22 Ways To Repurpose Items In Your Home As Adorable Planters

Plants can be a beautiful way to add texture and interest to your interior decor and create a natural feeling in a room — whatever your aesthetic. Home retailers and garden centers offer endless possibilities for housing your favorite leafy or flowering houseplants. However, you may be overlooking some objects you already own that would make the perfect pot. They include everything from common household items you can turn into beautiful planters, like glass bottles, teacups, and cooking pots. More unusual items include old barbecue grills, doll heads, and vintage light fixtures.

Most DIY methods for upcycling these objects into planters are budget-friendly and easy to master. These plant pots save you some cash and they are generally more eco-friendly. You are, after all, rescuing objects that may otherwise end up in a landfill. Plus, housing your plants in these unique and creative containers is a great way to help determine or enhance the tone of a room. While these upcycled planters are perfect for whimsical, rustic, and vintage-inspired spaces, they can be adapted through paint and additional materials to fit many different decor styles.

Turn old license plates you don't use anymore into cute and rustic style planters by bending them at the edges and locking them together in a square or rectangular formation. Use some adhesive to create a box with wood as the planter's base and sides. Or, bend the license plates into cylinders to make fun hanging planters for small plants. Leave them in their natural finish for an eclectic rustic look, or paint them a single color with some spray paint.

Old teacups and mugs can be used as whimsical planters for small plants like succulents. Or use large ceramic items like thrifted teapots to hold big plants or groupings of succulents. You can add drainage by drilling holes in the base of the object, and then rest the cup on a saucer to catch drips. You can also use them outdoors, where you can hang them above or use glue to attach them to some rebar for tea-party-inspired garden decor. We hope you'll think twice before tossing old mugs now!

Turn an ordinary recycled tin can into a small planter that you can customize in a variety of ways. Add some paint or decoupage paper to create a piece that matches your existing decor. Or wind the can with jute twine or rope for a rustic planter that makes a beautiful centerpiece. Don't throw out empty coffee cans when there's a great use for them at home. They work for larger plants or holding multiple succulents.

Requisition an old chair to use as an outdoor planter. All you need to do is use a jigsaw to create a hole big enough for an inexpensive plastic planter to sit inside. Allow the tendrils of the plant to climb up the back or down the legs to create a trellis. Leave the chair planter freestanding, or remove the legs and mount the seat and back to a wall or fence.

Vintage glassware can make particularly beautiful planters. Use clear or colored glass pieces with cut glass patterns and engraved finishes. Tumblers and stemware are also great options, as are other pieces like carafes, pitchers, and sugar-and-creamer sets for housing small plants in style. You can simply sit a plain white or black plastic planter inside the glass to protect it. Or you can carefully make drainage holes using a glass drill bit.

If you need some larger containers for outdoor plants, upcycle thrifted or outdated metal cookware you don't use anymore. The material is durable enough for outside use and heavy enough that they won't blow around or over in heavy wind. Large soup kettles or stock pots work well to hold big plants, while frying and saucepans work best for plants with shallower roots. Got an old loaf pan you no longer use? Turn this baking staple into a chic vintage planter for a small succulent garden.

Have a pair of boots you love that have seen better days? Turn them into fun and whimsical planters. They're odd but practical household items you should be repurposing. Just remove the lining and add some soil or pebbles to plant your plant. Cowboy boots make particularly cute planters, but you can also use galoshes, sneakers, and hiking or work boots for a fun twist that complements any aesthetic.

Upcycled candle containers can be a great way to get free and eco-friendly planters from something you might otherwise throw out. Remove the wax and any labels on the container with hot water and soap. Clean the exterior and interior. Then, fill the container with some soil and add your plant. You can leave the outside of the containers as they were originally or add some chalk paint or decoupaged accents to create a one-of-a-kind planter.

Did you know you can transform vintage lampshades into beautiful and unique hanging planters? They often boast glasswork and faceting that make them stunning when repurposed in this way. The hole at the top of the fixture helps with drainage once the soil and plant are inside. Just disassemble the lampshade from the fixtures and turn the shade upside down. If you're using a vintage leaded-glass shade, make sure to use a liner to keep your plants safe from any contamination. You could even turn a chandelier into a hanging planter that accommodates multiple pots.

