Coffee Tables to Dining Table Benches

Ever since I put in my kitchen island my kitchen is, like, micro small! And it includes the dining area. We never used the dining table (for eating, anyway. Great craft area, though). It is just too hard getting to the chairs in the corner. 

I liked how this set up looked but it was too much of a pain to sit here.

I've seen other dining areas with corner benches. I looked all over the internet looking for plans to build a corner bench. But lets face it. I am just too cheap to purchase wood and supplies to build something, no matter how cool it turns out to be. As I was seeing coffee table re-dos on linky parties I remembered that I have a coffee table and a matching side table that are the perfect size for the corner. I didn't have to do a thing with the 5 foot long table but the side table needed to lose the top level.

Here it is with the top. Nice but useless to me in its current state.

Without the top. My grandfather sold me these tables. I'm sure that he wouldn't be pleased if he were here to see what I have done. Hehe, oh well.

Since these benches are too low and too hard to sit on by themselves I made cushions! The foam came from a sofa I dismantled. I was actually going to do a tute on my "new sofa" but it turned out awful. The "sofa" has been replaced by a futon. Much better. Anyway I cut the foam to size and sewed up some covers using leftover material from my pantry curtains and dining chair seat covers. So its all matchy-matchy. Nice.

Here is the left over material.

The short side. The pillows are feather (<3) and covered in the same material.

The dog's eye view.

And the long bench. Those pillows have the green fabric on the backs of the covers.

We all love the bench set up now! We even sat there for a while the other night. We might even use this table now if I can keep it cleared of my craft materials.


Now for a cute dog photo. Rusty is the most ill behaved little mutt I have ever encountered. He barks, pees in the house, digs under the fence, escapes the yard and brings the others with him and is also the most irresistibly cute little dog I have ever laid eyes on. And, so charming when he is not misbehaving.

Russ stole my new thrift store quilt. I had thought that this quilt was handmade (it looks it!) but then when I unrolled it (the thrift store had it all rolled and taped up) I found the tag. Bummer. At least I won't feel bad about cutting it apart :-)