Repurposed Planters

When we moved into our house a little over two months (!) ago, there was this odd little bench hanging out by the hot tub...

(Look past the fuzzy behind.)

Oh, and the front door looked like this:

Now the bench has gone and the planters holding it up have been painted and moved to either side of the front door to make for a cheery entry.

These two hardwood planters were in bad shape; they were faded, falling apart, and the seen-better-days electric blue inserts had to go. The first step was getting new inserts, which we did at OSH for under $8.00 total. (Their cool grey-green color should disappear once the succulents planted inside take root and sprout up.)

Next, I had to clean them of the spiders that were calling them home, which, as anyone who knows me understands, was the most formidable task. (I am irrationally afraid of them, despite my husband's attempts to cure me of my arachnophobia.) A hand held brush, some gloves, and a few deep breaths did the trick. They went from looking like this...

 to this:

Better, but not great. The next order of business was fixing the loose/fallen off boards, so the hubs busted out the trusty nail gun and fixed 'em up.

One coat of oil based primer, and these babies were ready to be spiffed up with some paint. I chose a punchy chartreuse color because it makes me happy, ties in to the new doormat, and hopefully detracts attention from the horrible roof/paint color/texture of our home.

After two coats of Glidden's Extra Virgin Olive Oil they were looking less yellow and more green.

After 24 hours or so, I moved them into position, planted the succulents that we already had from a friend's wedding (two per container), and...was disappointed. See, they looked too severe on either side of the doorway. They needed something else to create some softness. So I scoured the yard and found some smaller round pots from our old casa that Ryan had thought to pack up and bring over. Perfect! I ran down to Home Depot and grabbed a lavender and rosemary plant for $3.99 each, and stuck them between the painted planters and the entry. Viola! 

Now there's so much more visual interest with the varying heights and textures, but the neutral color of the round pots don't compete with those bold yellowy-green planters.

There's still a lot of room for improvement in the curb appeal department, but the house is starting to look cared for and more welcoming. (Weed whacking the knee high weeds in the front didn't help either!) Now we just need to put up the house numbers I already purchased. Oh, and I want to paint "Welcome" on that little stone in front of the lavender pot (that we found while weed whacking) in the same fun color as the planters.

Here's a quick price breakdown:

• Planters - free! 
• Planter inserts - $7.99
• Paint (Glidden's Extra Virgin Olive Oil) - $9.99
• Lavender and Rosemary - $3.99 each

TOTAL = $25.96

Not too bad for an entryway makeover if I do say so myself, especially when smaller versions of our wood planters were running 30 bucks each (!) at OSH. What about that chartreuse? It is just me, or is that not the happiest color ever?