Re-Purposing a Playset into a Potting Bench

I wanted to begin this post with a pretty picture—and what better way than one with good memories!

We were celebrating my daughter's 9th birthday with a Luau party. She is the one stretched out looking backguards on the playset.

I still remember the good surprise I gave my neighbors with the palm trees, but that's a story for another post. 😅

Well, fast-forward 8 years, and this is how my backyard looked a couple of weeks ago. :( 

As I told my husband, that's a junkyard! 

And I'm pointing my finger at him for bringing stuff that didn't belong here, like those gas tanks and the chairs.

Even the new pots! 

I had them in the basement, but he was quick to put them on display :D  

That's his way of telling me to go and fix that space. So, the yard beautification started this past weekend with none other than the remains of the playset.

Two years ago, the neglected swing set broke apart. The swing area got disconnected from the tower.

The wood from that swing area was used to create a few DIY projects: a frame for a mirror, a wooden table runner, and even a ladder for decoration inside the house.

For this tower and the final part of the set, it was easy for me to visualize it as a potting bench—kind of two potting benches. 

Can you see it right here? 

Cut it in half (where the man is looking), add front legs to both fronts and voila—two benches!

Easy, right? Well, kind of. ;) 

I couldn't have done it without the man's help. He was in charge of unscrewing most of the parts, and let me tell you, THAT was the most challenging part. 

Those screws were so rusty they didn't budge!

He wasn't happy when I told him he couldn't damage the wood, but he worked his magic with those stubborn screws that kept spinning inside the dry wood. Some of them simply broke when trying to unscrew them.

The first part involved removing the connecting side pieces and all the vertical planks from the top; the center support underneath the platform was also removed.

At this point, I tried to cut the platform in half while it lay on its side, but nope! 

I had to turn it to the right side again to do that cut. 

This is how it looked afterward:

Then we installed the front skirt—right below the counter. The front legs were installed next, followed by the lower shelf supports and the lower shelf. 

The only part that required extra material was the lower shelf. The legs are not the same length because the bench will sit on a slanted part of our backyard.

SHELF BRACKETS

It was time to pay attention to the top part of the potting bench, the storage area. We wanted a couple of shelves installed there on each of the benches. However, we first needed a couple of brackets for each shelf.

The shelf brackets were made from material from the same playset. I grabbed the table runner project and even the ladder I had inside my house because I was running out of wood. 

Using a jigsaw, I followed a bracket shape drawn on a piece of wood, and that first bracket was the guide for all the others. 

We did pre-drills and drove the screws from the back in to install those brackets.

Here's the bench waiting for the shelves. 

The planks enclosing the sandbox in the lower part of the playset were used as shelves.

At the end of the day, this is how the potting benches looked.

After grabbing stuff from the garage, the benches sport a new look.

These green metal pieces and handles from the playset were also added.

 A small cubby and another re-purposed project were brought in, too.

Wood remnants were also displayed on it. I like their different shades and patterns; they look like little books from far away.

Some signs were added, too.

I love the tones on the wood, I was thinking of painting it, but no, I'm just going to leave it like this, showing the passing of time and lots of great memories. :)

Now, I must decide what I want to do in the open space. 

I'm deciding between a brick or wooden patio. What would you choose?

Thanks for stopping by!


UPDATE:  

Hey, the patio was finished and looks better than ever! Take a look at it RIGHT HERE.

Also, these potting benches were painted - you can see that transformation HERE.