Built-In Dining Room Benches with Storage

Hey everyone! It’s been awhile. I just finished installing these dining room bench seats today and wanted to share. These were built in the shop, then delivered and installed. The basic construction is 3/4” sanded (cabinet, paint grade) plywood with solid Poplar for some parts such as the ledge at the top of the back support and the applied quarter-round molding around the edges of the seats.

The seats lift, using piano hinges and there’s lots of storage space underneath. It’s not true frame-and-panel construction – the “frames” are just 1/4” material applied to the surface of the plywood.

Sorry I didn’t think to take pics with the seats lifted. The piano hinges work great though.

This was a tough install – built in two pieces to be joined at the corner after transport. The walls were everything imaginable; out of square, out of plumb, floor had some major dips. The baseboard had to be scribed along the floor and cut at a slight arch along the bottom. After a lot of shims and a bit of caulk though, it turned out great. Client’s happy. I’m happy. Life is good.

Thanks for looking!

-- Scott Barringer, Sacramento, CA barringerfinefurniture.com