Easy DIY Porch Bench

     Hey! Long time no see, right? I'm sorry, I've been crazy busy with my adventurous toddler and my new Scentsy business, but those are posts for other days. The long awaited Cement Block Bench is complete!      

     That's right, I did it! I finally finished my bench for the front porch! We'll, we, my husband helped a lot. We changed a few things from the original, making it work better for us. To make it the way we did, you'll need: 12 cement blocks, 3 5' wooden posts, cement glue, a circular saw, a quart of outdoor paint in what ever color you want, a paint roller, a paint tray, and a painters tarp.

       So first you're going to use the cement glue to glue the blocks long-ways in pairs. Let the glue set, our glue said about 2-4 hours, but we waited overnight. 

     Turn each set on it's shorter side, zig zag some more glue, then top the with a block long-ways. You should have 4 sets of 3 cement blocks glued together. Let the new glue set. 

Now we get to paint! Just take your paint roller and outdoor safe paint and go to town! I didn't paint the inside, but that's up to you. I went over each side, top and bottom. I decided to do 2 coats, but if you wanted, 1 would give you a little bit of a weathered look. (Don't mind my poor tulips, they are officially long since dead :( )

     I waited about 1-2 days to add on my second coat of  paint.    
    And now, more waiting! Just wait a few days for the paint to fully dry, we waited till we finally were able to get the wood and saw we needed to complete the bench.

      So, we decided to use those not-quite-round, not-quite-flat 8' posts. You can use round posts, you can use 4x4s, if it fits, it sits (giggle). Figure out how long you want your bench to be. We had already picked out a seat cushion, so we "set up" our bench, but the cushion down, and marked where we wanted to cut the wood. You can cut the wood like my husband did above, or whatever SAFE way you know how. And PLEASE wear safety glasses or even just sunglasses, and closed toed shoes, my husband refused to listen.

Did I mention I have a hot husband? No? Hhhmmm.

   You have your blocks glued and painted, you have your wood cut, now you just have to decide where to set it up! After a couple moves, we found the perfect spot. We put the blocks in place, put the wood in, placed the seat cushion and pillows, and...

VIOLA! 

    There it is! I am still searching for the perfect pillow to fill in that gap, but I love sitting outside on this bench, drinking my coffee (or wine, depending on the time of day) and watching Grayson run around the yard the way he loves too. I'm thinking of putting in another post in those bottom-right holes for a foot rest. And if you want your bench deeper, just add another post in the top row! I'm so glad it's finally done! I hope you can enjoy yours as much as I do mine.