Today’s DIY idea fits well with Heather’s and Sarah-Lou’s project #theeverydayspruce, in which they share tips and ideas for sprucing up your home and your life more generally. I love the challenge of making the best of what I have and and so for my recent Urban Jungle Bloggers post I bought a £3 pot of bulbs in a white ceramic planter and I wanted to stretch it as far as I could. I removed the soil from the bulbs and re-potted those into a few different jars (see them here). I then used the leftover soil to plant up some succulents that I propagated (see how here). I was left with a plain white ceramic pot that was crying out for a bit of a spruce…
So, out came the gold spray paint, a bit of decorators’ tape and hello new gold rimmed pot…
You will need:
Gold spray paint – I used Montana gold spray paint that is supposed to give a matte effect but it actually turns out quite shiny and reflective. It cost £4.75.
Cardboard box
Plant pot (mine was glazed which worked fine)
To do:
1. Tape over the parts of the pots that you don’t want to be painted. Make sure that the tape is stuck to the pot very securely to ensure a crisp line. You can create any pattern that you want to: stripes, triangles, waves.
2. Place your pot in a cardboard box and take it outside. Spray the pot with a thin layer of paint, turning it as you go (wear gloves if you don’t want to end up with gold hands). I also painted the inside of my pot. Once the first layer is touch dry, after about 30 mins, spray another thin layer. Repeat for a third time. The thinner your layers the less likely the paint is to drip and bleed.
3. After about two hours of drying you can carefully and slowly remove the tape.
4. Pop your plant in and you’re done!
I hope that you agree that it was £3 well spent, although I must make a mental note to plant my own bulbs next year!
Katy x
Of all the DIY projects I have seen recently, this is something I think I will try. Am buying a new flat in SE London and want to make an indoor urban succulent garden – do you have any favourite nurseries where to buy such plants?? Will work out a colour scheme for the pots using your post as inspiration. Thanks! x
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Hi Sharmaine. Loving the sound of your succulent garden and best of all they are soooo ridiculously easy to look after and barely need watering at all. I never get to go to nurseries being in central London with no car but succulents are really widely available now, which is good. I have bought them from B&Q, Columbia Road flower market and my local florist. WOuld love to see a snap of your collection once it is formed x