I’ve always wanted a potting bench. Just typing out the words ‘potting bench’ makes me feel as though I should be walking through my peaceful English garden wearing a long, flowing dress, wide-brimmed floppy hat and carrying a basket over one arm filled with cuttings from my flower beds. I would take them over to my hand-crafted potting bench, select the perfect vessel for them and create gorgeous arrangements without ever getting a speck of dirt on my long, flowing dress.
But, I don’t have an English garden. And the last time I wore a long flowing dress I kept tripping over it when I had to climb stairs. I have some rose bushes but I wear flip-flops to snip their blooms and I have yet to be able to put plants in a pot without winding up covered in dirt.
And, my potting bench comes from Big Lots.
But, as in all good love stories, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
And sometimes a few accessories help to enhance that natural beauty.
Like mason jars filled with lavender.
And a variety of pots waiting for the right plants.
Maybe a vintage galvanized bucket could be used to hold soil (It makes me sound more gardener-y to say ‘soil’ instead of ‘dirt’ right?)
And a metal scooper-thing-a-ma-jig that reminds you of something Laura Ingalls would have used to drink water from Plum Creek.
My potting bench might not be nestled in the English countryside, but it still brings a touch of simple beauty and nostalgia to my little corner of suburbia.
Now if I could only figure out how to keep it from getting dirty….
And my potting bench and I lived happily ever after!
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15 Comments on "A Potting Bench Love Story"
Beautiful! and for the record, I always wander around my garden in a long sundress with a floppy hat and a basket for putting clipped flowers into. So Pride and Prejudice of me.
Well, at least once every summer I do that – the rest of the time I look like the farmer in the dell, or is it Elmer Fudd? Big rubber boots, paint stained carpenter pants and a tank top are more like my usual garden outfit. LOL
Enjoy your pretty potting bench!
xox
Big Lots? Cool. Oh, you know it is supposed to get dirty.
One day, some day, my potting bench will appear. I have a special place for it, so if you dream it, it will come…something like that, ha, ha. I do have the lavender ready:)
Beautiful! I need to get to work on doing some planting. It has been so cold here in MN this spring that I haven’t really felt like planting yet.
This potting bench looks so lovely. That galvanized bucket is just beautiful, I really like the patina!
Cynthia
Cute styling! It’s nice how fresh and pretty flowers can transform an item.
I’ve always wanted one of these! Who’d have thought of Big Lots? Love it, Vanessa!
xo Heidi
I love that it’s from Big Lots!! LOL!! You’ve dressed it beautifully! Have a great day!~~Angela
I love your potting bench. You certainly have dressed it up.
I am cracking up with the long dress reference. That would be me. That is the loveliest Potting Bench! Please come over and stage mine because it looks nothing like this, AT ALL.
LOL! Frankly this one only looked nice long enough to get those pictures! Now it’s a true “working” potting bench but I just think that adds character, don’t you? 🙂
Vanessa I love your Big Lots potting bench. It is beautiful as is or a great starting point for paint and bling… I love your bench!
susan
Great project! I still have a cedar one I assembled years ago. I give it a coat of Teak Oil once a year to protect it.
What a great potting bench…Big Lots??..I need to go there more often…I just created a potting bench a couple of months ago…I am hinting around for a garden cottage…I may have to wait a long while for that!….Beautiful bench Vanessa!!!..and when you find out how to keep it from getting dirty…let us know!!! 🙂
The potting bench looks great!