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Creating an Outdoor Planner Bench: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you’re looking for an easy DIY project that will add some greenery and seating to your outdoor space, look no further than this planner bench tutorial from Sheryl at One Shop Diaries.
In this article, we’ll break down each step of the process and provide helpful tips and tricks along the way. Let’s get started!
Materials:
– Cedar two by fours
– Cedar fence pickets
– Six gallon nursery containers
– Two and a half inch long decking screws
– One and a quarter inch decking screws
– Exterior wood glue
– Brad nails
– Vigoro potting soil
– Greenery
Tools:
– Table saw
– Miter saw
– Drill
– Square
Step 1: Cut and Sand the Cedar
Sheryl recommends using cedar for this project, but notes that it can be a little pricey. She cut cedar two by fours into shorter pieces to run through the table saw to make two by twos. She also used cedar fence pickets for the sides of the planters.
Before assembling, Sheryl made sure to sand the rough cedar for a smoother finish.
Step 2: Assemble the Frame
To assemble the frame of the planter, Sheryl used two and a half inch long decking screws. She used four pieces of 27-inch cedar two by fours for the legs and eight pieces of 12 and a half inches long for the rest of the planner frame.
She recommended using pre-cut two by twos instead if available, but making her own was the only option for cedar ones. She pre-drilled all the holes before driving the screws just to help prevent splitting and tried to drive the screws so that they were slightly off-center so that they didn’t run into each other at the corners.
Step 3: Add the Sides
Sheryl cut eight fence pickets and sanded them well. She installed two of these on each side using one and a quarter inch decking screws.
This is an outdoor planter, so it doesn’t matter if the fence pickets are a little rough, but these fence pickets are generally not the nicest and they just look a little bit better if they’re sanded. She tried to space out the gaps where it didn’t look too bad, but ultimately changed her plans to make it look neater.
Step 4: Add X Trim to the Sides
Sheryl added a decorative x to the sides using a one by two. She showed a simple way to add x trim here without having to do any math.
She placed the one by two in place and made some marks and drew a line to connect the marks. She used a square and figured out the angle so she could cut the pieces to the right width. She then glued and nailed these pieces in place.
Step 5: Build a Second Planter
Once the first planter is complete, Sheryl built a second one just like it.
Step 6: Build the Bench
The bench is optional but can be a great addition to the planter. To build the bench, Sheryl cut two cedar two by fours about 45 inches long and screwed them into the inside of the two by twos on the planners about 16 inches up from the bottom. Once she had them installed into one, she flipped it back over and screwed it into the other.
She then cut four short pieces to go between them, two at each end and two spaced out in the middle before screwing them in place.
Step 7: Add the Seat
Sheryl then cut two fence pickets for the bench seat and sanded them well. The gap between them in the middle was a little bit bigger than she wanted, so just like with the planner sides, she measured and ripped a strip to fit between them and screwed everything in place.
Step 8: Add Greenery
Fill the nursery pots with Vigoro potting soil and add some greenery to each one.
Step 9: Finish Up
Sheryl built these planters to drop into a pot, but if you wanted to use a different size pot, you can easily just screw a couple of boards across here and one across the other side and lay some slats in here to set your pot on.
These planters will make a great addition to the front porch, patio, or garden. Thanks for following along, and happy building!