Project DIY: Brightening up an Old Planter Box

We love a good DIY project! Not only is it fun to give new life to old things, it is a great way to keep items out of the landfill. Part of a sustainability mindset is finding ways to use what we already have and therefore purchase less. One of the reasons I love thrift stores so much is that there are fun treasures to be found that just need a little refresh to have a second lease on life. One of those finds was this old planter box I’m sharing today. It was a little drab, but certainly had potential!

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The DIY Project: Brightening up an old planter box

Why I Love It

This planter box was in great condition and it just needed someone to look past the dust and the faded paint colour. Its structure was sound and there was no reason why this planter couldn’t be given new life!

The Plan

The plan for this planter box was really simple. Since it’s structure was fine, I just wanted to clean it up and give it a fresh new look. While there were some dents and divets in the wood, I felt that the paint and transfer images would cover them well enough that there were no plans to sand them down.

Supplies List

These are some of the supplies I used to transform this little planter box:

I like to use the foam paint brushes as I find the coverage to be smoother and they are able to squeeze into spaces more easily.

Modge podge is a really simple way to seal in paint and transfers to keep the transfers from being scratched. Transfers are great on their own and don’t necessarily need to be sealed, but I thought a planter might need a little extra sealant from water splashes or bumping from moving plants or watering.

The Process

I started by giving this planter a good wipe down to get rid of the dust. I then mixed up some of the leftover paint that I had on hand to have enough of one colour to paint the entire planter. It took a few coats of paint to get good coverage and bright colour.

Next I took some of my leftover furniture transfers and figured out my placement of them. It took time to apply the transfers as there are spaces in the planter that had to be worked around. Each transfer was done bit by bit, working it into the spaces as necessary.

As the paint and transfers went on, I felt okay with my choice to not sand down the dents in the wood of this planter box. I felt that they added texture that contributed to the look of the planter box instead of taking away from it.

Once all of the transfers were on the planter, I applied a coat of Modge Podge to seal them in so that they wouldn’t be scratched off if bumped against.