Herb Garden For the Patio or Porch | Thrifted Bookshelf Flip
Do you enjoy cooking with fresh herbs or want to create a way to enjoy more plants in your small space? Check out how you can transform a thrifted shelving unit into an herb or garden planter for the porch or patio. This would be an easy and inexpensive option for those limited to apartment balconies as well.
I picked up this shelving unit/bookshelf from the thrift store for a few bucks. Check out the video for the full tutorial. Click here for video link.
The first step in transforming this bookshelf was to add a slight tilt to the shelves. This would allow the plants in my location to get better sun exposure. My herb garden will only be getting a few hours of sun a day so I felt like this step was necessary, but if you have a full sun location you might be able to skip it.
Adding a tilt also meant the shelves needed something to keep the planters from sliding off. Some 1x2 scraps did the trick. I cut these stoppers down to 12 inches and screwed them to the end of each shelf.
Some very inexpensive fence pickets from the building supply store caught my eye, so I grabbed several of them and used them to make my herb planter boxes. These boxes should be custom sized to fit your bookshelf. Mine were 24 inches by six inches.
To make sure this bookshelf was ready for its new life in the great outdoors, I gave it a couple coats of exterior paint. This should help protect it from sun and rain exposure.
Finally, I planted my herbs. A few wood ring labels were added to jazz up the garden a bit.
Hopefully, having these herbs right outside my kitchen slide door will inspire me to cook with them. Remember to check out the video for the full tutorial.
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Thanks for the inspiration. I scavenged a bare wood DVD rack from the side of the road several years ago. I knew it had something special in its future. It's been lounging around (calling to me) waiting for its next chapter. The shelves are already tilted, yay. I also had some 12inch rectangular planters left over from another project. They arent quite long enough but I also have some 6inch pots. Will alternate placement and plant a salad tower. It will be perfect to plant/grow in cycles. Thanks again.
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It's beautiful!!! Love the idea.
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