Make a planter box from a chest of drawers
Don’t throw out your old chest of drawers when you can repurpose them into a stylish planter box. You can place it on a covered balcony, or even inside, and it won’t take too long to put together.
Step 1: Choose your drawers
While any drawers will work well, try to keep in mind how you want it to look. If you are aiming for a wild and free drawer garden you could go for a three, four or five drawer chest. If you were thinking of a few key plants nested among some storage drawers, you could go for a chest with eight or more square drawers.
Step 2: Decide on your colour scheme
Next up, decide on what colour you want your drawers to be (if your drawers are already in pretty good condition you can skip this step). You can either just stain the wood or go for a completely new look by painting them.
Step 3: Protect the wood
You will now need to coat the drawers inside and out with polyurethane. On the inside of the drawers that will house your plants, you will need two to three coats to stop the wood from rotting.
Step 4: Allow for drainage
The water needs somewhere to go, so you will need to drill some holes in the bottom of the drawers if they are going to be outside. If you are keeping the drawers inside you can skip this step.
Step 5: Add lining
Now you need to line your drawers to help hold the soil in place and soak up the water. Grab yourself some coconut fibre basket liners from your local hardware shop.
Step 6: Begin planting
Choose your plants depending on where your drawers are going to sit. For instance in an outdoor area, you could go for fresh herbs or some pots of colour. Indoors you might prefer to use succulents as they don’t require too much water.
Step 7: Maintenance
You don’t want a dripping chest of drawers, so simply water your plants with a spray bottle instead of a watering can. Spray close to the root (rather than the leaves) whenever you think they need watering.
Image credit: Eclectically Vintae / Grizzly Bear Modern
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