DIY Garden Chair Planter Tutorial

This post may contain affiliate links, which means I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you, if you make a purchase.

DIT chair planter

As the old adage goes, “One person’s trash is another man’s treasure.” For some time I have wanted to place a brightly colored chair planter in a space begging for attention between my garage and front porch. Alas, my search for a seat-less chair ended one morning on the walk home from my kid’s bus stop. Here was one piece of ‘trash’ that would soon become my latest treasure!

In my latest DIY Garden project, I’ll share how you can make your very own planter in just a few simple steps, and add a little whimsy to your landscape.

Supplies
Chair (with no seat, or a chair that you can cut a circular hole into the seat)
Clay pot (appropriately sized for your chair)
Spray paint primer
Spray Paint in color of your choice for the chair
Another color spray paint for the clay pot
Potting soil
Rocks or broken clay pot/dish pieces
A variety of plants and flowers

Directions:

1. Clean the chair, and the pot if necessary. Make sure there is no dirt or dust on the surface. Sand away any imperfections and clean again to get rid of sandpaper dust.

2. Prime the chair and pot. Primer helps to keep your color true, and allows you to use less spray paint. You can find paint that has primer built into it, but you are more limited with color choices. Allow your primer to dry before moving on to the colored spray paint.

Priming and Painting Tips: If you are new to spray paint, be sure to follow the directions on the can. Do not spray too close, or too far away. Plastic attachments that fit on the can, are sold to help you achieve even coverage. The temperature needs to be 70 degrees or higher, otherwise your spray paint may run or crack. If you are painting indoors, open all the windows, and be sure to lay out lots of newspaper. If you are painting outside – avoid windy days. The wind will blow dirt/dust onto your paint.

3. Once the primer has dried, spray paint the chair and clay pot. I went with two shades of blue for my project.

Note: I did not paint the inside of my pot. If you want to paint yours, purchase a second can of primer to be on the safe side. There is nothing worse than running out of supplies mid-project.

4. If your pot is large, fill the bottom of it with broken clay pot pieces or rocks for better drainage, more weight and the need for less soil.

how to make a chair planter

5. Plant a variety of flowers, herbs, and plants. My summer inspired combination included sweet potato vine, trailing petunias, French lavender, Spike Dracaena, Lantana flowers and Vinca vine. If you are planting cooler weather flowers, check out this list of Top Fall Flowers for Your Garden from Better Homes and Gardens to give you some ideas.

Tip: When planting multiple flowers, my rule of thumb for large containers is a trailing flower or two, a trailing accent plant, and a flower and/or accent/herb for height.

Finally, step back, and admire your darling planter!

we heartsters – are you sprucing up your porch and garden for fall?

All photos: Rachel for we heart this

Rachel is a stay-at-home Mom that never seems to be home. She’s a military wife, mother to The Danger Boys and a self-proclaimed craftaholic that enjoys photography, knitting, baking and all things handmade.

DIY Vintage Chair Planter

Author

5 Comments

  1. This is adorable, per usual. And I love how it works for all seasons–greenery and sprays of berries would be pretty for the holidays. I put baby gourds and white pumpkins above my door for fall…

  2. Very cute! I have an abundance of chairs on my porch. I would gladly give up one of them to do this. But I am such a flower killer – I’d have to go with cactus and succulents.

  3. That is just stunning and I love it. I have collected some old chairs from hard rubbish clean up, so I will be having a go at this. I also have paint with primer in the same colour. Thank you for sharing 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *