DIY Hanging Planter
Plants are my thing. Some people find tranquility in the sound of trickling water but I love walking into a room and seeing lush green leaves springing out of pretty pots. Now, I can’t grow them – thankfully my husband is a plant whisperer – but I love having them in as many rooms as possible. And with three kids and two cats running around I’m liking them even more when they aren’t being knocked over, chewed on or dug up! Since our home has vaulted ceilings I was provided with the perfect backdrop for a diy hanging planter project.
What made this project so simple is that we pretty much had all the supplies needed to make it happen. We did pick up some flower pot hooks and chain links from the garden section and paint. Other than that we had the plant, old pot (it was on its way out the door) and a drill (for making the holes for the flower hooks).
Official Supplies List:
old pot to up-cycle
paint (I chose a copper gold shade)
drill and drill bits
plastic container (with drainage holes)
flower pot hooks, screw hook and chain (can be picked up in the garden section at the hardware store)
houseplant and soil
sandpaper
rubbing alcohol
safety glasses
How we did it…
So I’ll be totally honest and say that my husband did the prep work and work for this project to bring my dream to fruition. It happens that way a lot, when tools and paint are involved. Plus, he’s just great at putting a lot of things together.
The first step is to prep the pot. You’ll need a well ventilated work area for this part. Remove any hardware from the pot that you won’t be using or cover any parts with tape and newspaper that won’t be getting painted. Lightly sand the outside of the pot (try 120 grit but this will depend on the finish on your pot) to remove any gloss finishing and expose the paint or medal for painting. This helps the paint adhere to the pot.
Dust off any residue left over from sanding and wipe down the pot with rubbing alcohol to ensure all residue has been removed.
Before painting drill holes for the flower hooks. The size and amount of holes drilled will depend on the pot being used and/or preference for the hanging links that will suspend it from the ceiling. For example, we decided on three holes and the flower hooks used weren’t that wide so the drill bit used was fairly small.
Choose your paint color and paint the pot according to the instructions.
Time to move to the hanging links. The flower pot hooks and links can be found in the garden section of almost any hardware store – pretty sure we got ours from Wal-Mart. Measure out your links for length and be sure to account for head space. Like my husband is six feet tall so not only was the corner a great choice but I made sure he hung it at least a foot above his head. Secure the ceiling hook (you may need an anchor for staying power). Just to give a little bit of an idea for length – our links stretch down about 4 feet before adding the hooks and the pot.
These hanging planters look great grouped in odd numbers or even having one large pot like we decided on (pictured above). This can be achieved using smaller pots or having a larger space to safely hang them in.
Notes on this diy project…
We planted our plant in a separate light-weight plastic container (it’s actually the plastic lid from a cake) with drainage holes in the bottom that fit rather nicely inside the pot. This ensures that the plant has proper drainage and will continue to thrive in its new home. It also makes it easier if the plant needs to be switched out or further tended to without needing to unhook everything.
That’s a wrap…
There you have it glossers! An easy project that can be done in one free afternoon (or productive morning). One thing I love about this project is the versatility it offers. If you’ve got a bit more time and patience you can even paint your chain links to match the pot.