Thinking about building yourself a DIY planter box? Check out this beautiful DIY project where I walk you through how I built this planter box for my front entryway!

I’ve been wanting to build a few things to bring some life to the front porch, and I decided that a planter box was a good starting point.

It didn’t come out exactly how I wanted it to, when I first decided to make a planter, but now that it has a plant in it, I think I actually like it.
Here is the video showing the build process:

Note: I built this entire box from scraps laying about. If you are interested in making your own, you can choose any wood you want and just stick to the same sizes (3/4″, 1/2″, etc….)

1) I found two 1/2″ oak plywood boards in a corner so I took them and cut them directly in the middle to create four boards. Then I ran those four boards through my table saw to get four slats from each board. Note: You don’t have to do this step. You could very easily not cut the boards into slats. The only reason I did is because I think it gives the planter a more decorative look.
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2) I went over the slats with my router and round over bit just to, again, give it a more decorative look.
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3) To make trim, I grabbed some 3/4″ cedar cutoffs I had and cut different lengths with my miter saw to create the pattern below. I went ahead and marked my dimensions on the photo.
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4) I first glued the trim pieces down and clamped them in place for about 15 mins. Then I flipped the assembly over and used my nail gun to nail everything in place.
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5) Next I used my Kreg Pocket Jig to put in 6 pocket holes in the back. I’m turning into an awful blogger I guess because I didn’t get a photo of this step….: ) Sorry. It’s in the video though!

6) I grabbed two 2x4s and ran them through my table saw to rip them directly down the middle. These will be my four posts. I made these posts a few inches longer than the planter to create legs. Then I just screwed each side into place using the pocket holes I made in the last step.

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WilkerDon’t: Since my sides have an orientation, I should have been making sure they were all facing the same direction before screwing them in…..: ) I wasn’t. I put in two upside down before catching my mistake.

7) Since I didn’t want to have a huge amount of space to fill with dirt, I cut and nailed in four more scrap pieces on the inside of the planter to create a place to make a shelf. I put this about 7″ down from the top.  I would first tack the scrap in place with a single nail in the middle, then put a level on it, then once it was where it needed to be, I would put in two more nails on either side. To complete the shelf, I grabbed a few more scrap boards and just laid them on top of these boards. I didn’t bother nailing them in place because the dirt and gravity will keep them where they are.

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Note: Those spaces you see in the top right photo are where the four support boards are. So no dirt will fall through there.

8) To make the top look more attractive, I cut four mitered lengths then nailed them in place.

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9) I ended up not really liking the legs, so I took my saw and loped them off. 🙂 Then gave it all a coat of primer (even the inside) and a coat of paint. Then just to try and make it a little more durable, I went ahead and put on a coat of Spar Polyurethane on the inside.
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10) I wanted mine to have a distressed look, so I took my sander and went at the planter until I liked the way it looked.

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I planted some sort of pink flower/plant (first time planting something) that caught my eye then called it a day!

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Since this one didn’t turn out the way I originally planned, I do plan on making another one. So if you are interested in making a few planters, stay tuned…..

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