Cast iron sinks ... Thrifted and RePurposed fountain and potting bench

I thought I would share with you today this little space at the back door of our workshop that I turned into a potting station, fountain and photo shoot area.

Our friend and neighbor (92) was moving close to his daughter and had a few things to sell. Sitting behind their art studio was this table with yellow cast iron double sinks ... wow, was it ever heavy! He said it was their fish-cleaning sinks but from the traces of paint on it,  I would guess it was where they cleaned their brushes. 

For $15.00, it was coming home with us. We removed the vintage faucets, replaced some rotten wood and painted the stand.


We poured this small slab by the back door of our workshop just the width of the ramp that was already there and put the table there. It sat like this for months. Even the nice wood gate that we built out of reclaimed wood just leaned up against the wall ... too heavy to hang and it covered the electric plug that we always needed to use. It was a nice backdrop for photos.

I am safe in saying that everything that you see here was thrifted or repurposed.

 I could put a cover over the sinks and use it for a table for taking photos. The lighting is perfect until the sun starts going down and then there was too much sun. 



BEFORE 
 Photo shoot of blue tool box.


I used it like that for awhile and then I found this perfect faucet to just sit there for looks.

  

Then one day decided to make a little fountain out of it by putting a bucket of water on the shelf below and adding a recirculating pump to connect to one side of the faucet ... thus, it became a fountain. Having running water is nice to rinse my hands. 

I still use it for photo shoots by laying a board across the sinks.

 Today, was hot but I decided to make that area presentable even though it was not visible from the street.                                        
Cute little thermometer for 25¢

With old gate hinges, I mounted the gate to the wall and made a perfect screen for that one end. 

I hung the glassless window frame that had just been sitting there on top the bucket bench for weeks and added a few more plants. Window frame was a curb-side find. 

The bucket on the shelf under the sinks holds the pump and catches the water. A nice estate sale rocker needed for a short rest.

Old wire fry baskets hanging inside the old window with garden tools, clay pots and Sweet Anne adds interest and a place to store potting stuff. Just straighten the handle on the basket for an easy built-in hanger.

My new friend Cecilia at My Thrift Store Addiction.
inspired me to cut some rosemary and make a swag for my glassless window.  Hope you will hop over to her blog and see her beautiful Rosemary wreath tutorial.
It is so beautiful ... 

 

The awning may not look too pretty from this angle, but it sure helps to drop the temperature. I think it dropped about 4° in just a few minutes after I rolled it out.
 

Just a few steps away is our Windmill water fountain that runs through an old metal water faucet, and adds a pleasant sound of running water. This is where the deer drink and the large birds love it too. Next to the old ranch fence is a vintage metal animal water trough planted with several kind of wildflowers. 
8' trough was $10.00.

 

Thanks for the visit ... hope you leave a note to let me know you were here.

Blessings,

Linking to: 

Revi's Revisionary Life: Thrifty Life Thursday

Angie's Knick of Time Tuesday Vintage Inspired

Potting Table/ WashStand or display. DIY

This started out to be a potting table ... but ... 
let's see what happened.

 In April we added a storage room to our workshop and I needed to burn or use a bunch of stuff ... Soooo ... I had a plan ...

I had this old screen I salvaged from an 1920's Art Deco house that was demolished ... just sitting behind the work shop for months, but still in sound condition. Needed to be stripped.

 

and four very weathered porch bannister pieces that were almost rotten ... 

well, in places, they were.  

Ace Vinyl Spackling saved them and we were able to make some tall legs by putting two together and adding a base. I just rubbed spackling in all the cracks and weathered places and it filled like magic.

We used our Kreg pocket hole jig to construct everything. (This was my Christmas present) ...

Papa John's Pizza just opened and we reclaimed the lumber they used to crate their signs and made the shelves and counter top, again, using the Kreg pocket hole jig. (love it!!!). 
Had to remove thousands of staples.

The stretchers between the legs were made from old window screen frame boards I saved when we replaced the window screens on our rental house that was built in 1940. Beautiful hardwood with minor rot and had been stored outside for years. 

We used these chair or rocker spindles/legs for extra support under one shelf. They had to be shortened and filled. 

Most of the assembly work was done on the work table with it flat on it's back. An old aluminium screen door guard, brackets, screen door handle and screen hook were used, along with a number 5 cut from old wood. Used my Cutting Edge Stencil for the first time. So easy !

 I did not use outdoor paint and have a wax finish on it, so it may not be suitable for outside. To make painting it easier; I painted each peice before I assembled it, but in the end, decided to use dark wax on it ... what a job!!

Would make a nice washstand or a display shelf in the bathroom, garden room, covered porch or maybe just anywhere. The bottom shelf is slatted, but the others are solid.

 

Top selves are 12" wide so they needed extra support. It is 32" wide, 22" deep and 82" tall.
Big and heavy. 

Everything used was recycled, reclaimed or re-purposed. The only thing new were the screws.

Would be awesome to display white ironstone, 

but no room in my house for it. 

So ... is it a potting table or not ??? 

What would you use it for?

Thanks for stopping by. 

Hope you are inspired to build something, maybe not as hard as this was, but let it challenge you. 

Linking to:

Finding Fabulous 

The Shabby Creek Cottage

 

 Kathe with an E

Savvy Southern Style WOW

Ivy & Elephants What's It Wednesday

Fluster Buster's

The Dedicated House  

Knick of Time Tuesday

Funky Junk Interiors

Debbiedoo's   and

Ann On Suttonplace

Miss Mustard Seed Featured Friday Furniture 

Dear Lillie

The Lettered Cottage

Jennifer Rizzo

Jeanne Oliver

Thistlewood Farm

Eclectically Vintage

At Home on the Bay