Flower Planter Thrift Store Chairs Two Ways!

Here is my original wooden chair I turned into a flower planter. 

I LOVED IT!

But it only lasted two years since it was an indoor wooden

 dining room chair and fell all to pieces.

So this year I kept my eyes open for METAL chairs to use in the garden and 

LOOK!

I scored 2 of these beauties, both powder coated steel!

The seats are plywood and easily removed. I saved the plywood pieces for more projects.

I spray painted one white and added my "Green Man" sculpture to the chair back.

 Pallet boards fit make a sturdy shelf and a planter and saucer

 from my stash made this project easy peasy and pretty!

The second chair has a different look with Rustoleum spray paint in "Lagoon." 

The circular piece is from a broken hose hanger. 

A pink miniature rose fits right into the chair opening.

I decided to replace the planter of roses with some colorful annuals. A quick trip to the Dollar Tree got me a dishpan and a tray that fit the chair nicely. Pallet boards provided

 a sturdy shelf and here she is, newly planted with colorful annuals. 

           
                           

Two metal chairs, two different looks. And the best thing is,

 they only cost $4.99 apiece!

Gotta love thrift store shopping for garden projects!

DIY Chair Planter Four Years Later

There are lots of chair planters out in Pinterest land that are newly made. Did you ever wonder how they hold up in the garden thru many seasons? 

 Here's what I started with in 2011. This dining chair finish was peeling and the seat and joints were loose. It was the perfect candidate for a planter project.

 Serendipity! The seat comes off on it's own!

I sorta sanded it to knock the loose bits off and dry brushed it with white latex paint.

Here she is that first year in my garden. Ooh aah! 

I love the combination of golden yellow creeping jenny and mini viola. Add some of my garden art balls and I'm a happy garden lady!

Yup, this project was a winner all the way!

Four years later she looks like this....

I added the old man planter and a swipe or two of turquoise paint from my deck project. She's holding up really well and that square seat hole is perfect for changing out the different flowers and plants each season.

When did "that chair" become a "she?" 

The instant she went from chair with no seat to shabby chic chair with gorgeous plants!

http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2015/03/pj-270-an-upcycled-link-party.html

Front Deck Flower Planters

Last year, soon after we moved here and while I was still undergoing radiation therapy, my son and grandson built us a new front deck. Here's what it looked like last July.....

Molly Brown, our chocolate lab, started enjoying it right away. I didn't have many flowers last year but I knew I'd hit on a winning color combo with the hot pink petunias and turquoise blue railings. So this year I went all out/completely crazy.

THIS year I've got a few more flowers, lol! Everything is in roomy planters so I can move them around as each pot fills in with colorful blooms.

I've redone that wreath at least 4 times and I really like this fresh green look. The glass marble balls are sitting on a candelabra built by the Welding Man. The corner plant stand is also one of his designs. On the top shelf is another marble covered ball in the perfect turquoise color.

More petunias in box planters, with creeping jenny and sweet potato vines. Needlepoint ivy on trellis towers built by the Welding Man. More planters with petunias, alyssum, dianthus, snapdragons, coreopsis and impatiens. And, of course, more blue glass marbled garden balls!

I love the golden lime green contrast of the creeping jenny against the hot pink flowers. Lavender, petunias, miniature roses, coreopsis, ivy, coleus and succulents are in these pots along with more balls and garden art. The green glass globe in the bottom planter is a "crackled glass" ivy bowl disguising a solar light.

I made the tall pillar for the blue garden globe out of a two foot length of PVC pipe. I glued on the glass marbles and other glass bits with Silicone II adhesive. The smaller blue glass pieces are Christmas ornaments which I've repurposed for the garden. The fleur de lis trellis tower is also the Welding Man's design.

Weed cloth and a layer of gravel keep grass and weeds in check around the groups of planters. I like the contrast of the exuberant plants with the zen look of the pebbles. This photo shows dwarf nandina, alyssum, succulents, "bamboo" grass, creeping jenny, dianthus, salvia, petunias, vinca and ivy on another tower.

I love how the cool cobalt blue glass cools down the hot colors of the pink and purple petunias. Can't have too many blue glass garden accents OR hot pink flowers!

This dining room chair had seen better days, so I dry brushed it white, popped the cushion off and found a planter to fit into the hole. Golden creeping jenny and dark green vinca spill over the sides and a pink snapdragon adds contrast. The Green Man planter is filled with ferns.

This blue ball is made from a bowling ball! The same Silicone II adhesive holds the marbles and sea glass in place. I am always on the lookout for different size balls to use in the garden, with and without glued on marbles. I've used different sized Christmas balls, styrofoam balls, light globes and ivy bowls. Anything spherical will work!

So pretty! Many of the plants I've used will return next year and the petunias are easily replaced each spring. The creeping jenny and ivy are so prolific that I'll be dividing them into even more containers next year. And of course, the blue garden balls will look good all year long.

Between a HUGE amount of family activities, my continuing treatment, my Etsy shop and this front yard project, my time has disappeared in great chunks. But as you can see, I have something to show for the time spent outside.

AND, this year we've planted all our vegetables in big planter pots in another part of the yard. Gardening in planter pots works so well for me, next year I plan to use even more. Because with beautiful plants and flowers, more is better, right? I'll let you know when I reach my limit!

No Spray Paint for this Chair Planter

I wanted to make this worn out dining room chair into a garden chair planter, but I knew it needed some help. I thought maybe I would spray paint it bright blue since I'm nuts about that color, but I did NOT want to sand all the nooks and crannies and curvy bits on this chair. What to do? Dry brushing to the rescue!



Here's a shot of the original chair. Curvy and sweet but the peeling varnish makes it unsuitable for a smooth coat of spray paint. So I sanded it just a little to knock the loose flakes off and loaded up my brush with exterior white paint then blotted most of the paint out of it. When it was almost dry I started painting the chair.....




Sweet! Look how it made this old chair look shabby chic and country style and downright vintage. LOVE it!


Here she is (funny that now she's painted she's a female. Whassup with that?)

;O)

I popped the cushion off with a screw driver and now have a perfect receptacle for a planter.


Ooh aah. The lime green trailers and the vinca and the mint and the blue glass balls are perfect together. Even my little gnomey guy is smiling.


And here's another angle. I love how this chair turned out with the wash of white paint! Much less work than sanding and spray painting, and as it weathers in the coming seasons it will just look more shabby and chic. I call that a win win!

Aaand....it goes with my drybrushed kiwi crate table and my whitewashed ladder with the drybrushed baskets. Is nothing safe from my new favorite painting technique?

I'll be linking up to White Wednesday in my sidebar. Come check it out, it is always loads of fun with lots of beautiful ideas using white.