Rustic X Bench

  Tracy and I needed a small bench in the mud room, I made an X bench so we would have a place to sit while taking our shoes off. 

  I received a pocket hole jig for Christmas and this was a great chance to use it. Pocket holes are a great way to hide the screws. They are also one of the easiest and strongest joints you can make.

  I put a 5 degree taper on the legs to give a nice base with plenty of support.

  With a router I put a nice edge on the seat of our bench

  All that was left to do was sand and finish the bench, I put 2 coats of Minwax one step stain and polyurethane. Here are some additional pictures.

  Here are the dimensions of the bench, I used the plans from Ana White.

This is the finished bench 

Below is the picture from the Pottery Barn web site,  Rustic bench that sells for $129.00.

I made my bench for less than $20.00