30 Things to Do with Old Church Pews

If you’re looking to remodel your church, you may find that replacing old church pews with church chairs is a good decision. Chairs can provide more church seating capacity, more versatility in your worship space, and much better comfort for your congregation.

If this is the right direction for your church, you’ll soon be asking what to do with your old church pews. There are many things that you can do with used church pews, from foyer seating to youth rooms, to garden furniture. But if you have a whole sanctuary filled with pews, you will have much more additional seating than you can repurpose in the church alone.

Some pews can be sold online or given to church members. Gather your leaders together and plan a way to distribute the pews to members of the congregation. If they anticipate a lot of interest, and there won’t be enough pews for all who’d like one, suggest selling them for a fee (which can then in turn be put toward remodeling expenses).

Here are a few ideas of things that you and your congregation can do, and items that you can make using old wooden church pews.

What to Do with Old Church Pews

1. Entryway Seating

There’s no better way to start and finish your day than with a bench at the front door. A church pew in an entryway gives your family a place to store shoes and take them on and off without worry of trekking mud through the house.

2. Rustic Bench

With a bit of a touch-up and a few added details, you can turn your rustic church pew into a beautiful farmhouse bench. Pews can be painted and reupholstered to match your style.

3. Dining Seating

Why not add some variety and use a pew in the dining room, perfect seating for a gaggle of kids at mealtime. Or place a few short benches (or one bench cut in half) in the corner of your kitchen around a table to create a cozy, church pew breakfast nook, perfect for coffee on cold mornings or game nights with friends.

4. Add Storage

An old pew can double as a seat and storage when you use the open space underneath for storage. You could place a decorative container beneath or do some DIY on the church pews and build some custom boxes or drawers.

5. Fireplace Seating

Accent your fireplace with gorgeous wood antique church pews and watch them glow by the firelight. Add toss pillows and a seat cushion for extra comfort.

6. Fireside Seating

Are you dreaming of star gazing in the backyard or roasting marshmallows with friends on a fall evening? Get a fire pit and use old church pews for campfire seating. Once you’ve weatherproofed the wood, bench pews are perfect for hanging out around the fire with family and friends.

7. Add Slipcovers

Give your church pew in a house some character by making slipcovers for it. They can be cushioned or flat — but with full slipcovers, church pews will look like couches.

8. Garden Seating

It’s hot work in the garden, and sometimes you need a place to sit and relax among your plants. A pew will make an excellent addition to the yard. If you’re wondering how to weatherproof a church pew, check with your local hardware store and ask for weatherproofing sealants. Even after applying sealant, you will still want to store your vintage church pew indoors during the winter months; cover it during heavy rain. Reapply weatherproofing once a year.

9. Pad It

Make some custom padding for the seat for extra comfort. With back and seat padding, you can turn a church pew into a couch. Stretch out with a good book and some seat pillows and you’ll never want to leave.

10. Headboard and Nightstand

With a little bit of saw work you can turn a church bench into a combined headboard and nightstand for your nighttime use.

11. Patio Seating

You’ll have plenty of seating for friends and family if you furnish your patio or front porch with old church pews. If your patio is uncovered, make sure you apply a wood sealant to protect the wood.

12. Seating for a Wedding

Vintage weddings are in. Why not use some refurbished church pews for seating to give an ordinary wedding venue that classic wedding chapel feel?

13. Window Seat

Create some easy window seating with a short pew placed in front of a window. If the backrest blocks the view, remove it.

14. Bedroom Bench

Vintage church pews can be a sustainable and artistic addition to a bedroom. The trick is getting a pew that’s short enough to fit comfortably in a bedroom. Use a short pew at the foot of the bed to give yourself someplace to sit as you get ready for the day. Or place a wood church pew near the closet to create a dressing area.

15. Corner Bench

With a little sawing and some wood glue, you can turn a long pew into a corner bench for indoor or outdoor use. A church pew corner bench creates a cozy conversational area.

16. Mudroom Seating

Give your family a place to sit and tidy up before heading into the rest of the house with a mudroom pew. Add hooks above to hold jackets, purses, and backpacks.

17. Bench Swing

If you remove the feet from the pew and attach a few lengths of chain to the arm and backing, you can turn a wooden church pew into a bench swing for your porch or backyard.

18. Add a Backboard

If you don’t want it to look like a vintage church pew, you could switch out the current backrest with a tall backboard to give your pew some character.

19. Add Vintage Style

Painted church pews are a great way to make a style statement. But you don’t have to leave them just as they are. Paint the church pew in a color of your choice. Then, take a piece of fine sandpaper and lightly rough up the paint to give it a vintage, washed wood look. Finish with a clear varnish.

20. Modern

Vintage isn’t the only style you can add to an old church pew. You can go in the opposite direction and give it a few coats of black paint for a more modern vibe. Add some decorative throw pillows in a bold, geometric print for the final touch.

21. Loft Seating

Do you have a large, oversized loft? With their long, oversized dimensions, a loft is a perfect place for a pew.

22. Outdoor Bench

A pew is a great addition to any backyard. If you add a protective weatherproof coat of paint or varnish, its sturdy frame can last through some of the roughest weather.

23. Waiting Room Seating

Old church pews make excellent waiting room seating for doctors’ offices, school offices, and many small businesses.

24. Corridor Seating

A few painted church pews along the side of a wide hallway can accent its size and beautifully frame doorways.

25. Theater Seating

Church pew seats are a great option for indoor theater seating. You can use pews in community theaters, movie theaters, and home theaters — perfect for viewing with friends.

26. Coffee Table

You could remove the backing from the pew to turn it into a coffee table or footrest for living room use.

27. Table

With some disassembling and rearranging you could turn two pews into a table using its backing as the surface and by situating the frame on the pews as the table legs.

28. Japanese Table

By removing the back of two short pews and combining them you could create a Japanese table for dining on the floor.

29. Woodwork

Remove the pews sealant and etch in names, history, and designs to make the pew uniquely your own.

30. Chest

If you’ve got some creativity and DIY skills, use your DIY on church pews and turn the pew’s seat into a chest by adding storage underneath and turning the seat into a hinged lid.

FAQ

How do I get rid of church pews?

Although few churches will want old-fashioned pews, many people might like a pew or two at their homes. Advertise for free used church equipment in Facebook Marketplace or in your local paper.

How do you pronounce pew?

Pew is pronounced, “pugh,” as in, “church pugh.”