Plant Stand Project

Gardeners who have beautiful outside spaces like patio’s, porches, and decks like to decorate with living plants and flowers.  As collections grow the containers start to take up too much space.  This is what was happening to my lovely patio.  That sent me on a mission to acquire some plant stands; I really wanted very sturdy ones to hold my smaller, but heavy planters. I missed out on a couple that I saw for sale and did not really like any in the stores.   Being frugal and conservative I always check the free section of Craigslist if there is anything I can use and save from the trash.  Waiting for dinner to finish cooking I checked quick and someone from the next town was giving away two plant stands, only up a short while I responded quickly and the owner responded back that I could come over that evening and pick them up.  The wonderful woman was helping her elderly neighbors empty their garden shed.  We talked about gardening and she said she has toned down her gardening due to the deer and she did not have the time to refinish the plant stands. She showed me the plant stands although weathered they were sturdy had acrylic tops and subtly ornate.  I was thrilled and then she said she had the remaining items in the shed to get rid of if I wanted anything.  I scored the remaining items to be discarded; fencing, posts, pots, tools, a rattan pot holder (for my porch), and another bigger plant stand with no top.  I really appreciated getting all the garden goodies; we talked for a while and actually emailed each other over a couple of gardening interests.  Since they did not need plants or flowers from my garden I gave them fruits and vegetables from my garden in appreciation.

Unfortunately due to being busy with the living garden, the plant stand refinishing had to wait until next spring.  Before planting the garden this year I worked on the plant stands.

The plant stands had black paint on them that was bubbling up in some spots and where the paint was missing there was rust. Putting the plant stands on multiple layers of newspaper I scraped them with a wire brush. Lots of elbow grease was the only thing needed and I built up my arm muscles at the same time!  I worked on all three with the brush, wiped them down, then I used sandpaper to finely sand the metal so no transition between the worn and still painted areas existed.  Rolled up the newspaper with all the shards of paint and rust and carefully and discarded. Then I wiped off all the plant stands, vacuumed them, and wiped with a clean cloth. I laid out an old plastic tablecloth in the driveway and stood up some cardboard boxes with my garbage pails to protect against the paint. Now they were ready for a spray with Rustoleum Rust Reformer. Following the directions on the can, picking a perfect day for the specific weather conditions, by shaking it well, and painting at the distance of  5-8 inches moving quickly and evenly giving the metal a light coating.  I placed the plant stands upside down to first get the underside, after it dried a little carefully flipped them over. First I painted the ornate areas back then front, and then the back to front flat areas, so the paint would be perfect on the front of the plant stands.  After drying all day I put them in the garage to protect them until the next step, they looked good with the rust primer which was in black, but I wanted something different.  

Looking at the various paint selections in the store I picked about 5 different colors, now it was decision time, with the help of my younger son and husband I selected Rustoleum Metallic Aged Copper. It was iridescent and thought it would look nice against my off white vinyl siding and gray slate patio, as well as making the green and colors of the plant pop.  I used the same method as with the rust stop to spray the plant stands with the paint. Doing one coat and then going back over any areas that needed paint. 

To clean the acrylic tops, which had absorbed the color from the rust, I soaked them in an oxy dish detergent for the day then using the same elbow grease scrubbed until they were clear of any rust pigments.

I also had an ornate wall hanging metal decoration that had rusted and treated it the same as the plant stands making it a focal point on my wall above the larger stand giving both the look of a cohesive unit.  I have a large cooking tray that I usually use to collect water under my transplants in the spring on top of the large plant stand until I find a suitable top.

These plant stands look elegant, add vertical interest, and have provided me with more patio space as well as a spot for my containers.  Freebies that escaped the trash with a little work and paint are now treasures!