Does the front of your home need some curb appeal, but your budget is tight? Here’s great way to make these DIY farmhouse porch planter boxes for less than $25 each!

Our front porch needed some pizazz, but the budget was tight.

What a difference a few months make.

It’s hard to believe that this was our porch not too long ago.

We had limewashed our exterior brick, but did not like the dated, red brick pavers on our porch.

So we swapped them out by installing herringbone brick tile and added mortar wash to match our exterior brick.

We also repurposed these cast iron hand rails for our stairs.

It was a beautiful improvement, but I knew we needed a statement piece – something that would frame our front door.

So while we were working on the porch, we thought it would be a good idea to build these easy porch planters from cedar fence pickets.

Not only were they easy to make, but they were super afforable too!

So if you are looking for a quick and easy way to update your exterior with a bit of a rustic look, then this fun project is for you!

Here’s simple design of how we made them and the supplies and power tools you’ll need for your diy planters.

DIY Farmhouse Porch Planter Boxes

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Not only is this wooden porch planter a simple diy, but they are budget friendly too. Perfect for any outdoor space!

Here’s our step by step instructions and basic supplies you’ll need:

Prep Time: 45 mins
Active Time: 45 mins
Additional Time: 2 hrs
Total Time: 3 hrs 30 mins
Difficulty: Easy

Materials

• Cedar Fence Pickets
• Plastic Planter Box
• Wood Glue
• Nail Gun Nails

Tools

• Miter Saw
• Table Saw
• Nail Gun
• Black Spray Paint

Instructions

1. Step One: Trim Your Boards: This DIY Planter Box is made by creating an easy frame around a plastic planter, so your measurements may vary from ours. 
   
   
   For a tall porch planter, you will need to purchase the 6 foot cedar fence boards, but that’s much too tall for your front porch, so you will need to trim them down with simple straight cuts.
   
   
   
   We trimmed them to 30 inches each. For us, that meant we could get one planter from just 5 cedar planks.
   
   
   
   Our plastic planter box we were using as the hidden base was 14.75 inches square, so we needed some extra boards to fill in the side panels. So we cut smaller strips from one board using a table saw.
   
   
   
   You may need to adjust your cut list for your specific planter box, but we set ours to 2 1/8 inches.
   
   
   
   Once your cuts are complete, you are ready to assemble!
2. Step Two: Assembly
   
   
   
   Using the wood glue, run a bead down the edge of your pieces of wood and clamp the boards together at a 90 degree angle.
   
   
   
   
   
   You should end up with four corner pieces for each planter box you build.
   
   
   Next, using leftover scrap wood pieces as braces, we nailed the boards together with brad nails to create full side pieces. The braces will be on the inside of the box.
   
   
   
   Complete that process until you have a full square built.
   
   
   
   I wanted to take these planters to the next level look finished, so we added trim pieces around the top and base of the planter using the remaining scrap pieces from the cut wood planks.
   
   
   
   
3. Step Three: Painting or Staining
   
   We used Rust-Oleum Spray paint to get this matte black look. 
   
   But you could keep them natural to watch your diy cedar planter box patina. Or you could use wood stain to create your own custom look.
   
   
   
   For us, we sprayed two coats and were done!
   
   
   
   
   

Notes

Spray painting the boxes is optional.

If you don’t have a nail gun, you can use wood screws and build with pocket holes. And an exterior screw type is recommended since these are made for outdoor use.

Continue to Content

Yield: 2 Planter Boxes

DIY Farmhouse Porch Planter Boxes

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Active Time: 45 minutes

Additional Time: 2 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Does the front of your home need some curb appeal, but your budget is tight? Here's great way to make these DIY farmhouse porch planter boxes for less than $25 each! Not only is this wooden porch planter a simple diy, but they are budget friendly too. Perfect for any outdoor space!

Here's our step by step instructions and basic supplies you'll need:

Print

Materials

• Cedar Fence Pickets
• Plastic Planter Box
• Wood Glue
• Nail Gun Nails

Tools

• Miter Saw
• Table Saw
• Nail Gun
• Black Spray Paint

Instructions

1. This DIY Planter Box is made by creating an easy frame around a plastic planter, so your measurements may vary from ours.
   
   
   
   Step One: Trim Your Boards
   
   For a tall porch planter, you will need to purchase the 6 foot cedar fence boards, but that's much too tall for your front porch, so you will need to trim them down with simple straight cuts.
   
   
   
   We trimmed them to 30 inches each. For us, that meant we could get one planter from just 5 cedar planks.
   
   
   
   Our plastic planter box we were using as the hidden base was 14.75 inches square, so we needed some extra boards to fill in the side panels. So we cut smaller strips from one board using a table saw.
   
   
   
   You may need to adjust your cut list for your specific planter box, but we set ours to 2 1/8 inches.
   
   
   
   Once your cuts are complete, you are ready to assemble!
   
2. Step Two: Assembly
   
   
   
   Using the wood glue, run a bead down the edge of your pieces of wood and clamp the boards together at a 90 degree angle.
   
   
   
   
   
   You should end up with four corner pieces for each planter box you build.
   
   
   Next, using leftover scrap wood pieces as braces, we nailed the boards together with brad nails to create full side pieces. The braces will be on the inside of the box.
   
   
   
   Complete that process until you have a full square built.
   
   
   
   I wanted to take these planters to the next level look finished, so we added trim pieces around the top and base of the planter using the remaining scrap pieces from the cut wood planks.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Step Three: Painting or Staining
   
   We used Rust-Oleum Spray paint to get this matte black look.
   
   But you could keep them natural to watch your diy cedar planter box patina. Or you could use wood stain to create your own custom look.
   
   
   
   For us, we sprayed two coats and were done!
   
   
   
   
   
   

Notes

Spray painting the boxes is optional.

If you don't have a nail gun, you can use wood screws and build with pocket holes. And an exterior screw type is recommended since these are made for outdoor use.

Since our house has black accents with our exterior lights, shutters and hand rails, we chose to spray paint them black.

But if that’s not your thing, just leave them natural.

What an improvement, no?

I love pulling up to my house and seeing these farmhouse boxes.

And to top it all off, my in-laws surprised us one day by dropping off these gorgeous ferns!

And you could fill your own unique planter with your favorite plants, like a small tree or shrub.

Tall, dark and handsome!

And my front porch went from a boring porch to a showstopper.

Here’s how it looked when we moved in just 18 months ago.

But just look at it now!

So much better and much more our style. It was a great solution and added instant curb appeal.

These were so easy and were such a fun project, I just may have to copy them for our back patio!

So what do you think?

Would you make these wooden planters for your outdoor area?

If you have any questions, please drop me a comment below. We are always happy to help out! You can always connect with us here or on Instagram or Facebook.