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This is the piece that organizes a patio: two 22"-tall cedar planter cubes with a bench spanning between them, so the seating and the greenery arrive as one object. Structurally it's honest — the planters are the legs, their 2x4 inner frames carry the bench frame, and a couple hundred pounds of soil turns the whole assembly into something wind and roughhousing can't shift.
The planter pickets get a 45° bevel at their tops (long-point measurement), which drains water off the end grain and reads as a deliberate chamfered detail. The trim capping each planter comes from pickets ripped in half — or 1x3s if you'd rather not rip — mitered at the corners.
The one instruction to read twice is step 5: the bench frame builds SEPARATELY, then attaches to the planters' INNER 2x4 FRAMES — not to the picket cladding. Pickets are 5/8" of decoration; the 2x4s are the structure. If your preferred seat height doesn't land on a frame member, add blocking inside the planter and bolt to that. Drop plastic liner pots inside rather than filling the whole cubes with dirt, unless you want the bench to be genuinely immovable — which, on a windy deck, you might.
| Item | Qty |
|---|---|
| 2x4, 8 ftPlanter frames and bench frame. | 6 each |
| Cedar fence picket, 5-1/2" x 72", not dog-earedCladding, seat, trim, and planter bases. | 16 each |
| Self-tapping construction screws, #9 x 2-3/4", star driveAll the 2x4 framing. | 60 each |
| Exterior screws, #8 x 1-5/8", self-tapping, star driveAll the picket work. | 200 each |
| Plastic liner potsDrop-in liners beat filling the cubes — unless you want maximum ballast. | 2 each |
Overall cost: $$. Lumber prices vary by region, species, and season, so we give a band rather than a figure we would only be pretending to know.
| Part | Qty | T × W × L |
|---|---|---|
| Planter legs | 8 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 22 1/2" |
| Planter horizontal supports | 8 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 20" |
| Planter cladding picketsCedar fence picketTops beveled 45°, long-point measurement — sheds water off the end grain. | 32 | 5/8" × 5 1/2" × 24" |
| Planter top trimRipped picket or 1x3Ends mitered 45°, long-point measurement. | 4 | 5/8" × 2 1/2" × 24" |
| Bench frame rails | 2 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 48" |
| Bench frame crosspieces | 4 | 1 1/2" × 3 1/2" × 19" |
| Bench seat picketsCedar fence picket | 4 | 5/8" × 5 1/2" × 48" |
| Planter basesCedar fence picketSet at liner-pot depth on cleats or blocking. | 4 | 5/8" × 5 1/2" × 23" |
Buy 23 boards at 8 ft.
6 boards
15 boards
2 boards
Assumes 8 ft stock, a 1/8" saw kerf, and buying each part at its own width. Change the board size or kerf on the full board plan →
Screw the planter legs and horizontal supports into four identical open frames with the 2-3/4" screws. These frames are the structure of everything — the planters' skeletons and, later, the bench's anchor points. Check them against each other, not just the tape.
Bevel the tops of the cladding pickets at 45° (long point), then screw pickets to each frame with the 1-5/8" screws — bevels up and facing out, shedding water away from the box.
Join each pair of clad frames into a cube with the remaining pickets across the open faces. Two finished planter boxes, chamfered rims all around.
Miter the trim pieces at 45° and cap each planter's rim — ripped-picket trim for the all-one-material look, 1x3 if you're skipping the table saw. The mitered cap is what moves the planters from 'fence offcuts' to 'furniture'.
Build the 48" bench frame independently — rails and crosspieces, 2-3/4" screws. Then attach it between the planters, screwed into the INNER 2x4 FRAMES, never just the picket cladding: the pickets are skin, the frames are bone.
Seat height not landing on a frame member? Add 2x4 blocking inside the planters at the right height and fasten to that. Sit-test with two adults before trusting it to a party.
Screw the four 48" seat pickets across the bench frame with the shorter screws, even gaps, edges sanded generously — bare legs sit here.
Set the planter bases at liner-pot depth on cleats or blocking, drop in the liners, and plant. Soil is the final structural component: once the planters are loaded, this bench isn't going anywhere, which on a windy deck is exactly the point.
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