Upcycled Patio Furniture

You might remember me hinting about my next project involving these planters:

I got them from work not to long ago, there were about 8 all together. Our office was going to donate them to Goodwill but asked first if anyone wanted them. At first I declined because A) I don't need new planters and B) the only thing I could think to do with them was make some sort of fish pond. But then someone said- "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if you turned them over and made a table and chairs out of them?" And I thought "Yes!" That is one of the great things about working with creative people, you never know what kind of ideas they will come up with.

So I took 3 of them home and went to work gathering my materials:

Planters: 1 large for table 2 small for stools. I got mine for free but you might be able find some at an used office supply store, Habitat ReStore or thrift store.

Plywood for stool cushions and for base of table (I was lucky enough to have an extra piece lying around)

Jigsaw, staple gun, and sander

Spray Paint

Fabric and batting for stool tops

I began by tracing the large and small planters to make templates for the stool cushions and the base of the table.

Then I cut my templates out with the jigsaw,

Then sanded any rough edges.

Once I had all my template cut I started making the stool cushions. I wrapped batting around the plywood and stapled around one half of it, leaving one half open.

I stuffed pillow stuffing inside the opening to give the cushion a little more softness, then stapled the rest closed.

Next I stapled the fabric. I staped four edges to center it then folded the corners in. I gathered the leftover and stapled that underneath as well, it's basically like wrapping a present.

Finished Cushions!

The large planter came with a base with wheels. I wanted to reuse it since the planter (soon to be table!) is pretty heavy. The wheeled base is smaller than the opening on the top and since I'm flippin the planter over and using the bottom as my table top; I used the third plywood template I cut to make the base fit on to the new bottom of my table. 

I used Gorilla Glue to attach the base to the plywood. I wasn't how well it would work glueing metal to wood, but it worked great!

Finally I spray painted the planters an off white color, the shiny metal wasn't doing it for me. Plus it was blinding in the sunlight.

I didn't permantly attach the cushions or base. I thought I would be able to use the stools as storage and take the cushions inside when it rains.

Oops! Gracie trying to get in on the action. When I'm not using the furntiure I can stack the stools inside the table and store them in the shed when I don't need them.

So for only about $20 (If you have to by planters, plywood, and batting your cost might be closer to $50- still a steal!) I have some modern lounge-y patio furniture!

I can't wait to try it out for Labor Day Weekend!

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