DIY: Blue Planter

Mary McDonald post here

Back in May, I did a post on L.A. based designer Mary McDonald and fell in love with this gorgeous outdoor space.  The colors  are beautiful; I love how the blue pops against the setting.  In an attempt to emulate this style, I decided I need to add some of those blue accent colors.  I went searching for the perfect planter for my patio, and found one.  I needed it to be pretty big for the meyer lemon tree that I bought.  Unfortunately, one side of the planter was cracked and the glaze was chipping.  For $100, I expect the whole thing to be perfect.  So I began another search, but I couldn't find anything.  Time was of the essence, because my poor little lemon tree was quietly dying on the patio. 

Buy it online

After a lot of fruitless searching (ha ha), my Mom told me that she had seen some large planters at Walmart for under $30.  Unfortuantely, they didn't have the planter in the color (blue) that I wanted.  What's a girl to do?  Two words.

image via

Spray paint.  Before working with Rebecca on this blog, if I would have found that perfectly sized, perfectly priced planter in the wrong color, I would have pouted and left the store without making the purchase.  Lucky for me, I have been picking tips up here and there from Rebecca. So instead of walking out of the store with nothing, I walked out with one green planter and two cans of Krylon Fusion spray paint in blue. 

Here it is: my perfect blue planter.  I think it turned out pretty well, no?  I put the finished planter, with my little lemon tree tucked safely inside, on a little plant stand with casters so that I can wheel it around the patio when it gets bored and wants a little adventure.  Just kidding.  Meyer lemon trees do not typically do well in the desert but at our fantastic local nursery, one of the guys told me that his friend successfully grows Meyer lemon trees by keeping them in pots on casters and rolling them into the garage when the weather turns cold.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this tip works for me.  (Thanks, Quartz Hill Nursery guy!)