Hallway benches can add the finishing touch to an empty hallway. There are many different styles, but for durability and function, churches use a type of hallway bench called a "narthex" bench. It is a solid hardwood bench in the shape of an altar with solid top and two slab legs. Its simplicity makes it easy to build. It's strong and will tuck away under hanging coats or beside a wall.

The typical hallway bench was made popular years ago in farm and ranch houses. Hallways leading into the house were also called "mud rooms." People would come in from the field, sit down on the bench, pull off their shoes and tuck them under the bench. This is not such a bad idea today as well. Taking off shoes before entering a room is practiced in many foreign countries. It's good hygiene and promotes Feng shui -- which is a fancy Chinese word for aesthetics.

You don't need to be a genius to build a narthex-style hallway bench. If you know a cabinetmaker or have access to a cabinet shop, you can order the parts and assemble it yourself. It is held together by interlocking joints cut into the bottom side of the bench with a table saw. This type of joint works so well that you really don't even need screws or nails. It is glued together. When the glue sets up it's permanent.

Start out by ordering three parts from a cabinet shop or a home improvement store. Order a hardwood panel that is 1 1/2-inches thick, 16-inches wide and 48-inches long for the top of the bench. You can make it shorter or longer if you want, but stick with the thickness and width, it's a standard size for benches. Order two more panels, 1 1/2-inches thick, 16-inches wide and 16-inches thick for the legs.

For the next step, you can do it yourself, or have the cabinet shop do it. You need to cut two dadoes perpendicular across the ends of the panels, 6-inches from both ends for the leg panels to fit into. The easiest way to do this is to install a 3/4-inch dado blade on a table saw. Raise the blade to 1-inch in height and run the panel perpendicular across it on both ends. Reset the fence 3/4-inch to the left and run the dadoes again to make them 1 1/2-inch wide for the legs to fit into. Do this carefully and test the fit to make the legs fit tight inside the dadoes.

Smear glue inside the dadoes and then tap the leg panels vertically into the dadoes. Wait at least one hour for the glue to dry and then do the finish work. Start by installing a 1/2-inch bullnose router bit into a hand router. Run the router around the outside perimeter of the bench. Finish by sanding it by hand. For a nice permanent durable finish, wipe a coat of danish oil on it with a soft cloth.