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What Would You Do with an Old Leather Bench?

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A few (embarrassingly long) months ago, one of my local friends posted on Facebook that she had a project piece of furniture for someone.  She was redoing her living room, and one piece that had to go was a worn out leather ottoman.

I believe my response on her page was, “Um, hello?  Have you met me?”  The next day, that bench had a new owner.

Dogs, kids, and time had done a number on the bench.  The leather was torn, and the wooden base was woefully scratched up.

I immediately set to work taking the bench apart.  I flipped it over and removed the wooden base.  I removed the upholestry staple by staple.  I cut the strings that were holding the tufted buttons.  I was basically left with a big wooden box, a wooden base and the left over leather and foam.

The problem became that I couldn’t figure out what to do with it.  I was so excited about ripping it apart that I failed to fully explore how I could revamp it.  Rookie mistake, y’all!  You would think that I would know better than that by now.

So, here it sits in my little office, just one more unfinished project for me to trip over.  Tom remarked to me that “this is how people end up with refrigerators in their front yard.”  Uh oh.  I better figure something out.

I’d love for you to throw your ideas at me, you genius guys and gals!  What should I do to give this bench a new life?  It’s about 4 feet long and 3 feet wide.  The only thing I don’t want to do is simply repaint and recover it.  It’s served its time as a bench, so now I think it needs a new purpose.

What would you do with this old leather bench?

About Lindsay Ballard

Lindsay Ballard is a former college mascot turned political geek turned roller derby playing, DIY fanatic.

Lindsay chronicles her projects, design ideas, and lifestyle tips here at Makely, where she shares tutorials and inspiration. Her DIY designs are bold and graphic, while her spirit is fun and full of color.

Comments

  1. Betsy Speert says

    If you post this question on my next OY VEY!! Q&A Tuesday, which I have on the first Tuesday of each month, I will do a step by step explaination of how to redo your bench……
    Or not?
    I’ve taken three upholstery classes…….
    Just sayin’…….
    Anywho, looks like a fun project!
    Betsy

    Reply

  3. Jessica says

    Could you turn it into an art table or train table or some kind of kid-sized furniture for the playroom you’re working on?

    Reply

  4. Sam says

    I think it could be a really adorable kids craft storage table…I know it’s low to the ground, but with some cute floor pillows and fun storage inside?

    Reply

  7. Camilla says

    So you’re left with a big wooden box? That’s screaming storage unit to me – the suggestion of a table for the kids to work at with storage seems great. Also perhaps it could be a great storage unit for books? Arrange the books on their side spine up with a hinged glass lid so you can see them and use it as a side table.
    x

    Reply

  8. flybabymom says

    I recently saw some videos on-line about painting leather jackets. They were really beautiful. I’d consider repairing the holes and painting the leather and reassembling the bench.

    Reply

  9. Stephanie says

    I picked up a similar bench during city-wide clean up. It’s currently a lovely avocado green with a giant tear through the middle. I decided to recover the very top with some cotton fabric I found that resembles burlap, but feels much softer. On the sides, I’m going wrap it with jute twine to fill the sides with rows of twine. It will remain a footstool for my purposes.

    Reply

  10. Teri says

    I’d make it back into a bench but instead of attaching the top back on I’d hinge it so the interior could be used as storage. Paint it with outdoor paint and upholster with outdoor fabric and tuck it away on the porch. It can hold bubbles, frisbees, kick balls for summer and then in the winter bring it inside to hold gloves, hats, and scarves.

    Reply

  13. Susan says

    I was thinking it might be a nice coffee table or accent table. You could build up the sides, line with a beautiful fabric, paint… attach a hinged frame with glass and it becomes a coffee-accent table/shadow box. It would be easy to change the contents…display favorite treasures, collectibles, kids drawings and artwork, old silver pieces. You could also display items depending on the season of the year…

    Reply

  14. Jenny says

    Since I’m looking for an upholstered bench, I would just paint the base a fun color and upholster the top in a fun pattern keeping the button tufts but not the saddle stitch…………my family has owned an upholstery shop through 4 generations so I tend to think in terms of fabric and redo, not repurpose.

    Reply

  16. Moira Finney says

    what about making it so it doesn’t have a top on it and line it so its waterproof…paint it a really fun color and you have a cool cooler/ice bucket for sodas and water for your next barbecue!

    Reply

  17. Susan M says

    How about either constructing a rough trunk out of pallet wood, or if it’s a natural fit, adding a real trunk to the base to ‘class’ it up. My 1st thought was putting it back together as a bench w/ rope all around the deep side & giving the cushion top a nautical look … compass, anchor, longitude/latitude …

    Reply

  19. Jen T. says

    Humm…..the options are endless! How fun. If you wanted to focus on a child friendly idea how about painting the box an awesome color. Then installing some fun low wattage lights on the inside then installing an acrylic top in which you can “draw” and wipe off games like tic tac toe…..checkers. It could be the special piece of furniture it’s ok to draw on 🙂 Add some floor pillows and viola! Or if you wanted to use it as an organization tool you could cut the legs super short and turn it on it’s side….think wall mounting shawdow box ‘ish short….then do a crazy design inside with hooks. You could attach a door or leave it open. Mount it to a wall that you pass everyday…..and hang your keys, neclaces, umbrellas, leather pouch to hold a cell phone anything you felt the need to have hanging. If you wanted to reuse some of the leather you could wrap it around the outside edges of the box for a texture effect. OR……just kidding. Remember to have fun dreaming. You can do it! Can’t wait to see what you come up with.

    Reply

  21. Debbie says

    I think covering it in burlap would be really neat, that is the hot thing these days! You could find some antique coffee bags that have the advertizements on them for the top and do the sides in the plain burlap. I just did some big pillows in the coffee bags and they turned out neat.

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  22. anna says

    Make an outdoor planter out of it and put a small square foot garden inside. Use the legs as plant markers by painting the name of the plant on them.

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