Genkan Bench

Stuart Ablett

Member
Messages
15,917
Location
Tokyo Japan
What is a "Genkan" you ask? It is the entrance way of a Japanese house, the place you hang you jacket and take off your shoes. I made a coat hook and shelf thing for the Genkan in our new house a long while back, nothing complex, just some stained pine and some hooks. My lovely wife would like me to make a bench to sit on to put your shoes one, but more importantly, it must have stowage under it, for the recyclables that seem to pile up in the Genkan.

I have some idea of the style of bench we are looking for, but would certainly enjoy some input from all of you..........
white_hall_bench.jpg walnut_bench.jpg simple_bench.jpg hall_bench.jpg

.......OK, I think you get the idea :D

I do not want something with a tall back, in fact, I'm thinking that the back may only be 6" or so tall, and there will certainly be no armrests, a side for sure, but nothing wide, as the space is rather small, only about 3' long.

I was going to make this item out of some plywood, and paint it, it would have been quick and easy, but after meeting and talking to Garrett Hack, he has inspired me to take it to a higher level and make this out of real wood.

I'm going to use wood from my rooftop stash :thumb:

cont........
 
I went up there today, and hauled down to the Dungeon one stack of "Ao Keyaki" or "Blue Zelkova" this wood is not as common as the Red Zelkova.

Here is what things looked like up on the roof, after four years......
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This is the stack I wanted.......
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I took the pile apart............
 
Personally I like either with high feet or none at all. If you don't have a back, I'd say with no feet, which would give you more stowage anyway. What dimensions are you working with?
 
Personally I like either with high feet or none at all. If you don't have a back, I'd say with no feet, which would give you more stowage anyway. What dimensions are you working with?

I have about 3' of wall space to work with, not much depth either, I'll have to get exact dimensions, and a pic or two of the Genkan area. :wave:
 
.....back to the rooftop........
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I have to admit, a few boards look somewhat wasted, but we shall see I guess.

I had to lug the boards down from the rooftop to the 6th floor, where, thankfully, I could put them in the elevator for the ride to the 1st floor, then down the electric hoist into the Dungeon..........
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I made sure all of the bark was off and there were no spots that bugs could be hiding in.

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You can make out the grain in this shot...... well sort of...... :eek:


I took one board and put it on the bench, and grabbed my scrub plane and had a look.........
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......under all the weathering there looks to be something worth saving :thumb: now I only hope I have enough here to make the bench :eek:

The MC was about 8% not bad for my part of the work, I think.

So it begins! :wave:
 
Has it really been four years!?! Just doesn't seem possible. That lumber looks like it is really going to pay off.
 
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Very nice Toni, thanks for that, more food for thought :thumb:

I took some pics of the area that the bench will sit........
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......excuse the mess, but you can see the area is not large, so the bench will also be on the not large scale. You can see that there is a small pile of stuff that needs to go somewhere, the orange/red containers are laundry soap (we went to Costco on January 1st) they are usually not there.

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This is a view back into the house from the outside genkan, where the elevator is.


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This is the outside Genkan area, you can see the plastic bins we use now for some recycle stuff, they are rather large and in the way, not to mention ugly.

I hope these pics will give you a better idea of the area the bench will sit, which will affect the design of the bench.

Cheers!
 
Another option is an open base. This is more visually "messy"... but it leaves your footwear much more easily accessible for those times you just want to kick-on/kick-off your shoes without having to sit down. This also would mean you don't need to lift or open anything to get at your shoes.

One nice things about your Genkan is that the door opens OUT, which means you don't have to worry about getting hit when you sit on the bench, and also the bench doesn't have to clear the door.

eta:
One thing that you might discuss with SWMBO is a mirror. Lots of folks like a mirror in or near the entrance, so they can check themselves as they enter/exit.

...art

ps: oh wait, I forgot... :lurk:
 
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Another option is an open base. This is more visually "messy"... but it leaves your footwear much more easily accessible for those times you just want to kick-on/kick-off your shoes without having to sit down. This also would mean you don't need to lift or open anything to get at your shoes.

One nice things about your Genkan is that the door opens OUT, which means you don't have to worry about getting hit when you sit on the bench, and also the bench doesn't have to clear the door.

...art

ps: oh wait, I forgot... :lurk:

The bench is for keeping the recycle stuff, there is a large closet (Full I might add, there are THREE women living here) for shoes that is opposite where the bench is to sit.

The bench will be for sitting on to put your shoes on, and to clean up the mess of all the various recycle stuff.

Cheers!
 
The bench is for keeping the recycle stuff,


Ohhhh!

Step 1 - buy the bins first.

Step 2 - then build the bench. :rofl::rofl:


But seriously... I'd go with a flip-up seat for certain if you're going to be putting bins in there. No one is going to want to bend way over to open doors in front of this bench to slide bins in and out. Much easier to lift the seat and drop stuff in a bin.
 
No bins in the bench, there will be a row of hooks on either side, the handles of the vinyl shopping bags will hang on the hooks across the space....... if that make sense :D

Certainly will be a lift up lid on the bench, and a very short back and sides.

Cheers!
 
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