Monday, July 23, 2012

I built a potting bench!

Well, after a summer of slacking, I decided it was time to actually cross something off of my adventures list. So, last week, my friend Laura and I set out to build a furniture.

 Thanks to the amazing website of Ana White, I had hundreds of building plans to choose from.  I had planned on building a new craft table for my office, but I figured I should start with something a little simpler for my first project.

Last weekend, Robb and I spent the day antiquing in Statham. I came across a potting bench I really liked, but it was $125.  Lucky for me, Ana White had free plans for a potting bench, so my mind was made up.

A potting bench may seem like an odd choice for someone who has killed hundreds of dollars of gardens.  However, it is the perfect choice for someone who enjoys hosting several bonfires a year.  Want to know how I did it?  Check it the day-by-day activities below!

Day 1
This was probably the most important day...lumber buying day! (It's hard to build anything out of wood without lumber). I planned on heading to Lowe's to buy my wood since I had a coupon, but Lowe's lost because their saw was broken.  So I headed across the street to Home Depot.  After wandering aimlessly for a few minutes and loading some 2x4s onto my cart, I asked for assistance to find one of the pieces of wood I needed.  After a brief conversation about my project, I learned I needed pressure treated wood.  Thankfully, I had my own personal shopper.  He helped me load up all the wood I needed, and then made small talk for the next hour while he very precisely (thankfully!) cut my wood for me.  An hour and a half later, I was on my way out the door with a bunch of wood, some deck screws, and lots of other random things I didn't end up needing.

Day 2
Early Monday morning (much earlier than I'm used to getting up), I headed to my friend Laura's house.  Laura decided to build a dining room table with a little help from her husband, so her day was spent staining boards.  In fact, this is how all of Laura's days were spent.

While Laura stained, I got to work assembling my potting bench.  Ana White provides pretty easy steps to follow, so I just went along with her plans.  Six hours later (with a lunch break in the middle), I had a (mostly) level potting bench!

Assembling the shelves

The shelves are ready!  Time to put it all together

Almost finished

My top shelf was level...thank goodness!

Making sure it's all straight

Laura got to use the big saw, even though I ended up not using the pieces she cut for me

Laura trying not to cut off any fingers

The finished (but unstained) produce!
Day 3
We took Tuesday off to do some work at school, so Day 3 was kind of Day 4, depending on how you want to think about it.  Day 3 was my staining day.  I thought I was going to have to sand this whole thing, and I was really dreading that, but it turns out sanding pre-treated wood is poisonous (or something like that), so I was off the hook for that.

I had some tinted waterproof sealant leftover from when I stained my fence last year, so I was able to use that and not add anymore onto my Home Depot bill.  It was a long, messy process, but within a few hours the potting bench was all done!
Starting from the top

Almost done!
Day 4
I'm not really sure this counts as a day, but Day 4 was when the potting bench got delivered to my house!  I couldn't decide where exactly on my back deck I wanted it to go, so Day 4 was really spent with me moving it from one side of my deck to the other, and moving the pile of firewood so it was out of the way.  Finally, the firewood, the potting bench, and my fold-up camp chairs all found their spot.  I love the final result, and I can't wait to get some pots and decorations to put on it!
Trying it on the right

My potting bench has found its home!

Be on the lookout for an invitation to a Back to School Bonfire so everyone can come over and admire the potting bench that I BUILT!!

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