DIY Succulent Chair Planter

3 Materials
$20
3 Hours
Easy

I recently made two chair planters out of some broken chairs I have. I've wanted to do a chair planter for ages but never got around to it, so I decided to try two different methods.


The first one was the simplest and basically involved me 'planting' a chair with a missing base into the ground and planting the plant in the centre. Sounds more complicated than it is and you can find the directions for that one here.


I like how they both turned out but my favourite is probably this succulent one and the steps are below for how to do it yourself.


I love planting with succulents because they tend to look great straight away! I'll probably like my other chair planter better in a couple months when the flowers I planted in it are bigger!

So this chair was an old dining chair with a screw on seat. 


This one has been glued and glued together multiple times to try to repair it but it just doesn’t seem to be able to hold the weight of any of our guests anymore so it was time to give it a new purpose!

Remove the Chair Base


First I unscrewed the base and set it aside (I’ll probably think of something else to do with it eventually). 

Paint the Chair Frame (optional)


The dining chair I used is a nice wood, but I could see with the deep grain in it that it would probably end up rotting if I put it outside without painting it first. 


I like to use what I have so I rooted around in my stash of paint and found some purple primer that a painter used for our front door. There was still tons left in the tin. 


I had previously reused the darker top coat purple (the actual colour of my front door) on a pallet project a couple years ago but I didn’t bother using the primer for that so I still have it. 

So I used the primer and my Two Fussy Blokes roller to paint the chair a cheery lilac colour. 


I did a giveaway last year with these Two Fussy Blokes rollers and a number of my blog readers reviewed them for me – you can find their verdict and project photos here.


I did 3 coats (without waiting for them to dry in between – because I am impatient like that – don’t do as I do!). 


Hopefully that will protect it for a while or at least until I decide I want to paint it a different colour! (Do feel free to use a primer and a proper top coat like a professional!)

Cut Planter Base Fabric to Size


As well as my broken chairs I also had an outdoor table cover that had gotten ripped to shreds by the wind (our garden is a bit of a wind tunnel!). I decided to use part of it as the base for my planter. 


You can buy material specifically for projects like this in your garden centre, but I like upcycling, so of course I used what I had and I think you should too. 


You could also try it with an old shower curtain maybe? Anything a bit water resistant that can survive outdoors would work fine.

I cut two pieces that were a bit bigger than my chair base to start off with, just to make it easier to staple it in place.


As I said my table cover was a bit worse for wear so it already had some thin places in the material and little holes. So even doubled up I feel like there is adequate drainage for my soil. 


If the material you are using isn’t porous then consider poking some holes in it with a big needle or a hammer and nail. 

Staple Chair Base


I used an electric staple gun to staple all the way around the frame of my chair, including at the back along the bottom rung of the back of the chair. 


I pulled my fabric fairly taught as I was planning to use it for succulents that don’t need a lot of depth. If you are looking to plant something that needs more soil then make sure your fabric has adequate give to accommodate your soil.


I then trimmed off the excess material with some scissors

Plant your Chair!


Lastly I planted up my little succulent garden in my chair planter. 


I used some rocks around the edges to frame it and my husband even found an old metal toy car in the garden that I added to my arrangement. (My garden is a huge work in progress and we keep digging up old bits and pieces from the previous owners!)


I’m really happy with how both of my chair planters turned out, but as I said at the beginning for the moment this one is my favourite!

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Kristen Hubert
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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  2 questions
  • Nancy Nancy on Apr 23, 2020

    Love the upcycling done here! Does the fabric trap water? I know succulents don't like to sit in water and so I was wondering if landscape fabric might be better. I happen to have some on hand.

  • C Crow C Crow on Apr 23, 2020

    Adorable! Did you do both chairs the same?

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  • Sidney Rippy McLaughlin Sidney Rippy McLaughlin on Apr 23, 2022

    It turned out cute. I wonder if it’s lasted? I’ve done old chairs outside a couple of times and three years is about the most time they last before the chair falls apart completely.

    • Paula Paula on Apr 23, 2022

      I know, right.L almost any wood chair or cabinet I do, though, have a chair that is 14 yrs and counting outside!




































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































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  • Helene Kellachan Helene Kellachan on Apr 23, 2022

    Love,love,love....what you did with the chair.🙂

    I am definitely going to do this but using a potted flower arrangement or a boston fern. Thank you for your inspiration.


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