We all know that enjoying a delicious dish can be as much about presentation as taste. And when you really want a meal to have a special flavor, that presentation includes where you eat it as much as it does what’s on your plate!

Now, you don’t have to go out to a fancy restaurant with crystal chandeliers and white linen tablecloths to achieve the perfect atmosphere. After all, enjoying our favorite foods is about comfort, not stuffy frills. The best home dining rooms combine that comfort with easy, classic style. Our favorite way of achieving both, especially when you don’t have a lot of space? A banquette!

There’s just one problem with this ideal dining seating: banquettes tend to be pretty expensive. A quick shopping search showed us results ranging from around $300 for a small, one-person style, to as much as $1,000 to $1,200 for a larger, more traditional one that can fit more of the family.

We could probably bring that price down by waiting for sales and doing more extensive comparison shopping – we can already see you bargain-hunters out there chomping at the bit to find less expensive versions! – but instead, we’d rather turn to a more fun, more frugal, and more customizable solution: DIY! Thankfully, we have home project expert Isabelle Larue of Engineer Your Space to show us a fun way to do it. Plus, there’s a bonus: this DIY banquette can double as a headboard!

Take a look at the finished product above. How lovely is that? Once you finish admiring it, tell us something: what do you think it’s made out of?!

Since we’ve already clued you in that this project can double as headboard, you’ve probably already guessed that this banquette is made of two pieces: the bench, and the upholstered panel. Isabelle covers making the bench separately, so today we want to focus on this multipurpose tufted panel with beautiful buttons. And you know what that piece is made out of? Pegboard!

Yup, a simple, easy-to-find piece of pegboard. While you can also use plywood, medium-density fibreboard (MDF), or hardboard, Isabelle recommends pegboard because you’ll need holes in your board— and obviously, pegboard already has those! Way to make things easier.

What else do you need? These things:

Materials

• 1 – 1-by-10-foot furring strip, cut into 4 pieces
• 2-by-3 feet 1-inch-thick foam
• Batting
• Canvas drop cloth
• Buttons, DIY or store-bought
• Adhesive spray
• Thread
• Staples
• Screws
• French cleat

Simple, right? We love that the softness of this banquette back comes from frugal foam, and that the material is canvas drop cloth, of all things! So much better than spending hundreds of dollars on a factory-made piece.

The steps for making this banquette back or headboard are pretty simple, too. Just . . .

Directions

1. Mark your preferred button placement on your board, and drill extra holes as necessary.
2. Spray the board with adhesive spray, and attach the foam.
3. Screw the furring strip pieces to the edges of the pegboard.
4. Cover the panel with the canvas drop cloth, and attach with staples, cutting and tucking any extra material.
5. Sew the buttons into the panel, through the designated holes, and pull tight to dimple the fabric. Staple the thread to the board to secure.
6. Attach the panel to your wall with a French cleat, or other anchors appropriate for your wall.

Lovely! Make sure to watch the Engineer Your Space video below for more detailed instructions, and to see them in action for a visual guide!

Want more detailed written instructions? Visit the Engineer Your Space site here.

Want do you think of this project? Do you like the look of a banquette, or do you think you’d prefer to use this one as a headboard in your bedroom? Have you ever made anything similar? Tell us what you think and if you give it a try!