It was halfway through a laundry room renovation, in the middle of creating the work surface piece that would sit on cleats above the washer and dryer when I realized there was no level surface that was large enough for the clamped piece to sit on while the wood glue dried other than the floor. I got creative, using the trash bin and table saw as an improvised level-ish surface. Yeah, not exactly ideal. I still needed to sand, stain, and topcoat the laundry room pieces and this wobbly impromptu nonsense wasn't going to cut it. It was at that exact moment I decided building a workbench couldn't wait any longer.
That evening before bed, I started scouring the internet for inspiration - I always start on Pinterest and go down the rabbit hole from there. There's no sense in reinventing the wheel if someone else has a great starting point. It needed to be large but simple enough to not take too long to make while still having storage underneath for the 7,000 random project items that don't' fit on my tool wall. There are a LOT of workbench ideas out there, some too simple, some way more complicated than what I wanted but eventually I found this tutorial from Whitney at Shanty2Chic. PERFECT.
I made a few minor changes, but a quick trip to The Home Depot, a car full of wood (thankfully a 6' x 3' piece of plywood fit in our Jeep Compass), a hour of wo
rk, and boom! Workbench complete.
Come on, I'll show you.
You'll need...
Wood:
(2) 4' x 8' 3/4" plywood sheets (you can cut this yourself with a table saw or a circular saw...or you can just get them to cut it down for you at the store - you'll need a 30″x66″ piece and a 36″x72″ piece)
(2) 2"x6"x8'
(7) 2"x4"x8'
Tools:
Table saw or circular saw (if you're cutting the plywood yourself)
Miter saw
Kreg jig
Drill (with bits)
Nail gun
Tape measurer
Materials:
Pencil
Pocket hole screws (2 1/2")
Wood screws (2 1/2")
Make your cuts.
Assemble the top and bottom frames.
Two words: Kreg jig. Get one and make your life so much easier - you'll use it for so many projects - the joinery is solid and the best part...no visible holes. The learning curve is low (test it on a scrap piece and you'll see what I mean) the the return on investment is high. Almost the entire workbench is assembled with pocket holes/screws BUT if you don't have a Kreg jig and don't want to get one just yet, you could absolutely use wood screws and join the wood that way.
Assemble the legs.
Again, pocket holes to attach the 2x4s to the 2x6s. Wood screws to attach the rectangle piece that will eventually secure the casters (you don't want to screw casters into the grain of wood!).
Add legs to bottom frame.
Your bottom frame will sit on the top of the rectangle piece and be attached to the legs from the inside.
Add bottom shelf.
I used 6 wood screws to attach the bottom plywood shelf piece to the bottom frame - two on each long side and one on each short side.
Add the top frame.
This frame sits on the outside of the legs - it should be snug and hold itself in place while you secure it but it's not a bad idea to use clamps to make sure everything stays level.
Add top shelf.
It's starting to look like a workbench now! In fact, I was so excited to start using it that I forgot to take a photo of what it looked like with just the top work surface piece on. I countersank wood screws to attach the top piece so everything was flush - the last thing you want is a screw marking up project you're working on! You could also use nails.
My casters were being delivered the next day (take a peek at these - great quality for a fantastic price) and I was in the middle of other projects so the show must go on. Those 12" pieces of wood would eventually end up being the shelves in the aforementioned laundry room!
Add casters.
Ahhh they're here! Perfect. Dry fit your casters, mark the holes, pre-drill, and attach. The attachment hardware that comes with these casters doesn't work for this application so I used screws that I had on hand.
Celebrate! Then get to work on all your projects!
Ta da! Super simple to build, sturdy enough for any project you can dream up, moveable (and lockable! Which might be more important...), and dog approved.
We want to see you in action! Tag us @reddesignedinteriors and #reddesignedfurniture #reddesignedtutorials Happy designing and fabricating!
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