Upcycling / downcycling / recycling?

As a breed, we gardeners tend to be ingenious and thrifty people. We always seem to be able to  "make something out of nothing" or at very least re-purpose it. Here's an example...


We are in the throes of converting what used to be my study (and prior to that, our younger daughter's bedroom) into a grandchildrens' guest room. Now that I have retired from work, all my work-related manuals, books, papers etc are being discarded, but we hope to see more of the grandchildren (and their parents). We have arranged for the room to be re-painted, re-carpeted and fitted with a bunk bed - all of which is happening in the next few weeks. Meanwhile, I have the task of getting rid of the redundant furniture. One of the items was a desk, originally a flat-packed item from IKEA or somewhere similar. I have now disassembled it ready for disposal, but I have kept back the top of it, which has now become my potting-bench:

This contraption sits outside the back door to the garage, in a position that is very convenient, but also permanently exposed to the weather. The predecessor to this white desktop was a piece of worktop material left over from our last kitchen renovation - as indeed is the bottom part of the "potting-bench" (notice the plate-rack bars). The worktop had gradually disintegrated as water seeped into it, so it was in dire need of replacement. See what I mean? This is what people call serendipity, isn't it?

It is a fair while since our garage housed any cars, but it plays host to a multitude of useful bits and pieces which seem far too valuable to throw away. You never know when an item of "junk" becomes a vital component for some new garden scheme! Only yesterday I posted about making the square frames for my salad-growing arrangements. Notice, I did set-to and make the second one.

Now how would I have managed this if I had not had a stash of wood offcuts sitting in the garage awaiting their moment in the spotlight???