Fold Up Potting Bench

Remember that big shed transformation that we finished in August? Well, I’m back to share one more thing that we added to it…

A fold up (or down) potting bench!

I’ve wanted a potting bench for sooo long. In the past, I’ve lugged all my pots, potting soil and plants to the front of the house and potted them on our front porch. Then once I was finished, I’d drag all the supplies back to the shed. Efficient, right? Definitely NOT!

That’s happily in my past, because now I have this:

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I’m pretty sure love isn’t a strong enough word for how I feel about it. And it’s nothing if not efficient.

I can have it up:

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Or down:

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I. KNOW!

Here’s how we made it:

First we started by notching a piece of trim on the front of the shed.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Once it was notched out, we attached a 6 foot cedar board to the front of the shed…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

While Anthony built the bench frame…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I started sanding down the cedar fence pickets for the bench top…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Once the top was smooth, I had to sand down the sides. They were full of splinters…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I used the 3M Advanced Abrasives and ran them down both sides of each board.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

With all the boards sanded and ready, we started constructing the bench brackets…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I wanted them to be “chunky”. They’re perfect!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

We built two brackets, then moved on to adding the top hinges for the bench, and the side boards for the brackets.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Then we placed the bracket underneath the top board and on the inside of the side board. We measured where to place the additional brackets…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

We attached the hinges and then swung the bracket out…. Happy day!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

In order for the bracket to swing out, we had to notch around the top hinge…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Then we attached the other side, following the same process as the first.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

With both of them attached, we were left with this:

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Anthony then installed the top with his nail gun…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And added two more braces to rest on top of the brackets… This thing is sturdy!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Again, we had to notch around the bracket hinges, which is why there is a notch on the bracing in the photo above.

When everything swung right, we started adding the top boards…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And then it was ready for the finish…

To prep it, I used these 3M products.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Since I wanted the front to have stripes, I used the white paintable 3M Wood Filler for the sections where I would be painting them white…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I used the stainable 3M Wood Filler for the boards I wanted to stain…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And once everything was dry, I used the 3M Advanced Abrasives to sand all the areas smooth.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

At that point, I was ready to tape off the different areas.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I started with sections I wanted to stain. I taped off all the planks that would be painted white with ScotchBlue™™ Painter’s Tape

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And then I stained everything with Provincial by Minwax. Once it was dry I sealed everything.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Once the sealer dried, I taped off the freshly sealed areas and painted the other boards white.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I pulled the tape off right after my second coat and was left with this:

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Perfect!

Then I started on the second board and waited for everything to dry.

This is what I woke up to the next morning. #Excited!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I absolutely positively couldn’t be any happier with results.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I am completely loving the fact that it can be up or down!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And those chunky brackets have my heart.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

It’s the perfect solution for a potting bench, and the fact that it folds up is the icing on the cake. I love that I can fold it up when I want to use it, but that I can leave it down too.

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And don’t even get me started on how much fun I had setting it up for fall…

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Those stripes… Goodness!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And one of my favorite things about it, well other than the fact that it’s a fold up potting bench, is that it really makes my faux windows pop!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

Be still my heart….

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

And this my friends, is love!

Fold Up Potting Bench by The Wood Grain Cottage

I’m sooo happy to have this bench and I know, without a doubt, that it’s going to be put to good use!

This shed, it’s come a loong way.

This post is a collaboration with 3M DIY. To keep up-to-date on projects, products and sampling visit 3MDIY.com.

To learn more about 3M and 3M Tekk Protection you can visit them here:

3MDIY.com

3M DIY Facebook Page

3M DIY Twitter Page

3M DIY YouTube Page

Note: I have been compensated by 3M for this post, but all opinions are my own. For my complete disclosure policy, click here.

Shayna | The Wood Grain Cottage

Linking up to:

City Farmhouse

The 36th Avenue

Savvy Southern Style

 Tatertots & Jello

Liz Marie Blog

It’s Overflowing

Thrifty Decor Chick

 

40 Comments

  4. This is an amazing idea! I have a pottin bench in our garage/shop but I am always afraid to use it because I don’t want a bunch of dirt in our nice clean shop. Maybe I can convince my husband that we need something like this attached to the back of our house 🙂 [ yeah right – but a girl can try! ]

    Simply adorable! I love your fall arangements, too!

    Nicely done.

    Reply

  5. I am in LOVE with that table. Sure wish It was mine. Maybe I can get my Mr. To build me one for my birthday. Hmmmm!! Honestly I am loving everything you post thus far. You and Anthony inspire me!!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!

    Reply

    1. THANK YOU so much, Diane! I am so happy that you love it. I’m crossing my fingers that you can talk your Mr. into make one! 🙂
      SO happy you’re enjoying the blog… and that we’re inspiring you! You’re so welcome!
      Hugs!
      -Shayna

      Reply

  6. Seriously, where do you come up with ALL this AWESOMEness?!? Great idea, love the beautiful fall colors AND the pretty photos:) Way ta go you two…blessings & <3
    M
    Ps. Why can't you live closer? Why? *sniff sniff*

    Reply

  8. That is a great idea and a space saver too. You’ll did a beautiful job and an easy to follow tutorial. Love your Fall display too. Wanted to copy, but need some tree trunk cuts for risers. Love the look.
    Blessings,
    Audrey Z. @ Timeless Treasures

    Reply

    1. THANK YOU so much, Tricia! I’m so happy you’ve finally sweet talked your hubby into building you a shed… I know what a task that can be! 😉
      So happy you’re going to make your own!
      -Shayna

      Reply

    1. THANK YOU so very much, Marty! I love it too!
      Thanks for the invite to your party too. I’ll stop by to link up! 🙂
      -Shayna

      Reply

  13. Shayna, you have done such a appreciated work. It is such a creative and beneficial for those who have limited space. Love your wall decoration which seems perfect and pretty. Thanks for sharing wonderful post.

    Reply
  18. Pingback: September In Review - The Wood Grain Cottage
  19. Pingback: Chalkboard Sign Pole - The Wood Grain Cottage
  20. Pingback: Fence Picket Coat Rack - The Wood Grain Cottage
  21. Pingback: Farmhouse Fresh Diy: Make a Fence Picket Coat Rack - Fox Hollow Cottage

  22. When the top boards were fitted to the frame, they are being laid flush to the edge of the frame. In a later photograph, the top boards are inset so that the surface is flush with the frame. How was that achieved please?

    Great potting table idea & thank you for sharing

    Reply

    1. Thank you, I’m glad you enjoyed the project! To inset the boards, once the top boards were nailed in place, we trimmed out the edges with the same material. That left us with a flush top. I hope that helps!

      Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *