How to Make a Repurposed Plant Bench
One item you're almost guaranteed to see out on hard rubbish day is a sad ironing board. I inherited one with a crumbling top and a burnt cover, so I turned it into a height-adjustable plant bench for my balcony.
My north-facing spot loses half its winter sun to the solid balustrade, so I needed height. By adding some reclaimed pallet wood on top, my herbs and seedlings now have a home in what used to be a useless corner.
You will need
Ironing board base
3-4 planks of pallet wood (depending on the size of the board)
Screwdriver to match the screws on the board
Steps
Detach the board from the frame. Keep all the screws, saddle clips and the adjustment plate that holds the moveable leg in place.
If you can’t remove the nails from your pallet wood, hammer them flat and cover with duck tape.
Line up your pallet planks so the gaps between them are as even as possible (pallet wood will often be warped). I used three because this was a relatively small ironing board and it meant I didn’t need to use any extra wood or metal bracing to hold them together.
Mark out the centre of the planks. Then adjust the moveable leg of the ironing board frame to the height you want it, and measure the distance between the two legs at the top of the frame.
Divide this number by 2, measure this distance out from the centre on either side and mark.
Lay the frame onto the planks with the static leg against the outer mark. I attached it using the two saddle clamps so that the screw holes were either side of a gap, effectively attaching the planks together at the same time.
If your board has no saddle clamps, or they only have 2 holes, you’ll need to attach the planks with a crosspiece of extra pallet wood or some metal bracing at each end.
Screw the adjustment plate onto the middle plank so that the first ‘grip’ aligns with the mark you made.
If your ironing board had a storage hook attached with saddle clamps, use these on the other end to attach the planks together.
Test it out!
