“Making A Garden Bench” by Dorian Winslow

We keep our garden shoes outside the kitchen door, just steps from the herb garden, but when it rains they can get wet inside. We also use this handy spot on our deck for hand tools and garden gloves and plants that are waiting to be put in the ground. It was always messy looking, so I decided we needed a bench to organize things.

My garden bench acts as an umbrella over our footwear and also makes the space look neater as you approach our back door.

Here’s how I made it.  I went to our local lumber yard and hand picked several pieces of straight, thick pine.  I had the lumber yard cut the pieces for me, so I brought a drawing of what I wanted with me to show them.  You can make the dimensions suit your space, but my bench is 66″ long, 11″ deep and 19″ high.

I used a total of 14 two-inch screws to put the bench together. On the outer side of each leg, I put two screws in to hold the leg to the long horizontal support in the front, and two for the support across the back. 

I did the same on the outside of the other leg. So that’s how the legs were attached to the horizontal supports, making a frame onto which I placed the top of the bench. Three screws were drilled down from the top of the bench into the leg at each end.

After the bench was completed I sanded it and gave it a coat of primer and then painted it with two coats of a dark forest green semi gloss paint. It has lived up to our expectations in every way!