Goodbye Traditional Planters — There's A Fun Alternative That May Already Be In Your Kitchen

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Are you bored with the range of houseplant pots available at your local garden center? Perhaps you've been reluctant to buy new planters because they're so costly. If you've encountered either of these situations recently, it's time to consider the common household items you can turn into beautiful planters. While your mind probably jumps to plant pots made from old jars, tins, or bowls, you can actually create quite the charming planter out of a retired coffee maker.

This may seem like an unusual choice for a houseplant home, but the design of this classic kitchen appliance is surprisingly useful. To start, a coffee maker includes numerous depressions perfect for filling with soil and plants. For example, the transparent glass coffee pot is perfect for propagation because you can see the plant's roots. Likewise, the basket you typically fill with fresh coffee grounds could support a trailing pothos.

This option for repurposing an item in your home into an adorable planter clearly saves you money. A single coffee maker can replace two or three — or maybe more, depending on how creative you get — decorative store-bought plant pots. This is especially true if you upcycle a coffee maker you already own, though you could also thrift one for a reasonable price. Once you have your old beverage-making machine in hand, it's time to transform it into a practical planter for your tabletop, kitchen island, or entryway console.

If you would like to use the brewing basket at the top of the coffee maker as a planter, remove the lid to make the space more accessible. While you're at it, grab a pair of wire snips and cut off the electrical cord as close to the body of the machine as possible. Line the brewing basket with a permeable material, such as (aptly) a coffee filter or a 2-inch wide Le Tauci Coconut Coir Drainage Mesh Pad. This will keep the soil in place while still allowing water to drain through, preventing waterlogged roots. Fill the lined brewing basket with Miracle-Gro Indoor Potting Mix and pop in your favorite houseplant. Finally, if your coffee maker is old or broken, water may drip right through the machine, damaging the surface below. Place it on a decorative tray to catch any stray water.

You can also grow plants in the glass coffee pot, which typically fits snugly between the base of the basket and the warming plate. This doesn't leave much room for tall plants. Plus water may drip from the brewing basket into the pot, while the glass sides may trap moisture. Creating a terrarium-style arrangement is best. Fill the pot halfway with the best drainage materials to relieve your plants of excess moisture — gravel or sand — and a suitable growing medium, then plant compact species that will stay inside the pot and prefer the high humidity — asparagus fern (Asparagus setaceus), nerve plant (Fittonia albivenis), and Kraus's clubmoss (Selaginella kraussiana) are just a few examples.