DIY Potting Bench Makeover: Giving New Life to an Old Piece

Is your potting bench in need of a makeover? This step-by-step DIY guide will teach you how to restore and update your old potting bench.

Are you holding onto an old, weathered potting bench that’s seen better days?

**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, we will receive an affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. We appreciate your support. (disclosure policy)

Don’t toss it just yet!

With a little creativity and elbow grease, you can breathe new life into that forgotten piece and turn it into a charming, functional part of your outdoor space.

In this DIY potting bench makeover, I’ll show you how I transformed our old, worn-out bench into a beautiful gardening workstation that’s both practical and pretty.

Here’s what it looks like now!

It’s an amazing transformation, and whether you’re an avid gardener or love a good furniture refresh, this project is sure to inspire!

Table of Contents

The Story Behind Our Sentimental Potting Bench

Back in 2001, I came across a potting bench plan in Better Homes and Gardens magazine and instantly knew I wanted one for our patio.

Can you believe I saved the original magazine page all these years?

I showed Rich the article and asked if he could build something similar to fit into a little niche on our patio.

I thought it would be perfect not only for gardening but also for entertaining.

Rich got right to work—sketching, measuring, and designing a custom version.

He worked so hard, and the final result was absolutely perfect.

Rich did make a few tweaks to the design, and honestly, I like his version better than the original!

I would love to show you a picture, but I searched all my scrapbooks and couldn’t find a single photo of the potting bench after he built it in our old Kentucky home.

It breaks my heart that I never documented it in its original spot.

Fast forward to the present, and after many years outside, it has seen better days!

When we moved, I knew the bench had to come with us.

I couldn’t bear to leave it behind—it holds too many memories.

But because it’s so large and heavy, Rich had to take it apart for the move.

Here’s what it looked like when it arrived in Florida—worn, weathered, but still full of potential.

Ignore the unfinished wood; it belongs to something else.

Sure doesn’t look too good, huh?

Wooden potting bench painted green with doors removed. The before picture for how to give new life to an old potting bench.

Don’t worry, we will have it back in one piece soon!

Here are the DIY steps we took to makeover our old potting bench!

gather materials

Gather or purchase the following items you will need for this project:

wood filler
sandpaper block
vacuum
sander
cleaner
paper towels
tack cloth
paint
paintbrush

PREP

Before painting, I had to do much prep work on the potting bench. Here are the steps I used to prepare it for painting.

clean

Green potting bench covered in pollen. A wet cloth has removed some of the pollen. Step one for how to give new life to an old potting bench.

Look at how much pollen is on the bench! Thoroughly clean it!

repair

When we got to Florida, one board was broken. Rich attempted to put wood putty in the crack, but it did not hold.

First, he had to screw the pieces together, and then I added more wood putty to conceal the seam.

Post of wood potting bench post with a hole filled in with wood filler. Step two for how to give new life to an old potting bench.

We had several large holes in the posts from wood bees that had to be filled.

sand

I used a sanding block and a hand sander on this project.

I used the sanding block on the places with wood filler.

Somehow, paint drips were on the counter section of the potting bench—oh yes, and a gift from a nice bird!

Yuck! I had to get out the hand sander to remove the paint drips!

Now it’s nice and smooth! Almost ready to paint!

clean again

A vacuum cleaner sucking up dust after potting bench had been sanded. Step four on how to give an old potting bench new life.

I used an old vacuum to remove the dust from the potting bench.

To ensure there was no dust residue, I covered the whole piece with a tack cloth.

paint

We had to get help from the neighbors to move this huge piece of furniture inside because our porch was being sealed.

It is in such bad-looking shape, but not for long!

Now the fun part, painting!

I chose the color black because it’s neutral and it was free!!

You see, we had leftover exterior paint from our front door, so I used that to give new life to my old potting bench!!

Potting bench with new black paint job. Shows the finished product for how to give new life to an old potting bench.

One coat down, but it’s going to need one more!

You can see how many places I missed with the first coat.

It is hard to get the paint in all those crevices!

The potting bench is undercover and rarely gets wet or direct sun.

So, I did not polyurethane it. I might be sorry, we’ll see!

The finished product

Wow, I love how the potting bench turned out!

I think it looks amazing!

Now, I need to get motivated to clean up my planters and put some flowers in them!

Up close picture of the cabinet hardware on a potting bench. A silver sun flower head that is starting to get a bit of patina on it. Showing an example of how to give new life to an old potting bench!

I wanted to show you a close-up of the knobs on the doors.

They are silver flowers, and now they have a bit of patina!

We used these metal baskets in Kentucky to store sports balls in our garage.

We did not bring the sports equipment with us to Florida.

So I didn’t need them in the garage anymore.

When we moved the bench, I grabbed the baskets to store stuff.

When I brought them out after painting the bench, I realized they would be a perfect fit in the two cubbies!

I love it when things come together that way!!

In Conclusion

With a bit of scrubbing and paint, I gave my old potting bench a DIY makeover and new life.

All that sanding was worth it!

I think it looks like a brand new piece of furniture!

I almost hate to dirty it up with potting soil!!

There I go, procrastinating again!

Oh well, I promise I’ll get around to planting things soon!

If you enjoy the blog, please sign up for our email list so you won’t miss a post!

Until next time, follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram!

Blessings, Donna and Rich

more DIY inspiration

Don’t leave yet, here are some more DIY projects you can check out!