Before & After: Turning Mismatched Pots into a Window Garden

When I bought these mismatched flower pots at the end of the season last year, they were so hugely discounted that I purchased them without a plan for their use. After a long winter to ponder it, I finally pulled the pots out of storage, gave them a little makeover, and put them to use.

It’s not that these pots were ugly to begin with, they just didn’t match anything in my house. Spray paint to the rescue! With some leftover Rustoleum Black Lacquer spray paint from my luggage rack project, the pots are transformed! I didn’t even put a primer on the pots before painting them this time so the spray painting only took a few minutes. I was a little concerned that, without primer, the black lacquer may chip off easily but it actually adhered really well. And I love the way the shiny black finish altered the appearance of the pots.

Once the pots had dried, it was time to plant! I knew that I wanted these pots to go in my bathroom window so my original plan to plant herbs in the pots was abandoned. For some reason, herbs in the bathroom just didn’t seem very practical (and weirdly unsanitary). My second thought was to buy a spring flowering plant for the pots but when the guy at the nursery told me they would only last indoors for a couple of weeks I changed my mind. That was then I saw these spike plants. I’ve used these spikes in the middle of containers for height so I know from experience that they’re very durable and long lasting. And at $2 each, they were a minimal investment for maximum impact.

Images: Jason Loper