DIY Restyled Storage Box - the steps to transforming an old toy box into a pretty bench seat!

For years I have had this box in the boy's room full of toys. It has been knocked around, stood on and even drawn on.

I wanted to throw it away but it is really useful....just not the best looking box.

It was an awful brown colour, so I gave it a quick sand and gave it two coats of undercoat/primer.

A primer is necessary if you want to stop the awful brown colour from seeping through the top coat of paint. (...trust me...no-one wants that awful brown colour seeping through!)

I really wanted that 'fresh beach look' so I opted to give the box a good splash of white paint.

Sorry... I didn't take a picture of the box it all its 'brownness' but I am sure you get the picture.

This is the box with the first coat of primer.

I decided to keep the box as storage as well but it needed to have a dual purpose and be useful (or hide everything that was inside) so this storage box needed to transform into a seat/bench.

The steps to making the DIY Restyled Storage Box

I didn't want to spend any money just in case it didn't turn out, so I rummaged around my garage and linen closet and found an old piece of particle board and cut it to size.

Please excuse these photos...taken with a very old iPhone many moons ago...this is an oldie but a goodie ! 🙂

And found some old cushions that needed a new home. I decided to keep their covers on to give the bench a little more support. I laid down a piece of wadding, and left some extra for the overhang and put the cushions down first and then the board on top.

I cut each of the 4 corners so that when I folded the wadding over, there wouldn't be a big lump on the sides.

I used my trusty staple gun and gently pulled the wadding over and stapled each side.

I didn't have any material that was suitable, it needed to be tough and not go saggy.

So I caved in and purchased a piece of curtain fabric that was lined (and on sale for $7.00...yeah!!)

I made sure it was big enough to cover the board and to have some overhang to cover the wadding.

I ironed the fabric to make sure there wasn't any creases when I had finished. (...You may not need to do this...not really sure if it made any difference :-/ )

I laid down the board onto the material, making sure the pattern was facing down.

I folded the 4 corners in (like in the picture) and pulled it gently and then stapled them.

The tip here is to fold back each side of the corners tightly and stapled them too. Pulling it tightly was the trick to ensure the top was smooth.

Viola, the top was smooth and tight and was ready to be placed on the box. I didn't put hinges on the bench top as I thought I would, as it sits snugly into the box and doesn't move. I may yet put the hinges on later if it needs it.