Final Report Part 1: Indoor Planter Box

Inspiration

For my project, I decided to make an indoor planter box. I knew I wanted to make something that I would be able to use in the future and I wanted to make it out of wood to be able to touch up on my wood working skills. I was also excited to try to stain a piece of furniture since I’d never done that before. When thinking of ideas falling under this category, I went through many different things I could make, like a dresser, a kitchen table, a coffee table, and more. However, based on the time limit during this class I thought some of these may be too complicated or too large for me to make in the space I had. Therefore, I decided on making a planter box. I thought this would be fun because I like growing my own herbs for cooking and also thought having flowers around my apartment would brighten it up some. I also wanted to make a bottom drawer for the planter to add a dynamic component and to be able to store small gardening supplies that I may need. I thought this would be a fun challenge because I’d never tried making a door before.

The Aesthetic

For the planter, I decided to make it in the modern farmhouse aesthetic. I’ve always really liked the modern farmhouse aesthetic and that is the current aesthetic of my room. Therefore, I’m hoping to create my planter box in the modern farmhouse style. 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).

I am aiming to make the planter an accent piece with clean lines and a dark wood color like the stools in the example above. I also want to add a dark metal handle to the drawer to bring out more of the modern farmhouse aesthetic. 

Initial Sketches

To begin planning my planter, I made some initial sketches. 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 wanted 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. There will be a back frame with the boards framing both sides of the planter and then horizontal cross boards that will help structurally support the top planter box that I want to fill 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 could function. 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. For my first sketch, I thought of making it have a back that folds over the frame so that it can be removable. These sketches are below. 

Then, I redid my sketches to more exact dimensions. I also changed the top box to fasten directly into the back frame to make manufacturing it easier. I added risers at the bottom of the planter to have the drawer sit up from the floor so it wouldn’t get stuck. I then listed out all the wood pieces I would need to build the planter. Below is the updated sketch. 

Sources:

1. KG Designs, https://www.thespruce.com/modern-farmhouse-style-2213409