Hello friends! Today Matt and I are sharing some DIY projects to kick off patio season! Some are more complicated, while others are simple and fit perfectly into the typical suburban backyard.
The two projects that caught my eye and that I thought you would enjoy and benefit from the most are the tree bench and fence post covers.
The idea for the tree bench came to me on Pinterest and since we have an oddly shaped tree, we decided to create a horseshoe-shaped bench. Here’s a look at the tree from behind. It is a large tree that provides good shade and ambience in the backyard. I was thinking that a tree bench would take the park feel to the next level and also provide additional seating.
Here’s a look at the tree from the front. This is the view we see from the large window in the living room. As you can see, we have a new fence on the side and back that will make a great backdrop for the tree bench and any landscaping we decide to do.
And here’s the view from under the back porch. I’d like to create a nice vignette of sorts to better blend the tree area with the patio and flower bed under the window.
Here is the sketch with some measurements that Matt drew before he started building the tree bench.
Matt starts by cutting the bench leg pieces and then the seat boards.
Once the legs of the bench were built, he roughly placed them into place. I always get excited at this point as you can start to see the project come to life!
Once the seat boards were in place, the bench was stable and ready for the skirt boards to cross the front. The apron boards really made a big difference from the bench that looked like a homemade DIY project and a more polished park-like bench.
I love how this tree bench turned out! Matt does a very good job. We decided to stain the bench and new fence the same color to give our yard a cohesive look.
What an amazing difference! I told Matt it looked like we had a new backyard! Don’t worry about the pile looming behind the tree, that’s the compost pile…it will shrink over time.
Once the tree bench was finished, Matt and I agreed that the fence posts really stood out, and not in a good way, against the new fence. These fence covers were your solution. Using the leftover fence posts, Matt screwed a couple of them together at right angles. He then placed the cover over the post and screwed it to the fence. The final touch was staining the covers to match the fence.
The fence post covers were the final detail that made the fence look like a high-end custom fence. I don’t even mind having the posts on our side of the fence now! I hope this post was inspiring and helpful!
