February 29, 2016

Potting Bench Plans

Outdoor Living

Free Potting Bench Plans This piece of furniture is so versatile, you will love it! Easy to build and around $15 in lumber! Grab 5 - 2”x4” at (8’ long) pieces of lumber and you can have a potting bench in an afternoon - a few hours - really! You will have left over wood, we will revisit that later this month and build something else ;) Supplies Needed:

5 each 2” x 4” lumber at 8’ long
Saw to cut lumber - we used a miter saw
Screws 2 1/2” - 44 each
wood glue
Drill
Sanding block
Stain or paint

Cuts:

Cut 4 pieces at - 30 1/2” Legs
Cut 4 pieces at - 36 ” table top
Cut 3 pieces at - 30” bottom shelf
Cut 4 pieces at - 11 1/4” leg braces

Process: Make the legs (a total of 2) first. Attach center brace between two of 30 1/2” - 2x4 - using 2 screws (8 total per leg). - Repeat for the other leg. Attach second brace on each leg at 8” from the bottom of the leg. (See photo below).

Easy legs for the potting bench made from 2 x 4 lumber

Attach one side at a time.

Building legs for potting bench with 2 x 4 lumber easy

When complete it should look like this.

Top of Potting Bench:

Use a scrap piece of wood for creating the space between the wood on the top of the table. We used several 1”x 3” scrap - you want the space to be 3/4”.

Attach the top by screws from the bottom, at the top of each leg.

Attach the top:

To create a 3/4” space between wood on the top of the table, we used a 1” x 3” scrap wood.
Apply glue and attach each leg with 8 screws as shown above.

Attach bottom shelf:

Equally space the 3 pieces of wood, attach from the bottom using wood screws.

Attach the bottom shelf of the 2 x 4 potting bench

Attach shelf, while the piece is upside down.

Potting Bench - Before Stain:

2 x 4 Potting bench easy to make this is before I stained it

How to make a 2 x 4 potting bench - easy - inexpensive

After staining, love the imperfections!

The bench is very basic, easy to build in just an afternoon. You can paint or stain it. Be sure to sand to remove splinters and smooth out the wood . To create a worn, rustic look just use any stain color that you like. Apply a top coat of poly, depending on the stain, not always necessary. If you decide to paint the potting bench, fill in the screw holes with putty, so that you have a smooth surface when complete. This 2” x 4” Potting Bench plan is perfect for your first project.