Unwanted Pallets…into a useful and pretty Potting Bench

Last week I was going through the shed, cleaning it up, and moving things around, when I came across a couple pallets that we had received a few freight orders on. I was ready to just tear them apart and take them to the dump, just as I realized that they were oak.

I’ve wanted a potting bench for some time now, but have been too busy to find a set of plans, and make the drive into town to the hardware store for the supplies.

So last Thursday, I got out the hammer and nails, saw, and measuring tape. Marked off what boards would be removed, and went to town, hammering, sawing, and assembling the bench.

From initial plans, to final nail being driven in, this took about two hours to build.

Friday, I painted it in a very liberal coat of black paint that I had left over from painting some dressers. Pulled out the paint leftover from the bathroom and bedroom, and dry brushed it all over to get a worn, and rustic look.

Left it all to dry, had a little whiskey in celebration, and decided that it needed a garden around it! That could have been the whiskey talking though…hm…

So I ended up making the trek to the hardware store anyways, purchased the weed block, and trim, a bunch of plants off the clearance table(all the plants pictured except for the pawpaw, and three small oak trees). The stones under the potting bench, purchased second-hand for a few cents each. I used several bags of mulch that had been left in the yard when we moved into the house, taking that out of the total cost.

All in all, the entire project cost around $45, as the only materials purchased were the trim($20), weed block($10, could be substituted for newspapers or cardboard, none of which I had on hand at the time), and 14 annuals, a large fern, 4 bush daisies, 1 Lantana, 2 dahlias($15)