Give an Old Pot New Life

Since I've been redoing my living room (dude this is taking forever! LOL) I've wanted to add a plant into the mix. I was going for a tropical, carribbean thing and I knew a palm tree would be perfect! I spotted some palms at Ikea for around $10 and we picked one up. Easy peasy, right? (this post has affiliate links – I make a small commission if you click the link and make a purchase. A girl's gotta eat! Thanks!)

I started looking for pots and discovered I would need to spend upwards of $50 to get a pot that was the right size for the palm tree I picked up. In addition, none of the pots I found locally matched my decor in the slightest. Since I had made friends with gold spray paint when I created the wreath for mantle (blog post coming soon) and when I made these bibliophile frames, I knew gold spray paint was gonna be my friend. I had an old plastic pot that my dogs had chewed on (thanks for “distressing” my pot, Thor) that was the perfect size for my palm to fit in and grow. I used Rust-Oleum 1910830 Metallic Spray, Gold, 11-Ounce spray paint to give an old pot new life in my new living room!

Here's how to do this with any old pot you have lying around. Plastic works best but you can also do this on glazed pots. Unglazed pots are porous so they might not work as well.

First, clean the pot really well. Mine had dog slobber and spiderwebs on it – a good rinse with the hose will do the trick. Make sure the pot is really dry before the next step.

1. In a well ventilated area, spray the pot and the pot tray (if it has one) with spray paint to coat. You may need to do 2 coats – don't spray too much on or it will drip. Unless that's the look you're going for. I like to hold the can about 12″ from the pot and use a sweeping motion with the spraypaint can to get the best coverage.
2. Flip the pot over and spray paint another two coats on the other section of the pot. Make sure you allow the paint to dry fully betweencoats, at least a couple of hours depending on humidity in your area.
3. Once the pot is painted, put it back together and add your plant! 

I used some river rocks to cover the dirt to discourage my cats from “visiting with” my tree, if you know what I mean. You can get the Mexican River Rocks at Home Depot. Order online and get all the supplies shipped to the store or your home for free!! Free Ship to Store or Home. Now Available on Over 400,000 Items.

Check out more of our living room update posts here:

How to Make A Wire Orb Light Fixture

DIY Wall Art with Book Pages

31 Days of Unfinished Projects

So, what do you think? Do you have an old pot that needs new life? Consider spray painting it!

Author: Jennifer Priest

It started with jewelry, beading, sewing, home decor, painting, basket weaving, pottery, and cross-stitch. Marry that to an entrepreneurial spirit & at 9 years old a girl is selling her wares at craft fairs as far as her parents and grandparents would drive her. These days, Jennifer enjoys crafts of all genres from sewing to scrapbooking to jewelry with a little dabbling in the mixed media world. Her style is approachable and she wants everyone who sees her work to feel that they too can embrace creativity and make their home and life beautiful.