The above is the completed plant bench under the front studio windows. I painted the wood to match the other painted furniture in the studio like the bentwood rocker in the foreground. The tile is the same as that on my floor. In fact I saved all the little bits and pieces I cut off. I have always been a bit "waste not/want not" about things but in this instance saving the tile pieces was a good thing.
Below is a detail of the shells, ceramic pieces from the wind chime and stones in part of the top. I used a cream colored grout because I wanted it to look like the sand on a beach and even took a brush when the grout was still wet and shaped the "sand" around the shells to look like the tide had just deposited them on the shore.
The three potted plants sitting on the bench in the first picture are sitting in areas of the top that are just tile.You can still see the detail pieces around the base of the pots.The really good news about this project is that it cost nothing out of pocket. I had found the sofa table in need of repair at the dumpsters. And I had all the other materials on hand.
I am really happy with the way this turned out.
A sure sign that I am feeling better is I have begun a new project. Well, new in that I have finally gotten round to it. (Said as if one word - roundtoit)
I found this former sofa table at the dumpsters. It was missing two legs. I cut the two it had in half and created a bench 16" tall. I removed the trim around the top (one piece already missing) and added hardibacker as a basis for the tile. I had some of that. And I had the tile. These are bits and pieces I had to cut off when doing the tile floor in my studio.
For interest I added in seashells collected decades ago when I lived near the beach and little ceramic old men that came from a wind chime that fell victim to the winds. And for good measure a few interesting pocket rocks picked up along Utah trails. The picture above shows the lose bits and pieces as I was playing with the layout. Yesterday I got out my tile saw and cut some things to fit.
This is the finished layout with the tiles cleaned of their ceramic dust. Today I have to add the new edge around it. And then grout it. Even had the grout on hand. Will probably have to buy edging
though I have a 1x 4 by 8' I could rip to 2 1/2 wide.
This will not be a sitting bench but a plant bench to go under the front window of the studio to hold some of my many potted plants. The plants and I are looking forward to its completion.
