With basic materials and an afternoon, you can craft a perch for enjoying your garden.
This sturdy bench — or coffee table if you prefer — is meant to look weathered and worn. We fashioned it from building-grade lumber, then roughed up the wood surface even more using an awl and wire brush. You could really go to town with chains and other tools to distress the wood before staining. Select natural hearthstones or budget-friendly cast-concrete ones like we did.
Time: 3 hours
Money: $$
Skill: Level 2
What You’ll Need
- Saw
- 2×6-inch framing lumber, 8 feet
- 2×4-inch framing lumber, 8 feet
- Drill, drill bits
- Hammer
- Eight 3¾- to 4-inch 20d nails
- Adjustable wrench
- Eight ¼×3-inch lag screws
- Sixteen ¼-inch washers
- Steel-wire brush
- 100-grit sandpaper
- Tack cloth
- Wood stain
- Rag or paintbrush
- Wood sealer
- Stone or concrete sealer
- Two 18-inch-square natural or castconcrete hearthstones
- Modeling clay or shims