Now that I have two mobile children in my life, there is a lot of "backyard clutter" that gets spread around the yard. So, to keep the wife happier, I was thinking about getting some sort of patio storage box that I could toss toys into. But the more I looked into it, the worse my options seemed to be. The BORGs sell plastic ones. But they are kind of expensive and not particularly well reviewed.

So I'm thinking of knocking something together myself. It doesn't have to be fancy, function and price are more important. But it wouldn't hurt with the wife to have something that looked decent. Doesn't have to be perfectly waterproof, we're not putting chair cushions in it, but I'd like to keep things somewhat dry. And it does have to be sturdy enough to be used as a bench. Our house is really small and we do our entertaining/BBQs in the backyard come summertime.

My ideas have ranged from a basic lumber and plywood box painted with some good exterior paint to something a bit nicer out of cedar. Perhaps similar to this (though probably without a cushion).

http://www.backyardcity.com/Images/CCI/2054.jpg

Any thoughts?