DIY flower bench

this weekend i tacked a project i'd been planning for a while- a simple flower bench for the garden. after installing decking, building our shed and turfing the lawn last year we're really just adding those finishing touches this summer- mostly areas to display flowers and grow some herbs!

after receiving my gorgeous KADO flowers a month ago (read about them here.) i wanted to incorporate them into this project. amazingly they're still thriving despite very little assistance from me, just the occasional drink of water when i've remembered!

i thought they would be a great addition so i decided to cut out a section and make the flowers part of the bench. read on and i'll talk you through it..

to make the bench i took three pieces of plywood (2x 50x50cm and 1x 100x50cm.) i placed wood glue along the 2 joints then screwed in 4 corner braces underneath to secure. you can see the brackets if you're low to the ground otherwise they're totally out of sight!

i'm not planning on using this bench as a seat, more of a table bench to display my plants- if you want to use it for seating add a few cross beams for stability. to create the flower feature, measure the diameter of your pot and minus 2-3cm. (the circle you cut needs to be slightly narrower than your pot to stop it sliding through the hole!)

mark out the circle onto the bench top and drill a hole through the centre. cut out the circle with a jigsaw to create the hole- place the jigsaw blade into the pilot hole and start cutting.

after you've cut out the circle pop in your plant!

these KADO flowers are so vibrant against the wood, i love the pop of lime green from the planter peeking out. i'm really surprised with how well my geraniums are doing, i haven't taken much care of them but there are still dozens of new buds coming through (they really are easy care plants- pow!)

i'm really pleased with how the bench looks, i was planning to stain it dark but i think the garden may become a bit match matchy so i'll leave it like this. i'll give it a coat of clear varnish this weekend to help protect it against our glorious british weather!

i think it would also work in smaller gardens or balconies- you can adjust the dimensions to suit your space and display your favourite flowers. 

i can finally tick off my first outdoor DIY, yay! i might work on a few more this summer (totally looking for an excuse to work in the garden.) 

if you're a lover of low maintenance gardens you can find KADO flowers in selected Waitrose stores!

back soon

caroline x

*sponsored post with KADO flowers, all opinions and flower love my own!