Turn an Old Chair Into a Bright New Chair Planter
It’s always nice to breathe new life into an old piece of furniture, and this project does just that! I had an old chair lying around that was just begging for something bright and new, so I decided to turn it into a planter! This chair planter brings a lot of whimsy to my garden and is a beautiful focal point as well. It’s a simple project that anyone can do, and you don’t even need any heavy-duty tools to do it! Follow my step-by-step tutorial below to get started on your own chair planter today!
Tools and Materials:
- Wooden chair (a wooden chair with the cushion removed works best)
- Paint (I used DIY Paint which is chalk, clay, and mineral-based, giving me good coverage with just one coat)
- Paint brush
- Metallic foils
- Foil adhesive
- Varnish
- Chicken wire
- Wire cutters
- Stapler
- Sheet moss
- Spanish moss
- Plants
My chair was already primed, so I didn’t have to wait long to get started painting! I gave it a full coat of teal paint. Lately, I’ve been going through a teal phase and I just can’t get enough of this gorgeous color!
Once it had dried I went back in for a second coat.
I poured a bit of foil adhesive onto a paper plate and thinned it out with a bit of water. Then I applied it to the chair where I wanted the foil to stick. Once I had applied the foil adhesive, I left it to dry for about an hour. You really want it to dry until it’s a nice tacky consistency, which is perfect for the foil to stick to.
I cut smaller pieces of foil, which made it a lot easier to handle it. When working with foil, it’s important to use the right kind of brush. The best brushes have stiff, plastic bristles. I use different sizes for different sized projects, but seeing as this project was quite detailed I decided to work with a toothbrush. I lay a piece of foil over the leaves and scrubbed with a toothbrush. It will only stick where there is adhesive, so don’t worry about it getting in places you don’t want it.
Once I finished with the leaves, I switched to a pink foil for the flower petals. If there are spots that you want to add more foil, you can always go back and go over it again.
Because this chair planter will be living outside, it’s super important to completely and properly seal it. I used a satin varnish made specifically for the exterior.
I cut a section of chicken wire. The section I cut was a bit too big for my chair, but I’ll show you how I molded it to fit. Make sure to always use protective gloves, as the wire can be sharp where you cut it.
I bent and molded the chicken wire to fit my chair.
Once I had it as deep as I wanted it, I stapled it along the back of the chair.
Then I cut off any excess and stapled the rest in place.
In order to hold the dirt in, I lined the chicken wire with the sheet moss. I also grabbed some Spanish moss at the store and I’ll show you how I used it in a bit.
Then I added my flowers. I managed to find a plant that was just the right size for my chair planter. Of course, you can always mix and match the flowers or plants that you use, but I was super happy to be able to find a bunch of flowers that worked perfectly with my color scheme as well.
Finally, I filled in the top with Spanish moss as a finishing touch.
I just love the pop of color that this chair planter adds to my garden! How would you customize yours? Let me know in the comments below!
Resources for this project:
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Comments
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I have an old rocker with no seat that held a plant. I live the chicken wire, miss & plant information. Thank you for the help!!
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You're most welcome - love doing the chairs this way and I don't have a green thumb so I just change out the flowers as needed :)
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I have a red vinyl bar chair stool. That I took off from the legs. I want to do something with the chair for out side garden. But what... This was a cute way for a chair.
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
How to "waterproof" so to use perrenials for following year?
I love Debi's DIY paint, and am wondering what is the name of that gorgeous color you used on this chair??? You did a great job and I didn't realize you could put foil transfer outside at all, so thanks for that info too. I have an old chair of my Grandma's and chicken wire and coconut coir and Bohemian Blue DIY paint that I plan on making a planter out of....someday.