Build an Industrial Modern Bench with These Easy Tips

Build an industrial modern wood bench with this easy DIY tutorial perfect for an entryway. All you need is a wood slab and these industrial bench legs.

Let me start off by saying my husband and I have always wanted a larger family. As our family grows, we realize how much dirt and gunk gets tracked in from the outside. Since I don’t foresee the baby stage ending any time in the next few years, it was time to make a change.

If it was up to me, I’d just throw up a sign on our front door that says, “Please leave your worries and your shoes at the door.” But, since my husband vetoed that idea I decided a bench to encourage taking shoes off would be the second best option. Haha.

Since we ditched the entry table with our entry makeover because it just begged to have piles have junk on it all the time, we now had the space for a bench.

So, what does a good diy-er do? Make a bench to fit the new space.

I loved how it turned out and it really was super simple! Let me show you how you can do it too!

What you need to make your industrial modern bench:

• Wood slab
• Sandpaper
• Microfiber cloth
• Bench U-Legs
• Long wood screws
• Felt furniture pads
• Stain
• Poly finish

Tools

• Sander (optional)
• Vacuum (optional)
• Brush/rags
• Drill
• Screwdriver

For starters, you’ll need to find a nice, chunky wood slab. The best spot to look is local specialty wood stores. We found this nice maple slab that was 13″ deep and about 4′ long at our local store.

1. Prep Wood

This step really depends on the piece of wood that you bought. Based on the pictures, you can see that the board we got was a rough cut. It took a fair amount of sanding on the edges with 60, 100, 220 grit paper and a little on each face.

Once you have sanded everything down, vacuum it to get off the sawdust and then wipe it down with a microfiber cloth and you’re ready for the next step.

2. Stain Wood

The easiest way to apply the stain is with a cloth. Make sure to wear gloves, dip the cloth in the stain, and apply it to the wood in even strokes, going with the grain.

Once you have applied the stain, wait the appropriate amount of time depending on how dark you want the stain to be, and then wipe it down to remove the excess with a clean cloth. The longer you wait, the darker it will be. Repeat on the other edges.

3. Seal Wood

Since you’re doing this on a bench, it’s best to make sure that you seal the wood to make sure that it is waterproof. Make sure to do this before you attach the legs, but wait at least 24 hours after staining before sealing.

Since we were in a rush to get the bench done before we were having people over, we made the mistake of waiting to get this done and we ended up having to sand the wood again to remove some high spots from the bench getting wet from the baby pulling herself up on the bench and drooling.

4. Paint Legs

These u-legs on Amazon are PERFECT for this project. I looked long and hard for the perfect industrial modern legs and decided to take a gamble on these ones. WORTH IT!

We decided to paint the legs black to make them match the style of our entryway better, but if you like the natural iron color of the legs better you can skip this step.

5. Attach Legs

After you have measured to get the proper placement of the legs so they are evenly distributed on the bench, mark the holes for the legs and pre-drill them so that you have an easier time getting the screws in and so that you don’t split the wood.

Next, add the screws starting with the opposite corners so that the leg doesn’t turn while adding the other screws. I suggest using round head screws (like these) so that there isn’t any wiggle room once the leg is attached.

AND you’re done! Flip that bench over, put it in your entry, and accessorize.

I love how it looks in front of our wood shims wall and is the perfect welcoming piece for our guests!

If you haven’t seen the full industrial modern entry reveal yet, you must check it out!

Ready to build an industrial modern bench?

Get started by grabbing what you need below or you can see a similar bench to ours that is sold online!