Urban Outfitters Inspired Plaster Shoe Bench

The longer I work from home, the more finished each room becomes. The lastest room is our entryway. Well, “entryway” is a stretch. Our front door opens immediately to the stairs in front and the living room to the left. That door meant no room on the stairwell side for much of anything, so that left us with this tiny sliver of wall space between the front door and window. We had a small rug where the bench used to be, but it was constantly coming up, the shoe pile was in plain sight, and it was overall just a junky way to come home every day. This little shoe bench is like the tray on a coffee table- it gives us a dedicated target and somehow pulls the chaos together.

I saw this bench in Urban Outfitter’s fall lineup and loved its storage, simplicity, and texture. But not for that price! Looking back, I wish I had added the cutouts and wraps to my bench (and I still might- that’s the beauty of DIY!). I originally thought it’d be too much texture in our living room. Lesson learned- there’s no such thing as too much tonal texture! If you want to get the original look, use a jigsaw to make the cutouts before you assemble.

P.S. If you have a basket in mind or know how many shoes you want to stash underneath, it can help you determine how far apart you want the leg braces to be.

You’ll Need
wood
wood screws
corner braces (optional – if you have clamps or a second person, you can just use wood screws)
drywall joint compound
5 gallon bucket
paint stirrer
wide plastic putty knife
sandpaper
water-based polyurethane or wall primer
furniture felt feet

Determine how high you want your outside legs and the length of your seat, then measure the middle brace to account for the seat height. Cut your wood to size. (If you don’t have a circular or table saw, the hardware store can cut it for you.)
Attach the outside legs to the seat with either several wood screws from the outside > in or with corner braces on the insides. If you do use the inside brackets, you’ll still need to use a few wood screws to reinforce. I honestly only used the inside braces to hold the legs in place as I was doing this solo and didn’t have the right clamps, but they were extremely helpful in making sure my legs were flush at 90 degrees.
Time to mix the joint compound! In a large bucket, mix a small amount of the compound with water until pancake mix thickness. Let is rest for about 30 seconds and it’ll thicken up more. The compound sets pretty quickly, so only mix what you need at a time, work in small sections, and try to keep the bucket covered with plastic wrap as you go.
Apply a generous amount of the compound to the bench, then lightly drag a clean putty knife across the surface. The putty knife will catch and drag the topmost layer of the compound to create that nice, rough texture. Let dry for 24 hrs. (Note: the compound will react with anything metal as it sets and slightly bubble up. Because this is a heavily textured piece, I just sanded the bubbles down and I don’t notice them at all. Just something to keep in mind if you are trying to get a smooth plaster finish.)
Once completely set, lightly sand your bench to get rid of any hard snags and soften edges.
Seal your piece to protect the texture from kicked off shoes. My joint compound dried to a perfect white, but you can always use a colored compound or paint after using a wall primer. If you want a clear seal, use a water-based polyurethane so it won’t yellow over time. Add felt feet.

I am having so much fun styling it out for fall and can’t wait to get my Halloween hands on this area.

And come on, LOOK AT THAT TEXTURE!! Its sturdy texture!! I’ve sat on it, used it as a step stool, tossed Amazon boxes on top. It’s perfect.

I’m a little obsessed with joint compound now and can’t wait to show you another technique I’ve been playing with. It’s another decor upcycle for a piece I think a lot of us have, so keep an eye out for next week!