My Cute New Workbench

When I was a little girl, my dad built a shelf unit for my room. I distinctly remember sitting with him as he put it together. He would give me wood, screws and a screw driver and let me play. All that I've learned about woodworking came from him and my very patient husband.
When I refinished the end table a few weeks ago, I had trouble in my work area of the garage.
I ended up using an old shoe rack and a giant Christmas box as an alternate surface for supplies and tools. It was not a workable or comfortable situation.

Pinterest had some great and easy design inspiration for a new work table.
I've done some wood working in the past but not really enough to feel totally confident or proficient with a building project so I ruminated on this for a week or so. Pinterest and blog tutorials were studied and these gave me confidence that it was doable.
We had scrap wood in our wood pile. I need to get over it, but I don't like dealing with huge pieces of lumber at the hardware store.
Bill had several long 2 x 3s that could be cut and used for the legs.

I use the kitchen island for crafting. It's a comfortable 36 inches high for crafting.
So these were cut to 35 inches to allow for a one inch top.

To attach the legs, I used 1 x 2s. 4 of them were cut to 40 inches. 4 of them are cut to 18 inches.

This image shows the table wider than it is now. Initially, I cut the side 20 inches but then cut them again to 18. It was just too wide. You can see how it is constructed from this image. It's fairly simple construction.
I used screws to attach the 1 x 2s but before screwing them in, I made pilot holes with a small drill bit. This prevents the wood from splitting. Do not skip this part.
Once my base was built, the wood pile was again searched for wood that I could use for the top.
We had some 1 x 6s left over from our shutter project.

I decided on the overhang and then cut these to size.

This time nails were used to attach the wood. Before nailing into the wood, I drilled more pilot holes. It's terrible to split wood after it is cut.
 Once the nails were in, a nail set was used to tap the nail below the surface of the wood. That way it won't catch on stuff or scratch me.

The whole piece got a quick sanding.
I love a two tone look so the legs were painted white. Honey by Minwax was used for the top.

The legs on my potting bench also got a coat of white.

Yes, I have a lamp on my potting bench.

The next morning, I got to work on the lower shelf.
We had some PVC 1 x 2s left over from Bill's closet project. They almost fit horizontally but some of them were a tiny bit short. That would have bugged me. In the end, I screwed them in vertically.
Since the garage will never be presentable enough, I pulled the work bench into the house and styled it for you.

 I just love it.
I put a few white hooks onto the sides.

My tool box ( really it's a tackle box) came from Bill's grandmother.

This has so many uses.
I styled it as a potting bench.

Savvy readers will notice that my old garden tools and my hammer are about the same color.

Read about my seed box.

I could see this piece used as a coffee or beverage bar, kitchen island, storage in a dining room.
It wasn't that difficult and it's super cute. I think my dad would be proud.
Let me know what you think in the comment section.
Katie
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