Benno TV Bench Gets New Life as Paul McCobb Inspired Cabinet

Materials: Benno TV Bench, Waddel Tapered Legs, Grasscloth

Description: My husband has had this Benno TV bench since his bachelor days. It is at least 8 years old. Ikea doesn't sell this anymore. When he bought it looked sleek and fresh, but lately had really started to bug me.

the old Benno TV unit

I was about to Craigslist the sucker when it dawned on me that we might be able to give it a new life without too much effort. I was inspired by the teak and grasscloth cabinets and credenzas in Paul McCobb's planner group. (pix, right)

Step 1: Stain the tapered legs. This was the most time consuming part. It took 5-6 coats to approximate Ikea's "medium brown" finish. The legs and brackets were purchased online at Home Depot.

Step 2: Saw off the elongated sides of the Benno bench. My husband accomplished this pretty easily with his circular saw.

Step 3: Attached the legs and angled brackets to the base of the cabinet.

Step 4: Cut grasscloth to size and affix it to the existing glass doors. We roughed up the glass doors with sandpaper first and then used Elmer's spray adhesive. I was able to keep the cost down by using wallpaper samples from Seabrook Wallpaper.

Step 5: Reassemble the cabinet and enjoy!

It's not perfect, but I think it turned out pretty well. Definitely an improvement.

~ RiDas, Washington, DC