“Quick” is relative. In terms of hours, this project didn’t take long but let me confess, it actually took about 15 years to complete. Let me ‘splain. This homemade (not by me) workbench sat in our garage for about 5 years after we moved in. We did not use it as a workbench, rather, it was a catch-all for junk. The first time I ever cleaned out the garage, I decided to take it out to free up some space. I sort of crab walked this table one end at a time, by myself, to the side of my house, thinking I’d use it for a potting bench. The sucker is HEAVY and it was UGLY!. Picture legs made out of pressure treated posts, scrap wood made up the apron and lower shelf. Finally, the top is a piece of sheet metal that had splotches of paint on it. I seriously think the inept contractor who owned the house before us found the sheet metal first and decided to build a table around and under it. Here she is before…..without the sheet metal top.

Folks, this was not rocket science. It definitely was put together with scraps. This view shows the basic design. I think the end piece on the top at the far end of the photo was a scrap of tongue and groove flooring. Goes to show you, you can make useful furniture out of any wood.

So, it’s been a useful potting bench and beverage and serving table in our yard for about 6 or 7 years. Ugly, though. I always covered it with a tablecloth but the bottom still showed. Let’s just say, it was completely utilitarian. I have admitted before that I have NO imagination or vision. But the creative, DIY blogs have made me look at everything with different-colored glasses. So, last fall, I decided I should paint the darn thing. But I only got around to primering it. This spring, the the girls had a neighbor friend over and were bored and I had some leftover light green sample paint, so I let them have at it.

The bottom was painted and has been sitting for a month. What to do about the metal top? The girls wanted to do a mural. Good idea considering they and the neighbor girl are extremely artistic. Then I decided to paint the top black and decide later what kind of design on top-even if they designed it. Then I discovered some left over chalkboard paint in the basement-SHAZAM! It’s perfect. The kids have been having a field day with the sidewalk chalk on it but when I have a party, I can label what I’m putting on it or just write a message. I like it so much better. What I love about this DIY stuff is that even a small change to something makes a big difference in how I feel about any space.

One person who came across this post commented that she wanted to make her own. It looks very simple, doesn’t it? I would not recommend the steel top as it makes it even heavier than it already is. By now, this table needs freshened up a bit. I’ll get to that.

Here’s the “after” picture of the table.

Last spring, we had a new stone patio put in….I have before and after photos of that (I think). Promise, I’ll post about that project, soon.Linking to these parties: