The Best Potting Table (Ever)!

Hello everyone!  I’d like to introduce, for the first time ever in this space, my Partner Kim (AKA Tool Lady)!!!  She is going to explain how she built me what is quite possibly the best garden gift ever…a potting table!!!

Full disclosure: there are a few pictures missing from this explanation since, while she was busy building, I was busy doing homework, which means I wasn’t busy taking pictures.

Please let us know if you have any questions after you read through the post and we will try our best to talk you through it.

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First of all, I looked and looked online for a design for this table and couldn’t find one with everything that I wanted (a sink, a work space and a container to hold potting soil) so I came up with my own design.  Most of this table was built by measuring as I went and visualizing what needed to happen next. USE THESE MEASUREMENTS AT YOUR OWN RISK.  They are most likely not exact.  At all!

The frame is built out of hardwood 2″x4″.  We bought 7 – 2″x4″x96″ studs.  It is very sturdy.  All of the other materials were pulled from scraps we had left over from other projects.

I started by deciding how tall the table (counter) top should be.  We decided to go with the same as our kitchen counters which is 36″.  I cut two front legs to 36″ and two back legs to 68″.  We were going to make the back 6 feet tall but decided to cut it a little short to allow room to be able to reach the back shelf without needing a ladder.

The sink (purchased at the Re-Store) is a standard size and was approximately 21 1/2 inches so I decided to make the depth of the table 28″ to accommodate the sink with room in the back and a small lip in the front.
I cut the connection piece to 28″.  I then connected the two legs. Each side needs to be made opposite of the other so that the 28″ connection piece will face the outside.

This next picture skips a few steps.  After I built the two side pieces I cut a piece of 2″x4″ to fit in between the the two legs on the opposite side of where the 28″ board was.  It was 21″ long (I think).  Then I stood the two ends up and had my trusty helpers hold them in place as I connected them using a 1″x2″x72″.  This is the length of the table in total.

I then attached the skirt in the front and back of the table.  2 – 2″x4″x72″.  as well as small blocks on the inside of the back legs on each side piece (these will be used later to attach the table top materials.

I also attached a bracket running from front to back at 32 1/2″ because this was the opening I needed for my sink.

Now, the table top was made of entirely reused materials so here I needed to get creative to make it come together.  I started with the back of the table top and used 1″x4″ from our orginal chicken coop we took apart last year.

Because 1″x’s are really 3/4″ thick they matched the 3/4″ plywood I was going to use for the other side.  I placed one 1″x4″ running the length of the back and attaching to the blocks at each end and in the middle bracket.  This left me with a 1″x2″space behind the rear legs as well which worked perfectly.  I used 1″x4″ for the counter top on the side and in front of the sink.  I played with the overhang to allow for a tight fit for the sink and to give us a little bit of lip over the skirt (side boards).

On the right of the sink I place a 3/4″ piece of plywood.  It measured 25″ in depth and 18″ in width.  At the 18″ I placed another bracket to have something to screw down into.

From here I worked on the dirt compartment on the far right.  From the last bracket I added I attached 2 more 36″ legs on the left side of the bracket.  (Now this could and probably should have been added in the beginning framing but I wasn’t exactly sure how I was going to build this when I began).

I ran 2 2″x4″ brackets from front to back on 17″ down from the skirt for the bottom plywood dirt compartment to sit on.  I thought 16″ deep was deep enough to hold a good amount of dirt and yet not so deep that you couldn’t reach the bottom.

From there I cut the plywood to fit in the bottom and then on the outside of the sides.  We didn’t have enough to cover all the sides so I used random boards that were 3/4″ thick as well for the back of the compartment and right side.  On the inside I placed filler boards to assure the dirt could not fall out the spaces.

I then cut the lid (3/4″ plywood, 25″ deep X 17″wide) to the dirt compartment and attached it on the right with hinges (also from our old chicken coop)

We attached one 2″x4″x96″ across the top of the back legs leaving 16″ of overhang on each side.  We also added a middle shelf and two supports.  One support went in between the counter top and middle shelf, the other in between the middle shelf and the top shelf.  These will be for planters later that will get lots of heat off the back of the house.

We then painted it green!

I attached the drainage plumbing to the sink that drains into a garden bucket.

I also rigged the garden hose to connect to the faucet by purchasing a cap for the end of the hot water intake and a female adapter from 1/2″ (faucet) to 3/4″ (garden hose) to the cold water intake.  A little plumbers tape and we were in business.

I’m back again…Now, can I just tell you how incredibly excited I am about this!?  Not only do I have an actual potting table  outside to up-pot and re-pot all of our veggies and flowers, but I can also wash all of our eggs and veggies outside and reuse the water in the garden after it flows into the bucket!  All we need is some eco-friendly soap and we can even wash our hands outside!

xoxo,
M

Linking up to Homestead Barn Hop #56 and Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways #21