I love the current trends for geometric forms and the seem to crop up in many designs, from fashion to interiors, strong bold V shapes and Triangles are an edgy and modern way to create contemporary interest in your own home or garden. This month I wanted to use this striking trend to create something really modern and yet elegant and decided to use some lovely, simple Terracotta pots and matching saucers to create a series of customised pots for sowing herbs on the windowsill. I have used these geometric shapes in these planters by creating striking V’s and arrows, almost like lightning bolts, on the sides of the pots.
If you feel like a fun and creative weekend project that really is totally do-able, then here’s how you start! Happy creating.
Leonie
Modern Terracotta and Gold Herb planters
What you need:
A selection of Terracotta planters or containers. These are a lovely product from the Woodie’s range that has been made in Germany and has lovely clean shape to start with. The fact that there are matching saucers is just perfect and allows us to create a matching set.
Masking tape
Small paintbrushes in varying sizes
A good water-restistant paint such as the Rustoleum ‘Painter’s Touch’ range which has some wonderful colours to choose from, and cleverly available in small sizes.
some good quality compost
some herb seeds from a good company-I have used Unwins which have a great range of herbs.
If you have time and feel like making some pretty pebble markers then a few flat yet rounded pebbles would be great too.
How to create your modern herb pots:
The first thing I did was to decide on the shapes I wanted to create on the planters. You can be as creative as you like but clean, sharp lines such as V’ and arrow shapes work really well with this method. Taking your masking tape, glue lines of tape to the pot. These lines will dictate the shapes of your eventual patterns on the pots. I’m going through a real V shape phase at the moment-there is such great symmetry in the shape and it gives you a chance to echo that again in smaller Vs inside the bigger one.
I taped off a few different shapes on the pots making the collection work as a whole but yet giving each a little added interest. Some are the V shape while others are almost reminiscent of Bowie’s Lightning streaks and give a bit of an edgy rock-star effect. One really key thing here is to make sure that when there is a lip in the pot as the one above, the tape is pushed right into the dip. This is key to a very clean and professional looking finish.
Now you’re ready to choose a colour and start painting. This is the really fun part of the project and it’s also when you really start to see immediate effects. I chose a gold because I’m a big fan of contrasting the very modern clean lines of the geometric shapes with something a little elegant, like the expensive looking antique gold from the Painter’s Touch range from Rust-oleum. They have some really gorgeous colours that will really make the post stand out. Here you can get really creative-have a look at your space-if you’re going to place these on an outdoor window cill then see what is in the immediate area-are there colours you can pick up on? Perhaps there are some other flowers that you can use to inspire the colour selection of the pots. I chose the gold because my patio area has lots of purples-deep blue purple on my furniture and a lighter violet on my housewall. The gold will work really well with that and give a shimmer effect as contrast to the matte purples.
The really interesting part here is that it’s just so easy to paint because of the work you’ve done with the tape. Even if you don’t have an artistic background, this really is an amazing way to achieve precision finish with very little effort. Just get the paint on there, you can even use a fairly large brush and spread it over the gaps you’ve left between the tape.
Now, after waiting for the pots to dry, the Painter’s touch was literally dry within minutes, comes the big reveal. I love this part, it’s so satisfying. Simply peel away the tape bit by bit to reveal a very cool customised design that’s totally your own creation.
5. Last but not least, now is the time to plant these lovely pots up. They are a great pot to plant up herb seeds in and looks as pretty inside as they do outside. I have used a selection of herbs from the Unwins range-they have some wonderful Basil mixes, and every herb from Lavender to Thyme. Every herb will differ in how to plant so after filling the pots with some good quality compost for edible plants, follow the instructions for the chosen herbs. I sowed some Thyme and now have the pots on my indoor window cill until they start to emerge. Once they are large enough I will plant them out into the garden and add them to my herb border.
Now you have some fab planters and in time they will not only look really lush and pretty they will also be so great for cooking. A great gift or perfect for this Summer’s entertaining.
For more Woodies Weekend Projects go to www.woodiesdiy.com
