I’ll say I got in on the pallet repurposing craze last Fall…which actually means I picked up two abandoned pallets from my local Ace Hardware, tore them apart, and then let the pieces sit in my garage for a good five months. My husband hates when I gather materials and let them sit in the garage – but sometimes I am not quite ready to start my project the moment I get the materials. Pre-kids, the project would have be finished last Fall, but finding time to use power tools with two tots in the house isn’t easy.
Disclaimer: Dismantling a pallet is a lot harder than it looks. The picture below shows my husband breaking out the saw after we spent hours trying to gently pry the boards without breaking them.
1. After tearing apart our pallets (and taking a winter’s long nap), we found a photos on The Design Pallet of some sweet, rustic outdoor potting benches. Given that we have added a backyard farm to our house this year, it seemed like a potting bench was only necessary (Note: I have already used it twice this spring, and only my hardy veggies are planted).
2. We laid out four pieces for the legs and four pieces for the front and back “plates”. We also laid out thick boards for the top of the table, and thinner boards for the lower shelf.
We used the following boards:
– four 37″ boards (for legs)
– four 37″ boards (for front and back “plates”)
– seven 18″ thick pallet boards (for top shelf)
– eight 18″ thin pallet boards (for bottom shelf)
3. First we attached the front and back “plates” to the legs. This was the tough part, as we did not have a vice. My handy husband was able to do it nonetheless. We eyeballed the height of the bottom shelf, as we didn’t have a specific height in mind. The base of the front, bottom plate is about 2-3 inches from the ground.
4. The shelves were the easy part. Once the frame was in place, we used the nail gun to quickly put the boards in place. We did not leave any space between boards on the top, as we wanted a solid surface for working; but we left some room between the boards on the bottom so that dirt and water could fall through.
It turned out lovely, don’t you think? I especially like the color variation on the top shelf. We added two hooks on the side to hang a garden rake and shovel – easy access for all our gardening needs.
Hey!
I’m Amanda and I’m co-hosting the Networking Blog Hop. I blog at Royal Daughter Designs. I just wanted to say hi and thanks for linking up! I hope the hop was a success for you!
We’ve been putting in our first garden (blog post coming soon!) and we used pallets to make a compost pile. I already pinned this – I would LOVE a little potting table, and we have a perfect place for it. Thank you for helping me find another weekend project for my husband!
Be blessed!
Hi Heather – thank you for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment about my fireplace. It took me about a year to make a final decision that I would paint mine and I don’t regret it one bit. I love it! Now, I just need to make the mantle for it. I really like your pallet turned potting bench. I have 2 pallets sitting in my garage that have been there for months. I’ve so many great pallet projects – I can’t decide where to start first. Thanks for sharing this!
Looks great! I’ve been wanting to do a pallet project or two myself but keep hearing about the pain of taking them apart. I’m not sure if it’s worth the hassle but a free potters table sure would be lovely! Thanks for linking up Etcetorize~
What a sweet hubs to do that for you! I love this idea, thanks for sharing!! You could also use wood scraps I bet.
I love the results! What a wonderful idea, and it looks great!
New twitter follower from the live.laugh.rowe hop. I would love a follow back if you like my blog 🙂
thegrantlife.com
I left you a comment earlier…just wanted to let you know that I pinned this and it got repinned a ton of times. It’s a hit! http://pinterest.com/pin/190840102930043803/
I’m a new follower to your fun blog via the blog hop. Have a great week!
Wow! That turned out great : )
It looks fabulous! I especially like the varied wood stains on the top – amazing! Thanks so much for linking up to The Creative Spark. I’ll be featuring this tomorrow. Happy Sunday!
Jenn 🙂
P.S. I can totally relate to the projects piling up in the garage! I have a few out there myself.
Hi Heather!
The pallet potting bench looks great! It still brings a smile to my face when I see someone make their own one after seeing the one I made a few years ago. Not only does it make a great potting bench it acts as a great outdoor bar/buffet too! I don’t do too much pallet building anymore…but seeing this makes me want to build one again! This made my day.
Bruce
http://www.thedesignpallet.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thedesignpallet
http://www.facebook.com/designpallet
This is a wonderful project that I know my husband will embrace (unlike some of the things I ask him to do for me.) The best part is I can tell him to saw the pallet apart BEFORE he turns all red and starts throwing the hammer around! : ) Seriously, I can’t wait to have this for my little garden. Thanks so much for sharing it. I’m pinning, too.
Omgosh! this is so cute! I wish I could get my husband to teach me to use the power tools so i could make awesome stuff like this! I’d love you to link up any of your blog posts to my linky party going on now:
http://itsjustcalledspicy.blogspot.com/2012/05/spicy-link-up-3.html
Loved your potting bench so much I had to come back and let you know I featured it. Thanks for the inspiration and wonderful project.
This is flippin’ awesome!! We have a few spare pallets laying around… pinning and putting this one the hubby’s To- Do list 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Thanks a lot ! for share…