Thursday, June 20, 2013

Revive Old Planter Pots with Primer and Paint

. I have dozens of planters and containers on and around my front porch and yard.
Whoa.
But this spring, some of them definitely needed sprucing up.


This is just one side of the deck. I've since added MORE planters from yard sales and thrift stores but they were looking tired and tacky.

So I spent ZERO dollars by using what I had on hand and figured out the best way to refresh my plant pots.
I learned, the hard way, that you can paint exterior plastic surfaces with any kind of paint. IF you use primer first.



Here's what the tired pinkish railing planters look like now.

Yes, ladies, use primer first. Once you've primered your plastic you can use latex house paint, craft paint, oil enamel paint and even the cheapest grades of spray paint. The primer is the key! If you decide to go forward without using the primer your plastic pieces will look okay for a while and downright icky in a few week's/month's time.

 

I had all my succulents in these pinkish Dollar store planters before.....




And here they are after. Tada!!
The succulents needed repotted so while the pots were empty I redid them all with oil based primer and black spray paint. Begone, pink plastic! Love how they look!

But the planters don't have to be empty. Just take a bit of care with your plants. Be sure your surfaces are clean and dry.


Here's a huge used planter unpainted and it's sister, painted.


 Much better! I didn't go for complete and perfect coverage so the pots would look a bit like weathered pottery. I love how these look, too!


And if you want a nice, smooth finish, you can do that. Here's how my beat up square planter looks now.


I used cheap brushes to apply the primer paint and chucked them when I was done. It is a good idea to line up all your pots and primer them one at a time. By the time you are done with all of them the primer will be dry on the first ones and ready for the final coat of color. If the weather is warmish you can easily do lots of pots in an afternoon!

Cheap, easy and high impact. Gotta love it.

And now, excuse me, but I need to go plant shopping!

I'll be joining the parties on my sidebar, come check them out and find some wonderful ideas!


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