A few years ago, I bought something at a garage sale for
my daughter. Don't really know what to call it but it's
basically a scaled down version of a standing kitchen
cabinet. I had bought it for her to use in playing house.
She hasn't used it in a long time and it's just sitting
there. I was thinking that it would make a cute little
thing to sit a few plants on after I found a place in
the yard for it. But I'm not really sure how to prepare
it so that it won't look really grungy and so that it
won't rot or fall apart after a year or two.

It's bare wood, no paint or varnish on it. I was thinking
either putting some primer on it and then a good coat or
two of exterior house paint OR a couple of coats of poly-
urethane. Would this be more of a personal preference
thing or would one be more preferable to the other? And
what about the bottom? Sitting on dirt would tend to make
the parts that are there rot faster, wouldn't it? Should
I try to find some way to cover the parts that will come
in constant contact with dirt with hard plastic or rubber?
Kind of like 'shoes'?

Tracey