Creating a beautiful potting bench

As soon as we put the greenhouse up this year, I knew it would be a place where my plants could grow and thrive. But I also realized it was going to be full of dirt and a new place for me to keep tidy. I realized early on that I didn’t want the greenhouse to feel like another space that I had to clean all the time. I wanted the space to feel relaxing and, personally, cleaning constantly is not relaxing for me. So, to cut down on the constant muddy mess, I decided early on to pot plants outside on an outdoor potting bench.

With the majority of the garden build behind us (I promise I’ll give you a tour soon!), we now get to focus on some of the details in this pretty, little oasis like the potting bench. I often find the smaller projects within spaces more fun than the big sweeping projects that consume my life. The small projects are the details of your design – whether in a garden space or in a home – and for me, the details are truly the elements that make a space. I’ve been so thrilled to be able to finally think about them and even more excited to implement a few, like this potting bench/processing table, before the close of the gardening season.

The right outdoor potting bench

But we didn’t really have an outdoor potting bench like I had envisioned. We have a small one that was just about three feet wide. It’s five years old and the wood has warped from leaving it outside. In fact, we had to make a new bottom for it recently. It is cheaply made and the wood isn’t very substantial.

I wanted something heftier and larger for the new garden. Something I could use as an outdoor potting bench but also something I could use as a processing station for garden veggies and some outdoor storage.

But…I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on an outdoor potting bench. And, I didn’t really want to completely DIY something.

Truth be told, I’m exhausted from gardening this season. Building the garden itself has taken months and it is constant work. I needed this to be an easy project.

With these things in mind, I started looking and stumbled across a perfect bench in my favorite antique store. It was white, the perfect height for working in a standing position and had a lower shelf for put storage. It was made of 2 x 4’s and it felt weighty and substantial. The bench was everything I needed.

But, the vendor didn’t want to sell the bench.

Luckily, it wasn’t something original. As much as I love antiques and pieces that are one-of-a-kind, sometimes finding something new that fits your needs works just as well. The vendor told me where she found the bench and I was able to get one!

The bench is a kit bench that can be found at Menards {HERE}. And I couldn’t believe how inexpensive it is!

Potting bench modifications

We modified the kit just a bit since I wanted the potting bench to have a flat tabletop, This is the only modification we made to the build of the table. This kit made it so easy to create a potting bench. All the wood was already cut, the directions were clear and it came together in about 30 minutes.

All I had to do was seal the wood with a coat of outdoor primer. I used a sprayer with paint from Sherwin Williams in base white. Altogether the painting took me about two hours and I love the results.

Aside from that, we added some nails to the front of the potting bench so I could dry herbs, bulbs and roots. These have to be moved in if it rains, but I love that I have this spot for them. It’s nice to have a spot to hang them outside as I pull. We may reduce the number of nails we added, but overall it was a great and useful modification. At some point, we will probably add some nails to the side so I can hang tools too.

It is such a simple space but a space that’s functional and will serve me for many years to come. I’ve shared A LOT of photos below. I’ve overdone it for sure. But it was such pretty light when I was photographing that I just couldn’t help it. Plus, the cats came to hang out with me there too and they’re always so cute. 🙂

Tell me below what you think of the potting bench! I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Thank you so much for visiting, friends! I hope you’ll come back again and see what we’re up to at Sugar Maple Farmhouse.