Merbau feature wall with vertical garden

[weekenddiyer]

I just finished off a spring project, getting ready for the warmer weather in the coming months.

We have a water tank at the end of our back deck where we put our BBQ, I didn't find it unsightly, however I thought we could do something more with this space. 

I was keen to have some extra storage, bench space for barbecuing and ideally a sink to wash hands etc.

I made the frame slightly higher than the water tank so that we wouldn't see it when finished.  I also left a spot to include a vertical garden in the middle of the wall.

With merbau decking installed, it started to take shape, and just a ply backing where the garden will go as you won't see it. 

And here's the final product...

I considered building an outdoor kitchen cabinetry, however I saw some IKEA outdoor cupboards and thought for the price they weren't bad and would save me a lot of time.  I opted for the ones with the stainless steel top, and then did a hack by cutting a hole for the sink and tap (also from IKEA). 

I also added some deck lighting to the Un-real Boston Fern vertical garden which I was pretty impressed at how easy it was to work with, cutting it to size for the recess in the wall. 

Getting Bunnings to cut the merbau to size for me saved a lot of time and gave me cleaner cuts than I would have been able to achieve.

I'm planning on getting a new Family Weber Q (3200) with a new stand to replace our Weber Baby Q and rickety stand which has seen better days.  (The Baby Q will then be used as our portable / picnic BBQ).

Hopefully this helps with some inspiration for a quick and easy outdoor kitchen area.  I built this over a weekend, so it's pretty achievable, even for a newbie DIYer like me.  Feel free to ask any questions.

[MitchellMc]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community Tina @billybob. It's great to have you join us and many thanks for your question.

Let me mention @weekenddiyer to see if they kept a record of the cost for this project.

We look forward to hearing more about your project and we'd encourage you to let us know if you need any assistance or would like to share it with us. I trust you'll find loads of inspiration within the community as our creative members are contributing their projects here all the time.

Mitchell

[weekenddiyer]

Hi @billybob - costs are covered on page 2 of the comments. Best of luck with your project. Thanks.

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community Tina (@billybob).

Here's a direct link to @weekenddiyer's post that has all the details of the materials used and their cost - https://www.workshop.bunnings.com.au/t5/Outdoor/Merbau-feature-wall-with-vertical-garden/m-p/33374#M...

You might like to consider Airtasker or Hipages to find a tradesperson who could make something similar for you, but we would be more than happy to assist you to do-it-yourself. It would be great to see what you could achieve in your home.

All the best,

Jason

[CazDP]

@weekenddiyer this looks fantastic! Would you mind sharing where you got the timber cupboards from?

[Jason]

Hi @CazDP,

Thanks for joining in the discussion. 

@weekenddiyer mentions in their first post on this discussion that they used Ikea cabinetry. 

If you would like assistance in obtaining similar products from Bunnings, please let us know. I'm sure @MitchellMc and @EricL will be more than happy to help. 

Jason

[weekenddiyer]

Thanks @CazDP - Yes, the cupboards, sink and tap were from IKEA, you could choose the stainless steel benches as an alternative extra.  But having a quick look at their web site I can't see them listed any longer, so they may not sell them.  You should be able to hopefully find something similar from Bunnings. Best of luck with your project.