On the spur of the moment, I needed a table to put a table top grille on, so I put this bench together. The bottom shelf was a later addition, but it made sense to give more usefulness to the bench and improves the stability of the bench.
What can this bench be used for. My original idea was as a cooking table for a grille or if you have a full sized grille, a kitchen work table for your outside kitchen. The other option I had thought of, is a planting or potting bench for your garden.
When I originally built it, I used interior sheet rock screws, which caused staining of the wood. Now I would use treated screws for the outside, which would not stain the table. The other late addition is the painting of the table with Thompson's Water Seal. The stuff works really well and is for use on outside furniture. Next time I would coat all the wood with Thompson's Water Seal before putting it together. It is more work to do it this way, but you get all the wood completely covered, so better preservative qualities. It is really cool to come outside after a rainstorm and see the water beading on the wood rather than having the wood soaking up the water. Thompson's Water Seal slightly darkens the wood and brings out the grain in the wood, which was a feature I really liked.
