An IKEA Hacked Dining Bench Uses 3 BESTAs to Solve a Family’s Dysfunctional Dining Setup
You can create a bench out of an IKEA BESTA cabinet if you hack it just a bit. The BESTA is normally used as a sideboard, console, or — if you stack a few — tall cabinet. Making the bench sturdy enough to sit on requires building a sturdier base and often adding a top and side pieces to give the IKEA unit a more built-in look, as DIYer Henrietta Morris (@ladybayhome) shows.
She made a green dining bench in her kitchen. “We previously had a breakfast bar in this space which we rarely used, and it meant there wasn’t much space for our small dining table,” Henrietta says. “It felt like a poor use of space.” Her family of four needed more room for them to all fit around the table — plus more storage.
Goodbye, bar; hello, base for a dining bench.
The DIYer started by demoing the counter-height bar and building a bench base. “We decided to create a DIY bench using IKEA BESTA cabinets, building a frame and support structure from timber,” Henrietta says.
This was Henrietta’s first time working with lumber for a DIY project, and her husband helped, too. “I gained a lot of confidence in using tools like a drill or saw,” she says. She cut the lumber to size by hand and used a drill and brackets to create the base, which was challenging because the kitchen floor wasn’t perfectly level.
“I had to make a few adjustments to the base to get everything to sit straight,” Henrietta says.
Tongue-and-groove paneling adds decorative detail.
Once the framework was complete, Henrietta added her three BESTAS on top and attached tongue-and-groove paneling to the outside of the new bench setup and to the wall “to create a built-in-look.” She also added an MDF seat top.
“It was a bit of a learning curve, and the MDF sheet for the bench seat ended up being slightly too small,” she says. “I should have had it cut after the units were assembled.” She filled the gap with “a slither of MDF” and says it’s not noticeable now that the piece is painted.
Bright green paint makes the IKEA BESTA bench a colorful focal point.
Speaking of paint, Henrietta picked Lick’s Green 02, “which adds a pop of color,” she says. “It was also my first time painting IKEA furniture. Luckily, it’s holding up well!” Henrietta and her husband had a custom cushion made to finish the job.
“The bench is both functional and pretty,” she says. “Using IKEA units for the main part of the bench saved us money compared to having a bespoke dining bench with drawers made by a professional,” she says.
Not to mention, now they have a place to enjoy family meals together, complete with three push-to-open drawers of storage. To see a bedroom DIY project in Henrietta’s house, check out her guest room makeover.