Freestyle Find
I found this round tapered vessel, and I think it's either a wastebasket or a planter. It's wood (I think), which makes me lean towards a decorative wastebasket and not a "real" wastebasket that would be expected to hold wet things.
 |
| wooden wastebasket |
At any rate, it is the right size and shape for a plant cachepot, so that is what I decided it would be.
I found that the plastic top from a takeout container fit snugly (friction fit) inside the vessel an inch or so above the base.
 |
| Inside the wastebasket with plastic lid insert |
This serves the double purpose of catching water and raising up the functional bottom so that the plastic plant pot that I had would sit closer to the top and be easy to remove.
 |
| View Inside the wastebasket with plastic lid and plant pot to test for fit. |
Makeover
In order to make the greenery of a plant stand out I tend to use light or white cachepots, preferably ceramic, but there are a few plastic and metal ones floating about the place. It is just easier to keep a consistent look that way. Every time I'm tempted by some scrumptious talavera pottery, funky hand-thrown vessel with a unique glaze, or just something silly and fun from a discount store it is much easier to say 'no' to a purchase if I have a defined palette of allowable plant pots in the home. So, in its original 'as found' state, this wastebasket-future-cachepot didn't match with there rest of the container garden. Could I have sanded the outside and revealed the lighter wood? Possibly. Would that have been closer to the rest of the cachepots? Yes. But do I like sanding? No. I also had a paintbrush and samples out as part of an ongoing chair project, so this just seemed like the right time for an easy+lazy planter makeover.
I used one coat of this sample paint and applied it with a brush because I wanted to get paint into the small grooves running vertically along the outside. The paint sample color is 'Light Drizzle' with a satin finish, it is a very pale blue.
 |
| Paint sample, Light Drizzle color |
The first coat didn't give perfect coverage, but I left it like that..... it's cool because it is distressed. Right?
Not just because I didn't want to paint a second coat?
 |
| Outside after one coat of paint |
Conclusion
I repotted a rubber plant (yes, that had been free too) into the new plastic planter, and placed it inside the newly painted cachepot. Success!
 |
| Newly painted cachepot and new (also free) rubber plant |
Happy freestyling, and don't overlook the power of paint!