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Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Planter Bench From Metal Bed Frame

Remember my plans to make a planter bench out of an old metal bed frame?
Well, here it is:
IMG_0842
It’s part of my new front garden bed. That’s my ice cream sundae totem just to the left.
Basically, what I did was to cut the footboard in half; but it was a little too deep for what I wanted, so I cut off another 6” or so. I was going to prime it and paint it, but decided I wanted a rusty kind of look. Problem was, I had used corner braces to connect it and they were shiny silver. I sprayed the braces and all the nuts and bolts with black paint and then just kind of lightly went over the rest of the bench, kinda feathering it out from the painted hardware. Turned out ok.
IMG_0848Look at that, a spider has already built a web on it. HA!
  I cut the rails to fit the width of the headboard, Gary welded it back together for me and I used the original brackets to attach it across the front. I cut a piece of the other rail to fit across the back and he welded that to a brace that was already there. I did; however have to cut the side pieces down to match up with that back brace. It was too tall on the sides anyway. This looks much better. 
IMG_0842Front
IMG_0847  Back
I stuck a solar light in there, but I keep forgetting to go out front at night to see if it’s even working.
I cut pieces of deck board to fit between the rails and left spaces to slip some oblong planters in. There was just the right space for the planters and I didn’t have to rip any boards down to make it work. How cool is that?! Again I originally was going to paint these boards, but decided to let them weather naturally. Of course for this year, they are going to be golden instead of gray, but it’ll do.
IMG_0852See how the boards fit nicely into the bed rails?
Finally, I drilled holes into the top of the backboard to put in some plant hangers that I cut and bent out of a 1/4” rod. I have Dahlias planted behind the bench, but they are only about 6” tall at this point. I can hardly wait for the plants to fill in some, but it’s looking pretty decent already.
IMG_0850 The planter hangers I just left to rust.
IMG_0851
I am very pleased at how it turned out.
Stay tuned for the complete reveal of the whole garden bed in an upcoming post.
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2 comments:

  1. Very cool!!! I have never seen anything like it!!Thamks for linking up to Try it Tuesday at DotDotdot!!It made my day!! I hope to see you link up some more of your rockin projects!!
    Have a happy Tuesday!
    Tasha

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  2. Very nice idea, old metal beds can be customized easily, you can make benches from them, you can use the frame to hold cards and decorative items, will definitely try this planter bench.

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