I can’t take the credit for this one (well I could but I would 100% get called out on it!) It was Stuart’s idea to add a big bench to this corner of the main room. I was struggling a little with the lay out and I was originally thinking of making the corner into a cosy reading nook but it had to be more versatile. The flat was lacking storage so we had to make the most of every area.

We knew that we wanted to extend the window seat to wrap around the wall and that the seat had to incorporate storage but that was about it. I had a look online for inspiration and found a few options. You can see my full shelving Pinterest board here.

Option 1 – I did like the idea of a full bookcase above the bench but there were a few issues. The window goes right into the corner of the wall so we could only shelve 2/3 of the wall. The other limitation was my joinery skills, I’m not sure how I would stop it from looking like bookshelves sitting on top of a bench. Definitely not the bespoke look I was going for.

Option 2 – I LOVED the thought of building a pegboard and found a great DIY blog here. If this was my flat I would have 100% went for this option but we thought it might be a little too much for some people.

In the end, we decided to go pretty simple with the design, it’s a small room so we didn’t want to crowd it. The next step was figuring out how to build it.

When I was designing the kitchen I noticed that some of the wall units were the perfect height and depth for the bench. With a little modification they would work! We measured out the space and decided to leave under the window open.

All Ikea kitchen cabinets attached to the wall with a rail, they are strong enough to hold kitchen bits and bobs but I wasn’t sure about people. We added a wooden block under each cabinet for reinforcement. Now you could dance on top of them with no issues.

We used filler pieces to join the gaps and a cover panel to finish the end. I was still missing the idea of the pegboard wall so I decided to incorporate some plywood into the design. We bought 18mm ply from B&Q and they cut some pieces to size for us instore. This was during lockdown so we could only get four cuts but I think normally you can get up to 15 cuts for free. With some careful planning, we were able to get all the cuts from one sheet which meant the wood only cost £34!

Before and After

This built in storage/seating area was really simple to built and I think it works perfectly in the space. I could happily spend an afternoon curled up in the corner with a cup of tea and a book watching the world go by.