How to Make a Delightful Chair Planter Garden (Easy DIY)
Learn how to repurpose an old chair into a charming garden planter with this easy and inexpensive DIY project.
Do you want to add beauty to your surroundings and save an old, unwanted, or unused wooden chair from ending up in a landfill? If yes, then this is a project for you!
Find an Old Chair
To create a chair planter you obviously need to start with a chair. You can find chairs for free or next to nothing in a variety of places.
If you don’t have broken chairs tucked away in your own attic, basement, or side yard, check with family or friends to see if they have any. You’ll be doing them a favor! You’re saving them the trouble of disposing of the old furniture.
Other options include Nextdoor, Craigslist, or Facebook Marketplace (check the free items first). You also can pick up chairs at a thrift store, flea market, yard sale, or garage sale.
Replace Chair Seat with a Natural Fiber Liner
First remove the seat from an old chair. Wooden chairs work better than metal chairs for this particular design. If desired, give your chair a fresh coat of paint.
This project uses a fiber hanging basket liner (also called a coco, coconut, or natural fiber liner). Liners come in various sizes.The liner should fit in the opening where the seat of the chair used to be. For example, my liner was 16″.
Attach Liner to Chair Frame
Staple the natural fiber liner to the inside of the chair frame using plenty of staples. An electric stapler works well.
Make Sure Liner Is Secure
Here’s how the liner looked after it was securely stapled it to the chair frame.
Add Soil
Fill the liner basket with soil. I used succulent soil because I was planting succulents in my chair garden.
Add Supporting Chains
Support the underside of the liner with 3 strands of light-duty chains. I used a 10-ft decorative chain made for hanging plants and pots. I divided the 10-ft chain into three separate smaller chains.
Secure the Chains to the Frame
Wrap chains around the edges of the chair frame. Secure it by hooking the end of the chain to another chain link. Run the chain under the liner and hook it on the other side of the frame. Repeat the process with the other two chains.
For my chair planter, I ran two chains from corner to corner creating an “X” under the base of the basket. Then I added the third chain down under the middle of the basket for additional support.
Using Two Tools is Helpful
Splitting and closing the chain links is easier with two pairs of pliers. Use one to grip the link securely and the other to open/close the link.
Add Plants
Now it’s time to bring your garden to life. Select a variety of plants for your garden (different colors, variety of shapes, contrasting heights, etc.). For example, add taller plants towards the back of the chair. In the front, add plants that will cascade down over the front edge of the chair as they grow.
Find a Special Place for your New Garden Chair
Place your beautiful planter on your front porch, your patio or somewhere in your garden. You can even move it around if you determine your plants prefer more or less shade or you just want to change up your space.
Note: water will drain out the bottom of the fiber liner when you water the planter, so make sure you place it in an area that can get wet.
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Carol Dydowicz on Aug 04, 2022
That sounds like a great idea or 'hardware cloth" which I always called rabbit wire since I used it on hutches back in my rabbit days. It would be stronger, I think.
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Carey Marshall on Jul 03, 2023
Hardware cloth & chicken wire are not the same thing although they will both work for this purpose.
Chicken wire would be easier to form to the shape you desire. Wouldn't the wire basket that uses the cocoa liners be excellent to use for tis purpose? You would have to find one that is the right size for your chair, but I think it would be perfect for this idea. I would ditch the chains unless you just wanted them for appearance. Fastening it to the sides of the chair and filling with the cocoa liner. I have found that I could get plastic pot trays that I place inside then fill with soil for my plants. That prevents excessive drainage and allows my plants to retain enough water to survive longer than half a day in the heat of our summers.
I have also seen an old chair used as a pot hanger, cutting a hole through a wood seat, just the right size to hold the pot in the hole but not fall through.
This is a very nice way to use an old chair. Thank you for the idea!
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Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
If it's a wooden chair, what preventative measures against wood rot or termites?