How to create your own DIY upcycled planter in under 30 minutes

Ever since I did my first upcycle job turning a bunch of old jam jars into candle holders for my university dorm room, I’ve been hooked on the idea of upcycling. Before I throw anything out I’ll always see if there’s a way I can give it a new lease of life, and some of my favourite home pieces are upcycled ones with a history (particularly my grandma’s old rocking chair, in the girls’ bedroom)…

Something I don’t do as much of though, is upcycle brand new things. Which is exactly what Wayfair challenged me to do for a recent project. The brief: create a DIY design on a planter from Wayfair, to give it a completely new and unique look. We’ve got quite a few plants and flowers around the house – they definitely make up a huge part of our decorating style – but none of these sit in upcycled planters. So it was about time I gave it a go…

I chose this fairly plain glazed planter by Bel Étage, in an ivory colour. It was pretty already, although the lack of colour meant it didn’t really stand out in our colourful downstairs dining area. I liked the idea of doing a colour block effect using chalk paint we had left-over from when we painted the dining chairs, to tie the pot in with the turquoise accents in the room.

Here’s what I did…

Equipment:

Literally all you need to do this colour block effect is a roll of masking tape, scissors, tape measure and some chalk paint (or you could use spray paint instead).

What to do:

The first thing to do is to create a shape with your masking tape. I wanted a single stripe running around the pot, so I measured three inches down and put a strip of masking tape around the pot, before adding another stripe a couple of inches below.

Next, I painted in between the strips of masking tape and waited a few hours for the paint to dry and harden. Depending on what type of paint you use, you might need to wait longer.

Once the paint has dried, gently peel off the masking tape to reveal your shape, taking care not to scuff the edges or pull off paint from within the shape.

Here’s how mine turned out:

I’ve filled my planter with bunches of dried flowers, seed pods and grasses, but might switch these around for a new house plant soon (if I can sneak one in without Simon noticing!). It makes for a pretty table centrepiece but would look equally good on the sideboard or a side table I think.

The thing I love about this technique is that you can create pretty much any shape you want, and this would work on an outside planter too, as chalk paint can be used outdoors (the paint naturally weathers to create a lovely rustic effect).

Of course Simon finds the fact I painted a brand new plant pot hilarious, but then he never “gets” these things anyway so I’m going to choose to ignore his reaction.

Have you got any good upcycle projects on the go at the moment?

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This is a sponsored post, created as part of my role in the Wayfair Home Experts group. For more information about how I work with brands please see my Work With Me page.