In my part of Ontario the rule is not to plant until after Victoria Day weekend.
(nicknamed "May two-four" - since people usually drink 24 beers on the long weekend).
With the unbelievably long winter we've just endured and the jump right to gorgeous Summer temperatures, it's all I can do to stay away from the nurseries and their gorgeous arrays of annuals…
so I decided to build something FOR the garden instead of IN the garden.
Have you seen this tutorial from Better Homes and Gardens?
You can't do much better than a free potting bench right?
So I got my pallets and went to work on "Step 1" - dismantling them.
I'm going to tell you right now, before you even start this project, pallets are next to impossible to take apart.
Crowbar, hammer, saw, swearing, cajoling, brute force, kicking…. nothing will take the surface boards off of the frame without splitting the wood to a million pieces.
New game plan;
Keep the pallet intact and refer to the Goddess of wood - Ana White:
My version is an amalgamation of the two tutorials.
Take crooked, beat-up pallet,
add legs the approximate length of the measurements Ana White gives.
I had to go with 'approximate' because I was using up spare bits of wood from in the garage, so I didn't have quite enough to follow her plans exactly.
Add back legs - which would reach above the pallet top.
Add side boards for the bottom shelf and then nail more scrap wood to those side pieces.
I'm not going to lie… it looked like crap at this point.
None of the wood was the same, my sawing was sketchy at best - and even though Hubby might have helped me with a few cuts - he vehemently denies having anything to do with the idea or implementation of this concept.
But wait!
I have a vision!
A vision that involves Benjamin Moore's Neon Red exterior stain!
Getting better right?
What if I stage it a bit with my gardening pots?
All in all I'm pretty pleased.
I spent a grand total of $8 on the stain and the rest was scrap wood that we had lying around - $0.
Just a few more days until I can put this to work!
Have a great one!
Linked to:
(nicknamed "May two-four" - since people usually drink 24 beers on the long weekend).
With the unbelievably long winter we've just endured and the jump right to gorgeous Summer temperatures, it's all I can do to stay away from the nurseries and their gorgeous arrays of annuals…
so I decided to build something FOR the garden instead of IN the garden.
Have you seen this tutorial from Better Homes and Gardens?
 |
| Image and tutorial courtesy of Better Homes and Gardens |
You can't do much better than a free potting bench right?
So I got my pallets and went to work on "Step 1" - dismantling them.
I'm going to tell you right now, before you even start this project, pallets are next to impossible to take apart.
Crowbar, hammer, saw, swearing, cajoling, brute force, kicking…. nothing will take the surface boards off of the frame without splitting the wood to a million pieces.
New game plan;
Keep the pallet intact and refer to the Goddess of wood - Ana White:
 |
| Image and tutorial courtesy of Ana White |
My version is an amalgamation of the two tutorials.
Take crooked, beat-up pallet,
add legs the approximate length of the measurements Ana White gives.
I had to go with 'approximate' because I was using up spare bits of wood from in the garage, so I didn't have quite enough to follow her plans exactly.
Add back legs - which would reach above the pallet top.
Add side boards for the bottom shelf and then nail more scrap wood to those side pieces.
I'm not going to lie… it looked like crap at this point.
None of the wood was the same, my sawing was sketchy at best - and even though Hubby might have helped me with a few cuts - he vehemently denies having anything to do with the idea or implementation of this concept.
But wait!
I have a vision!
A vision that involves Benjamin Moore's Neon Red exterior stain!
Getting better right?
What if I stage it a bit with my gardening pots?
All in all I'm pretty pleased.
I spent a grand total of $8 on the stain and the rest was scrap wood that we had lying around - $0.
Just a few more days until I can put this to work!
Have a great one!
Linked to:
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| Miss Mustard Seed |
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| Between Naps on the Porch |
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| The Thrifty Home |
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| Savvy Southern Style |
Great Idea! Thank you for sharing. I have an old pallet in the garage (that I found outside of an industrial bldg. with a sign that that FREE) that I didn't know what to do with it. Now I know what I will try to make. Since the pallet was free and we have lots of leftover wood in the garage, how could I go wrong in trying? What a wonderful idea!
ReplyDeleteIf you have a large pallet, you could cut it in half for a top and bottom shelf - then you'd just need to put 2x4's along the outside corners!
DeleteNothing to lose by trying! Send a photo of the finished product - I'd love to see how it turns out!