My big potting station / counter ... playhouse ... shed

I have been wanting to build a nice potting table for a long time ... and I have what I need to do it but have to figure out how to put it together.  

When bj’s at Sweet Nothings posted that enticing blog on potting tables and flowers it made me really, really want one.

 Then this.  more potting bench luv ...was just icing on the cake. 

Be sure to hop over to bj's Sweet Nothings and check out her wonderful Blogs on Potting Benches. She is so much fun. 

This Blog Featured: 2805 Potpourri Friday


So ... here is my potting shed ... playhouse. 

Don’t know why I want a potting bench so bad as I have this convenient vintage metal, kitchen sink/cabinet on my back porch and it works really well for potting if I want to.

 

We mainly use it to wash up when we have been working outside or cleaning things to be brought in the house. This came out of an old Motel that was condemned by the City. Every unit had one. Cost was $15.00

AND, besides that ... I have this really big potting shed/station/retreat/playhouse that is 10’ wide by 16’ long in the back corner of our yard. 
(View from the house and you can see the corner of the work shop on the left).   
 

  
Originally it was where we stored fireplace wood ... a lot of wood !!! About five years ago, we switched to butane gas, and we did not need firewood any longer. It already had lattice on the top and front and we floored it with 2” x 10” lumber; built an 8' step with landscape timbers on one side and landscaped the corner ... then, after a while, it just became a place to store junk. Before long, it looked so trashy with stored stuff that I had to do something about it. It is just a few steps away from the front door of our work shop and was not a pretty sight. 

Originally we enclosed the back with old screen doors but the birds flew into them because they could not see the screen wire. I removed them to protect the birds and put up the lattice.
  
ReStore Habitat for Humanity gave me this beat-up metal kitchen cabinet which I painted dark green.  Nice big drawer for keeping tools and hidden behind the doors are all sorts of pots and seed trays. The folding picket fence screen was recycled from old fence boards and hides the open
under-counter where the sink is. 

I used the cabinet as a base for this Formica counter that I bought from ReStore for $10.00. Width was a perfect fit. We cut a triangle out of it to make it L-shaped and used that piece for a corner shelf above the counter. This is where my little Garden Angel sits.  

 We installed a small sink and plumbed it from the water pipe on the corner of the structure.  

   The weathered, white board with old wooden dresser knobs makes a great place to hang small garden tools. One-half of a door storage shelf unit is perfect for small pots, seeds and other small tools.

Why don't I have any Spring flowers ??? duh ... never planted the bulbs or the seeds.

Love wire baskets.

Three years ago, the pipes to the sink froze and burst. Well … I was not using the potting station very much and there was a faucet right there on the corner of the structure if I needed it … so just was not all that important to have water in my little sink!  BUT … this year, I really wanted it !  
So … suggesting to Mr. Z.  that if he would figure 
what parts we needed, I could get Mr. Handyman 
down the street to come make the repair … this got his dander up a little. He has had some serious health issues since January and kinda down in the “get-a-longs”, meaning he has trouble walking, getting down and up. So he really does need help.  He figured out what we needed and went to Lowe'swhile I continued to clean.  Together, we got the new plumbing in without the help of Mr.
Handyman and made a better setup where we could cut the water off and drain the pipe in the winter. We drilled holes in the part of the drain pipe from the sink that is over the two plants in the wash tubs in front of the structure. These are old wash tubs with drains in the bottom, so water will drain out and water the tree and shrubs in that section. 
Win ... win situation.

(you can click the small pictures to enlarge)

The weathed birdhouse with the Texas license plate was a DIY Christmas gift from one of the gandsons and the birds are from Dollar Tree.   The Cardinals fight with themselves in the mirrored window. It has a tray below for seed, but I don't want to encourage the birds to come there for a 'poopy' reason. When I see my reflection in the mirrors, I think someone is on the other side of the fence.
 
Funny story about the "i Love Roses" sign ... my friend and I went to a nearby garage sale and I bought this sign which is about 12" wide and 39" long. She had to open the sunroof on her SmartCar so we could get the sign inside and here we go down the road with about a foot of this sign sticking out of the roof. I was really embarrassed.

    

The big old funnel will become a plant holder.

With the way the supports are, I have divided it into two “rooms”. On one side of this passage way to the other “room” under the casa sign, is an old window with chippy yellow paint, that I salvaged from an old house my sister tore down. The window is always open because all the panes of glass are missing. The front room is where the potting cabinet is and a nice place to take a chair and enjoy a drink and watch the sunrise or sunset. The metal chairs were $7.00 each from a restaurant getting new furniture. Great chairs.

 Sunsets are beautiful.

To beat the heat, I have a water mister hose attached to the front edge of the structure and a big old floor fan. With five nozzles, it will cool the air several degrees and the light mist is refreshing.

In the second “room”, I installed shelves in one section of the openings to house my collection of watering cans, leaving the other section for a back door where I stored my potting soil.  I had to put bricks/rocks in the water can to anchor them because they would blow off in the wind. Right now, I have a vintage Martin house sitting out the “back door”. I added a comfortable rocker.
 Just planted this yellow Mandevillea and hope it will soon cover the trellis and get up on the roof.

The cement fish piece is part of a fountain and I will show you the before and after project soon. 
I plan to make a fountain out of it. 

     

Old fountain in my landscaped corner.

     

Chickens are loosing it but cast a nice shadow.

 

Cardinals come to visit and get a drink of water.

 The name of our work shop. 

Sorry for the long post, but hard to cover with few words and few pictures. 
Thanks for visiting ... 

I would love to see what big project you have taken on this summer.  

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