cabinets!
Do you have a Habitat ReStore near you? They have oodles of them 😉
LOVE it!! You look great up there giving instructions! And the bench looks amazing!! So sorry I missed it!
Thanks Abi. Sorry I didn’t get to see you too! Next time?