I’ve been focusing energy on my outdoor spaces lately, trying to find ways to add interest. I would kill for a truly Victorian Gothic garden one day…. but one step at a time! Garden accessories can be hard to find, and often expensive, so I’ve been revisiting my pile of thrifted pieces in need of attention, to see what I could use. This week I’m sharing my gothic plant stand makeover! A trash to treasure project that is more than just a little bit of paint!
I love thrift shopping. Every once in a while I’ll find a special treasure that is perfect as is, and fits right into my aesthetic. It’s an exciting, but rare moment! The more typical thrifting adventure involves the hunt for potential. I hunt for items, that with a bit of work, have the potential to be delightfully dark! What I come home with usually looks like a pile of junk, especially to my husband, but that’s where the trash to treasure process starts! It’s a great feeling to take something that someone threw away, and bring new life into it! As you might guess, that “pile of junk” is quite large, and often results in an overwhelming feeling of “where do I even begin?” Since I’ve been spending a lot of time outdoors working on my plants and garden…. it made sense to move an old plant stand to the top of my junk pile!
I found this three tiered plant stand during one of my thrifting adventures. It was a bit grimy and rusty, and someone had added 3 plant pots that clearly didn’t fit. It was in desperate need of a makeover…. a goth-y one! I love adding plants to my outdoor space, so anytime I can find an interesting way to do it, I’m happy. I feel like the obvious step for transforming this plant stand is a good coat of black paint, but I wanted to take it one step further, and give consideration to what was inside of the plant stand. You’ll notice I found a way to make everything black…. from the coco liner to the moss inside!
So if you have a rusty plant stand sitting around not looking especially beautiful, or you just plan to keep your eyes peeled at those thrift stores, and garage sales until you find one….. hopefully you can use some of these tips to turn your piece into a treasure! These steps and supplies would also work with any metal hanging basket, or window box and trough planter. So let’s get to it!
Before we get started…. This post contains some affiliate links. If you buy something through one of those links, you won’t pay a penny more, but I’ll get a small commission, which helps keep the lights on. Thanks! Click HERE for more details.
Here’s my supply list:
- Cleaning Wipes
- Metal Plantstand or Basket
- Rust Reformer Spray Paint
- Black Matte Spray Paint
- Clear Acrylic Spray Paint
- Black Felt
- Coco Liners
- Black Moss
Step 1: CLEAN
Make sure your piece is completely free of any dirt and grime. My plant stand was filthy…. with dirt and pollen and rust from having sat outside for too long. Paint does not adhere well to dirt, so save yourself the frustration of having to go back and repeat any of these steps and make sure the surface is clean. I like to use clorox wipes. I can get in and out of a lot of small places with those wipes, and they seem to hold up pretty good when I have to get rough with the scrubbing. I had to get creative with a few tight spaces, and used a toothbrush to loosen some of the dirt, and even resorted to wrapping a wipe around the end of a skewer to get into really tiny spaces.
Step 2: Deal with any rust
Since we are talking about salvaging a metal plant stand, it’s a pretty safe bet that rust will be an issue somewhere on the piece. If the rust has caused a lot of variation in the surface of the stand, you may need to sand it. The rust on my piece was mostly just discoloration except for one place, where I had to remove the flaking rust, and sand a bit. To prevent the rust from continuing to grow and spread I use Rust-Oleum Rust Reformer. It transforms rust into a paintable surface, and protects from future rust. I highly recommend keeping a can of this on hand! Coat the entire piece in an even layer.
Step 3: PAINT
Once dry, Spray the stand in black spray paint. I chose a matte black because I felt it gave a look of wrought iron, which seemed fitting for outdoor decor. Again, coat the entire piece in an even layer. I recommend spraying very light layers of paint, and repeating as necessary to prevent drips. If you stand too close and spray with a heavy hand, the paint will leave drip marks all over the stand… and honestly, nothing screams amateur DIY project like paint drip marks!
Step 4: SEAL
Whether you’re planning to keep your plant stand inside, or especially if it will be outside in the elements… it’s important to seal the paint. I use Rust-Oleum Clear Enamel, which also assists in rust prevention, and is weather and corrosion resistant. If you plan on placing your stand on a hard floor or surface that you want to protect, I recommend adding felt circles to the bottom feet to prevent scratching the floor. If you’ll be placing this piece outside in grass or on cement, this step wouldn’t be necessary.
Step 5: COCO LINERS
I’ve always used Coco Liners for all of my hanging plant baskets, so I ordered smaller ones for this plant stand. Coco Liners come in a ton of sizes, so just measure the diameter of the opening and get the corresponding liner. Once you receive the liners, they’ll usually seem pretty rigid, and have fold lines. Soak each liner in warm water for about 30 minutes to soften it up, and then dry. Once your liners are dry, use the spray paint to paint the outer shell. It will take several coats because they absorb a lot of the paint! I also painted the top lip around the edge of the liner, but I did not paint the inside for fear of the paint somehow contaminating the soil. I have no idea if that’s even an issue, but I saw no reason to risk it. Allow the paint to completely dry. Coco liners do break down over time if left out in the elements, and they will likely fade, so you may need replacements at some point.
Step 6: PLANT
Now it’s time to plant those plants…. Every year I buy seeds to plant black flowers, and every year I somehow miss my window. One of these years, I’ll pull it together and grow some beautiful black blooms, but until then, I am limited to what I can find locally. I actually started with “Angelflare Black Angelonia”. They were not actually black, but a dark purple. Between the long bright green stems and leaves, and the purple flowers, it seemed to be more color than I was hoping for with this makeover. I even did an entire photo shoot before I told myself it just wasn’t right. So I started over with Black Heart Ornamental Potato Vines. Again – not black, but more of a purple. I definitely liked the mood of these better, but I don’t know how well this kind of plant will do in small pot, so I’m going to keep looking until I find the absolute right thing!!
Step 7: MOSS
Once potted, I covered the entire top layer of soil with black moss just to finish off my “all black” look. Truth be told, my original idea was to use the moss to cover the natural colored coco liners. I was going to stuff the moss between the liner and the metal, and thought it would look cool to have the moss sort of spilling out of the openings in the metal. The reason I diverted from the plan was because I intended to plant real plants which would require watering, and when the moss gets wet, it bleeds. I was contemplating keeping the stand on my porch, and was worried that bits of moss would fall and stain the wood floor. If you plan on using faux plants, and the moss won’t get wet, covering the liner with moss could be an option.
Now I just need to figure out where this stand is going to live, while I work on finding / creating more garden accessories! One piece at a time and hopefully one day I’ll be able to share a completed outdoor space!
Leave a Reply