Using a Screen Door to Make a Whimsical Potting Bench

I love re-purposing old things into new creations by using a little “outside of the box” thinking. I found this great old screen door at a yard sale and just had to have it. I could tell by my husband’s face, that he didn’t think it was so great. Okay, maybe the screen was a total mess, but the rest of it had great bones. After spending a little time detaching the screen, sanding and scraping the old paint and removing hinges and the handle, I had my design vision all decided. My potting bench was before me in a pile of cast off and hand-me-down wood and stuff.

I began by covering the screen opening with chicken wire, measuring the size of the opening and adding 2″ on all sides. I lay the screen over the back of the door and adjusted to cover the opening and simply stapled the screen in place using a staple gun. For the counter or “bench” part I used an assortment of 2×4’s and decking boards, but you could use what ever you have available.

First I cut a decking board as a back splash, the width of the screen door and attached it so the bottom edge rested approximately 36″ from the bottom of the door. The counter was constructed using decking boards and 2×4’s. The measurements were determined by laying three decking boards side by side and framing the sides and front with 2×4’s. I measured so that the counter lined up with the sides of the door. Two 2×4’s were cut to brace the underside of the counter. The counter was then attached to the back splash. I then measured from the underside of the counter to the bottom of the screen door and used this measurement to cut two legs from 2×4’s for the front legs. The legs were then attached under the front edge of the counter in the corners.

A bottom shelf was made using three decking boards braced with 2×4’s. The legs were screwed into the front of the shelf, six inches from the ground and the back of the shelf was attached by screwing through the back of the screen door into the shelf.

The whole creation was painted using leftover white house paint to give a crisp uniform appearance. I added personality by stenciling a green checkerboard design on the legs and the counter edges and sunflowers on the screen door. Using a white pearl finish, I coated the entire piece. The whole thing turned out very charming, especially with the addition of a sunflower wreath to the screen door and hooks for hanging garden tools.