Potting Table From 100% Reclaimed Items

Yvette Gray
by Yvette Gray
I turned an unused corner of my backyard from an eyesore to a usable potting area using 100% reclaimed items I've found along the way. The base of the table was created from a 6' x 4' pallet which I cut in half lengthwise to make my L-shaped table. The rest of the table was made using discarded barn wood, old barn gates and fence pieces, leftover galvanized sheets from a roofing project, chicken wire and even boxes of discarded nails and screws I found. Now the space I've avoided like the plague is used daily and now serves a purpose. All from free, recycled materials.
My new potting bench corner.
I started by cutting a 6x4 pallet in half lengthwise to make an "L" shaped table base. The gate panels in the back were used to keep my dogs from going behind my aviary. This area was such an eyesore!
The boards leaning up agains the panels in the back are just there to line up the table top boards as I was nailing them into place.
I found this great stash of nails and screws at an abandoned tack room covered in dust. A quick rinse and they were good to go.
I built a wall of shelves out of discarded 2x4 pieces I found in a wood pile. The plastic "window" on top is a replacement window to my aviary which this table butts up next to on the left. It ties the areas together.
Corner of the potting table.
This used to be a gate to the yard to my tack room which had seen better days. Now it gives character and vertical interest to the table.
The ugly black metal panels behind this table are now gone.
A piece of garden fence from a ranch. This is the left side of the table with the wall to my aviary behind it.
I used these leftover galvanized sheets as a skirt under the table to keep my dogs from going behind it. The spaces in the pallet above are the perfect size to hold my seed starting trays. They slide right in.
Various discarded accessory items
I was lucky to find an unwanted roll of chicken wire at the ranch to use behind my shelving area to keep items from falling through the back. That is an old hoof nipper I used to use to trim my horses hooves.
These are doors from an old cabinet I found that was falling apart. The guts of the cabinet were still in good condition. It just needed new doors, a paint job and a new roof. I wish I had taken a before picture of the entire cabinet.
This is the cabinet after. New doors were created from leftover 2x2s. I didn't have 2x2s long enough so I joined pieces together which you can see at the bottom. I didn't care that it didn't look perfect. I wanted a vintage look.
I used chickenwire instead of solid doors so I could easily see my garden and pond items.
The roof is just various scrap pieces of pretreated 2x4s. They aren't even secured to the top. Just placed there. I liked the various shades of wood.
Now this unused area between my aviary and workout cabana has new life.
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