DIY Bench with Storage Compartments- IKEA Nornas look alike

I am so excited to share my DIY IKEA Bench! I was at IKEA a couple of weeks ago and fell in love with their Nornas bench with storage. We’ve been updating my daughter’s bedroom decor from a tween’s bedroom to a teen’s room. We started by covering the pink and purple walls with white paint. A little boring I know, but given that this is a basement bedroom we love the brightness the white walls bring.

I thought the DIY IKEA bench was the perfect addition to my daughter’s room. But, the $199 price tag was not so cool. I took a couple of pics at the store and after a few other purchases I went home and decided to build this piece.




This is a pretty easy build. You will only need 1 x12s and 2x2s, all straight cuts. I spent about $30 in lumber and some paint. I even had time to do a little Black Friday shopping the day I built it!

The dimensions are 4′ long, 20″ tall ,and 12″ deep. The compartments are 15″ wide

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DIY IKEA Bench

Materials: 

• • (2) 1 x 12 x 8′ ( Cuts: 2 cuts at 4′, and 5 cuts at 15″)
  • (2) 2 x 2 x 8′ (Cuts: 2 cuts at 44 1/2″, 2 cuts at 7 1/4″, 4 cuts at 3 1/2″)
  • Pocket Hole Jig
  • Miter Saw (or hand saw, circular saw, or have pieces cut at the store)
  • Drill/Driver to attach screws
  • 2 1/2″ pocket screws
  • 1″ pocket screws
  • Wood Glue (use on all seams)
  • Satin Nickel Metallic Spray Paint for the legs
  • Minwax Natural Stain (or stain color of choice)

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Get the plans for this bench delivered to your Inbox!

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1. Cut the first 1×12 into ( 2) 4-foot pieces. These will make the top and bottom of you bench.

2. Cut the second 1×12 piece into 5- 15″ pieces

3. Cut the 2x2s as shown below

4.  Drill pocket holes on each of the pieces, except the 4′ pieces. I used my Kreg Jig to do this.

5. Once the pocket holes are drilled, you can start by building the legs. I used

2 1/2″ pocket screws here.

6. I used metallic spray paint on this piece. The idea was to make the legs look like metal. When I first saw the IKEA piece I was sure the legs were metal, but nope, they were wood. Here’s the spray paint I used.

7. I started putting together the rest of the piece while this dried.

Start by making an “H”, this is the middle piece of the bench. Make sure the pocket holes face OUT on the vertical pieces. I learned the hard way here and had to take it apart and re-attach. Oops.

Make sure you mark the middle really well so the shelf is leveled. Use wood glue on all of the seams. I used 1″ pocket screws on all of the 1×12 pieces.

8. Attach the “H” to the 4′ piece. Coming together!

9. Add the end pieces. Remember, use 1″ pocket screws here!

At this point I went ahead and stained the piece. I used a natural stain. The pic above shows the piece already stained. You can choose a different finish or you can paint it any color you like! I wanted mine to resemble the IKEA bench as much as possible.

10. Then I added the top piece and voila!

11. Now you are ready to add the legs. Make sure the piece is upside down. I also used 1″ pocket screws here.

I love how the legs look like metal!! 

I also found these storage boxes at Home Depot.

Here’s a couple more pics of the finished bench!

By the way, everything else in this room is from IKEA. Yes, I’m obsessed with the place.

I hope you like the bench!!

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If you like this, share it, tweet it, pin it, and when you have time build it! Send us a picture when you do!

Build away!

~Janice