With their metal construction and abundance of drainage holes, colanders make for fun hanging planters. Just attach some wire or chain to the handles of the colander and fill it with soil. Colanders can be used as tabletop planters indoors. Place a saucer or platter underneath them to catch excess moisture. They are also great for succulents since they can accommodate multiple small plants and drain well.

Glass bottles can be filled with dirt and turned into small planters. This works especially well with colored glass bottles that once contained spirits, wine, or soda. Use a glass cutter or a diamond blade to cut a recess in the side of the bottle for a fun horizontal planter. Or cut down a beer bottle for a smaller upright planter. You can even make a whiskey bottle into a fun little terrarium.

The ruggedness of rubber tires makes them durable outdoor planters. Use them whole or cut some tires in half and add planting materials to the inside. Hang them on a fence or exterior wall with some rope or wire. Alternatively, use intact tires to create raised garden beds. Add some spray paint to change the color of the tires to match your exterior decor or use them as a rustic- or industrial-style planter indoors.

This fun idea takes jeans or other pants you no longer wear and turns them into rustic planters. They'll have everyone doing a double take! Soak the pants in starch or a paper mache mixture to stiffen them. Then shape the seat of the pants into hollow container for soil. You may want to line the pants with plastic sheets to stop soil from falling out the bottom. You can paint or decorate your pants planters with finishes and accents.

Turn old or disused hollow musical instruments into clever planters by filling the interior with soil and adding a plant into the opening. Great options include banjos, guitars, violins, and cellos that are no longer in playable condition. This is a beautiful way to hold onto instruments you love but can no longer play. You could also stick faux moss and artificial plants onto the outside of the guitar to create a cute piece of garden decor.

Old appliances and machinery make cute planters with retro flavor. Turn a typewriter into a succulent garden by removing the internals to make room for planting. You can line the open bottom of the machine with a coconut or plastic planter liner. Fill the interior cavity with soil or pebbles. Turn an old television into a terrarium. Old radios with their interiors removed make great planter boxes. Consider other home appliances like toasters, landline phones, and other retro objects — anything with a great sense of history.

Wooden crates come in all sorts of sizes and can be easily turned into rustic-style planters just by adding a liner and some soil. Great options include wine boxes, cigar boxes, fruit crates, and rounded cheese boxes. They often sport labels and other graphic details that add even more vintage charm to your new planter. Mount them on a wall or attach some chain or rope to the walls to create a hanging planter.

Turn an old sports ball that you don't use into a fun planter perfect for man caves and other spaces. Use a sharp blade to puncture the top of the ball and create a hole large enough for your plant. Fill the interior with soil and add a couple of holes in the bottom for drainage. You can make a hanging basket with rope and a basketball or use some netting to hang your soccer ball planter.

Turn an old or thrifted coffee pot into a stunning terrarium by adding dirt, rocks, and small plants inside. Use the glass part by itself. You can also turn the entire coffee machine into a planter with plants growing out of the top of the filter area. This is a great use for clear glass carafes and pitchers as well.

You can turn old books into cute planters. Use an X-Acto knife to remove a portion of the cover and pages, creating a recess to house a plant. Use these planters as fun bookshelf or coffee table accents. Since the pages will get soggy from the moisture, this works best with succulents or air plants that do not require much water. Alternatively, line the cavity with plastic.

If you have an old rusted grill you no longer use for cooking, you can make a clever outdoor planter from it. Simply add soil or pebbles and some plants. The holes in the bottom of the grill, meant for ash, can double as drainage holes. Leave the exterior as is, or paint it in fun colors before adding it to your garden.

Create fun or creepy planters using plastic or porcelain doll parts, which can be filled with dirt and plants. Use a baby doll's head to create a tabletop planter or add some chain or twine to legs, arms, or torsos to make hanging planters. These also make great Halloween decorations when filled with real or faux plants, especially if you paint them a rich matte black. Add some holes in the bottom if you plan to water your plants or just use air plants.

Old drawers from furniture have a variety of uses around the house, including as planters or planter boxes. Since the wood will warp when you water it, you will need to place a liner or inexpensive plastic pot inside. Add legs to create a cute succulent planter table or use deeper drawers as small planter boxes outside. They're perfectly sized for patios or balconies.