DIY Copper + White Cedar Planters

My goal this summer has been to work on some of my outdoor space. I’ve updated some worn outdoor furniture and planted tons of perennials around the yard in hopes of making it prettier for next year. I knew I wanted some planters for my front porch, so I built these Copper and White Cedar Planters. I mostly followed the Tapered Cedar Planter tutorial from Jen Woodhouse, but decided to just go with three sections tall rather than four. We had some tomato plants on our porch, so I built these to hold the plastic pots we already had the plants growing in. Next year I plan to put flowers inside the cedar planters.

Alright, so here’s a quick run through on how I built and then painted these copper and white cedar planters. Again, check out The House of Wood for actual plans and alter according to your needs.

(This is a sponsored post where I received free product in exchange for my honest review and opinion, and there are some underlined affiliate links in this post which simply means that I get a small commission if you purchase through those links, at no cost to you. More details can be found in my Disclosure page about sponsored posts and affiliate links. Thanks for supporting my small venture!)

SUPPLIES:

• Cedar fence pickets (8)
• 1×2 or wood scraps for supports
• miter saw (or really any other saw; I have this saw and LOVE it.)
• Tape measure
• Finish nail gun and nails (or go old school and use a hammer.)
• masking tape (optional)
• paint brush
• paint

Build your cedar planters:

Get 4 cedar pickets from your local hardware store. I got mine on sale for less than $3 a piece and it took four to do one planter.

Cut the pickets to the length you need, with a 5 degree angle on each side. I cut mine at 17″ for the longest side, and a 5 degree angle made a 1″ difference, so the shorter length of that piece was 16″. The next piece’s long side was 16″ and short length was 15″, then for the smallest bottom piece I had 15″ on the top and 14″ on the bottom. Miter saws make this a breeze, but you can cut that with any saw, just measure twice and cut once, as they say. You’ll need 4 boards of each size.

Cutting the supports is easy. Just put all the cedar pieces of one side together and measure how tall your planter will be. Cut your supports slightly shorter than that. I just used scrap 2×2 wood that I had in my shop. If you don’t have scraps, just buy an inexpensive 1×2 for this.

Dry fit your pieces to make sure it’ll all go together as planned.

Lay your pieces out like this, and nail down one board to the support at a time. Do two sides like this. Then you’ll nail the remaining two sides to the supports. Again, check Jen’s post if you don’t understand what I’m sayin’.

Okay, now you have them built! Here are mine completely built and I actually love the cedar look (and smell).

Painting your cedar planters:

DecoArt sent me some really awesome exterior paints that I wanted to try out on these cedar planters. One word: copper! I’m loving all things copper lately and they were kind enough to send me some copper and white paints to try out. These paints, as you can see, are part of the AmericanaDECOR Outdoor Living Series.  

If you decide to paint stripes like I did, just tape off a section, mix your paint, and go to town painting! Seriously, the pictures don’t even capture the awesomeness of this copper paint. It’s beautiful and metallic and I love it. It only took one good coat of paint to cover the cedar which is impressive! You can buy it here: Copper DecoArt Outdoor Living Paint. (aff link) 

copper:

At first I did use tape to make a small stripe of copper at the top, but I ended up just painting the entire top board copper in the end because I didn’t like the small stripe. I guess it wasn’t enough copper for me. I also painted the inside of the top board which really completed the look.

white:

Add another color if you wish. I used the Picket Fence white color on the bottom section and on the lower rim of the middle section. I wanted a little asymmetry to it. You can buy the white color here: DecoArt Picket Fence Outdoor Living Paint (aff link)

All finished! Now just enjoy your finished planter and put a potted plant inside it! If you need a good source for bulbs, check out

I really love my copper and white cedar planters and they stand out so much more on my front porch than just the plain cedar. It’s all about personal preference though, am I right? Do you! Make it exactly how you want it and don’t worry about what anyone else thinks.

I just wish I could really capture the sparkle and shine of the copper in a photo, but you’ll have to look at these and imagine it even better in person.

Thanks so much for checking out my cedar planters. I hope they inspire you to make something new and unique for your front porch! And remember to check out those DecoArt paints too, I am seriously impressed!

If you like this project, please Pin this Image to Pinterest!

Check out some of my other related outdoor projects!

Thanks friends! Keep building!

~~Sheri~~