Design Preview: Planter Box

Introduction

For my project, I’m really excited to try and make a flower/herb planter box. I’ve always wanted a cute place to grow some of my own herbs and have flowers around the house, but it hasn’t been that doable for me because I’ve been gone during too much of the year to care for them. However, when I start working next year I think I will be around for more of the year and can better take care of my plants so I wanted to make a place where I can plant them. 

The Aesthetic 

I’ve always really liked the modern farmhouse aesthetic and that is the current aesthetic of my furniture. Therefore, I’m hoping to create my planter box in the modern farmhouse style to match items I already have. This style is a play on the minimalist trend in the 1990s and early 2000s. It plays on the classic farmhouse look, but makes it modern by having a more neutral color palette and utilizing clean lines. Common details in modern farmhouse are the following:

• Reclaimed wood
• Metal accents
• Large comfortable furniture
• Lots of windows
• Straight lines
• Vintage accent decor
• Barn-board details
• Neutral color palette with earth color accents

An example of this style can be seen below by KG Designs (1).

Design Plans

I wanted to make sure to keep to the modern farmhouse aesthetic throughout my plans, so I sketched out my idea with clean lines and simple shapes. Below is the full sketch that I want to manufacture. 

There is a bottom drawer that slides out and then a box that sits on top of the drawer where I can plant herbs. These will be screwed into a frame in the back. The frame will be made with the boards framing both sides of the planter and then horizontal cross boards that will help structurally support the design. The the top planter box will sit on the top horizontal board and I want to fill that part with flowers.

For the drawer, I created a separate sketch so that I could figure out how to install the drawer slides to it so that it’s able to function. Below is a sketch of this.

Then, I created a separate sketch of the top planter box so I could figure out how to attach it to the top of the planter’s frame. Right now, I’m thinking of making it have a back that folds over the frame so that it can be removable and I can easily change out the plants in the top box if I want to. This sketch is below. 

Then, I found materials from Home Depot  that would make it fit into the modern farmhouse aesthetic. I am going to use oak boards to create the frame, the drawer, and the planter box. Then I want to stain the boards with the gray-brown wood stain that I found. I also found 12 inch extension sliders for the drawer that I want to use. I then found a copper handle that I think would add extra modern farmhouse flair to the drawer of the planter. 

Timeline

To make sure I finish the project by the due date I have created the following timeline:

3/13-3/22: Buy the materials, finalize design

3/25-3/29: Cut the pieces

4/1-4/12: Assemble the pieces together

4/15-4/19: Extra time to fix any unexpected errors 

4/22-4/24: Stain the planter box and do any last finishing touches for the final project and the report

Sources:

1. KG Designs, https://www.thespruce.com/modern-farmhouse-style-2213409
2. Home Depot product images