Foyer Upgrade

Having a small house, just 1,2oo sq ft. with a family of 6 certainly raises the challenge of keeping organized. With two boys in school and another about to start, the tiny little space we call a foyer is overrun daily with coats, shoes, backpacks and the like. Come winter and we have an epidemic of mess. So here is our solution to the problem; A built in deacons bench. (hooks to be added as desired)

First step - Empty the space and build the frame. Our measurements are 4ft long, by 24'" high. (floor to bench) We used melamine shelving (left over from our closet reno) and 1x6x8 pine boards ripped to size.

Once the frame is in, we added the wainscotting back. These can be purchased at home depot in 7.5 sq ft. pkgs for $10.74 a package. In this 4' space we used two Pkgs.

Because our lengths were not long enough to fill the framed in area top to bottom; each one only being 32" long, we matched it like you would when you are doing flooring. The piece you cut to fit the space is used the start the next row so that the seams don't all match. It's much less obvious that they are not all one piece if you do this. Be sure to have a rubber mallet to beat in the last row. Be firm but gentle, and don't hit the wood directly, It will mark your wood. I would suggest a scrap piece of wood between the mallet and the wainscotting. We also needed to shave down the edges of the outside wainscotting. They were not square.

Next step was to build the supports for the bench and dividers.

Once all the frame work was done, I wiped the unit down with a damp cloth to remove all the dust and wood shavings. Once that was done, we taped off the bench and stained the seat. We used Min Wax in provincial. This is quickly becoming my favorite stain. We used it on the kitchen flooring project earlier this summer and plan to also use it for the planned farm house table this spring. (stay tuned ;) ) CAUTION: the fumes are strong, so be sure to ventilate while using.

This will need to dry for 24 hours. We used brown Zinsser, oil based primer for the Melamine and pine frame as well as the wainscotting. Be sure to follow the drying directions for both the Stain and the primer, this will mean the difference when you add your top coat of paint and the poly to the stain.