Easy Outdoor Planter Boxes and Lighting Fix -

So, a couple of weeks ago while the kids were on Fall Break, hubby and I decided to knock out a project to remedy an issue with the patio redo. (never mind that I had just nose-dived into ORC!)

Maybe you remember from the original patio reveal that the light poles were leaning.

Well, that was because I had just shoved them down in the dirt in the planter. They held up great until the first gust of wind and then after a couple of rain storms, they were leaning like the Tower Of Pisa!

I decided to create some simple planter boxes that would house my existing pots and provide a sturdier way of securing the poles.

We used wide fence pickets. for this project, some scrap 2×2 pieces, and couple of regular fence pickets as well.

We actually had a super nice guy at Home Depot cut these down for us – way faster than us trying to make all those cuts with the circular saw!

Then, we just built a box. Using the 2×2 pieces for the corners and nailing the picket pieces to those. It looks something like this.

Putting together the first side. You’ll need two just like this.

Then attach the two sides to create the third side.

Then finish it up with the last side.

Then hubby cut a couple pieces of the regular picket to make cross pieces for the bottom – something for the pot to sit on so it could still drain.

We tested out the pot in the planter and then we got to work anchoring the light poles.

We simply used some metal straps (found on the electrical aisle with the pipe and wire) and attached two around the pole – one at the top and one at the bottom.

The poles are pretty straight now and I feel like my lovely swags of lights are a little more secure!

And, I love the look of these planter boxes which was just a bonus!! All in all these planter boxes cost less than $20 to build all three! Now, that’s a deal! I’ll be back in a couple of days with more to share about our One Room Challenge!