Updating a thrift store planter

DIY your decor with this easy, and GORGEOUS, thrift store planter makeover!

Remember the antiqued pottery lamp from the other day? Well, it wasn’t the only thing that got the plaster treatment…

I picked up this planter at the thrift store on the same day.

The colour isn’t awful, but it was really the shape I was looking at – I needed a wide planter to fit in a specific section of my (new) office shelving.

This one was absolutely perfect height, width and depth-wise – so I snatched it up for a whopping $3!

Check out the details on the thrift store lamp makeover in this post, but as a quick recap:

I washed the thrift store planter thoroughly with TSP and then rinsed and dried it thoroughly.

Apply drywall spackle/putty all over using my hands to create a lot of texture and movement.

I wanted the swooshes and troughs and crests everywhere so that the mud (later step) would have lots of nooks and crannies to squeeze into.

Once completely dry, I used a 120 grit piece of sandpaper to smooth some of the texture out. Not all of it, just a bit.

I added a second coat of the putty – in the same way – to cover over any spots on the thrift store planter that were showing through.

Time to play with mud!

Using a bit of soil and a bit of water, I wiped the mud all over the surface of the planter. The more I rubbed, the more the mud melted into the putty and found its way into all of the crevices I had created.

Using a 220 grit sandpaper, I sanded off whatever muddy bits I wanted. I left this thrift store planter more “antiqued” looking than the lamp by leaving far more dirt in the crevices. This is just a matter of taste, but I really wanted to see all kinds of texture and movement in the planter.

Because…..

I planned to have it front and centre as a main focal point on my bookshelves!

PERFECT fit right?!

I dropped 3 pothos plants, still in their individual pots, into the thrift store planter. The kind lady at the nursery said they would survive better if I just plopped them in and then pulled them out each week to give them a light water and drain before popping them back in.

Fine by me – I was worried that the moisture from watering (if they were actually planted) would destroy my shelves so this is a much better solution!

Pothos is a low-maintenance plant that doesn’t require a ton of sunlight. Over time the stems/stalks will continue to grow and cover more of the thrift store planter so that just peeks of white will be visible.