Potting Bench Refresh

Hello again friends!

I wanted to show you a project I took on recently.  Years ago, I had gotten this little potting bench (which I don’t think was originally built to be a potting bench) and it had been sitting behind our cabin accumulating “stuff” until it just looked junky.  I was up early one morning working in the yard and I kept walking by this area and realized I could not look at it any more…I wanted it cleaned up and serving a purpose other than holding “stuff”.  Immediately, I stopped what I was doing and loaded up the wagon with the good stuff and the trash can with the rest.  I cleaned the bench and decided to paint it.  Below is the before photo.

The top is laminate and the wood is some type of pressed board.  I did not expect to share this with you and only took the one photo of the table before I began to paint it.  You can see the painter’s tape around the laminate.  To paint the wood, I had to use what I had because I chose this project on a whim and was hot and sweaty from working in the yard–so there was no way I was cleaning up to go to the store for supplies.  I pulled out different colors of regular craft paint and began dry brushing them in random places to give it a distressed/layered look.  I used black, grey, off-white and sage green.

You can see the multiple colors in this side view but it is primarily grey.  Going with that theme, I tried to decorate using greys, browns and cream along with the terracotta of the pots.  See the storage baskets on the side?  Those are window boxes that I found at an estate sale years ago and have been holding on to them hoping to find a place to use them.  **I love yard sales, estate sales, consignment stores, thrift stores…get the picture?  Most often, I just buy what I like if the price is right and hold on to it until I find it’s purpose.  When projects like this come along, I can just pull from my stash and never have to spend any money.  This is similar to my laundry room makeover I just shared.  You can see that HERE.

The beautifully painted bird house was a gift from my Aunt Debra years ago.  Again, it’s been sitting out in an outbuilding needing a place.  I hung it at the corner of the cabin and hope that it will house a little bird family in the future.  For the photos, I picked some lemon balm and blooms of chives out of my raised bed.  You cannot pick lemon balm enough…it’s everywhere!

Here’s another view.

And another…

Like these seed packets?  I found these beauties at Ella Claire Blog and had to download them and use them for my seeds.  You can visit Kristen at Ella Claire and download your own packets HERE.

I pulled this little bench from my old picnic table.  Although I found a way to kill my blueberry bushes a few years back, I do have wonderful blackberries every year.  These blueberries came from the grocery store and were very delicious!

My mom was over after I refreshed the potting bench and suggested the outdoor curtains.  I bought a tension rod from Walmart and then bought the valances from a local thrift store for $4.  I love it!  Plus, it blocks the view of Christmas decorations inside the cabin.  Win/Win.

This area was really difficult to photograph for several reasons…the overhang of the cabin roof shades this area.  I love it because it protects the potting bench but it threw shadows on my photos.  Secondly, I planted an American Beauty Bush to the side of the cabin and it is getting huge.  It is just putting out it’s berries for the Fall season.  You can see it well in the first two photos.  It blocks a lot of the view of the potting bench from the driveway so there’s only two good angles where you can see the potting bench.  Regardless, I now am happy with my one-day makeover of this little nook in my yard.  I have already used this space several times to pot plants since the makeover and it works great.

Thank you so much for visiting Mulch and Paint today.  I hope you’ve seen what a little time and creativity can produce…with little to no money.

Until next time, I hope you have a wonderful day!