Repurpose Vinyl Blinds Into Modern Slatted Planter Wall

When we moved into our new house, all the windows were outfitted with corded faux wood vinyl blinds. But, with three little ones at home, these corded blinds can pose a BIG danger. We quickly rid our home of these potential choking hazards and set them in the garage to be dealt with later. Months passed until I finally decided that these blinds could be repurposed into something beautiful–and safe–for our home!

Supplies

For slat planter:

• Faux wood vinyl blinds

• Miter saw (or another saw for cutting straight lines)

• Adhesive, I used liquid nails

• Caulk gun

• Paint (optional)

• Paint sprayer or short nap paint roller (optional)

For up-cycled pots:

• Old plastic containers (for yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.)

• Scissors

• Electric Drill

• Plaster of Paris (or leftover joint compound, like I used) (optional)

• Paint

• Paint sprayer or paint brush

For faux plant display:

• Faux Succulents, flowers, or foliage

• S hooks for hanging

Installing the planter to the wall:

• Brackets

• Drill with a bit that can drill through exterior stucco (or a masonry bit, if drilling through brick or stone)

Step 1: Looking for Inspiration

I had seen these cute slat wall planters online and tried to find something cost effective to make or buy. IKEA sells wooden wall panels for $60, and most of the other online ones I found were $100! I could try to DIY a wooden slats wall myself, but with lumber costs as high as they are, that would have been costly as well. So, with TONS of vinyl blinds just sitting around collecting dust, I decided to take on a repurposing project to turn these boring blinds into a beautiful recycled display on the cheap!

Step 2: Cut Off the Strings and Remove Slats

Take those handy dandy scissors and cut (yes--DESTROY) those choking hazard strings attaching the blinds together. You won't need the strings anymore, so no need to be careful on this step. Simply cut the strings and pull out the slats as you go.

Step 3: Trash Those Cords!!

Take those choking hazards—I mean, leftover strings and cords—to the trash can where they belong!! Let's get those as far away as possible from the kiddos.

Step 4: Cut Down the Blind Slats to Size

I didn't want my final product to have holes in them where the strings had been, so I decided to chop the slats into sections, cutting right where the holes were using a miter saw. You can use any sharp bladed tool (jig saw, circular saw, or even a hack saw), but the miter saw allowed me to cut several vinyl slats at once!

You'll need to keep a few long slats aside if you plan to make a narrow, rectangular planter. You're going to need to cut at least 22 short slats for a rectangular planter, or 11 short slats for a square one. My vinyl blinds were really wide and long, so I easily had 100 short slats to work with! The little end pieces were only about 4 inches long, so I set those ones aside for now. Perhaps they'll make it into another repurposing project soon...

**Note that however you choose to cut these, the blinds are made of plastic and will blow fine plastic bits EVERYWHERE! Make sure to wear proper safety gear (glasses and a mask) so you don't end up breathing in or consuming plastic!**

Step 5: Plan Out Your Design and Lay It Out

Depending on the size of the intended space, you might want to make a long rectangular planter, or maybe a square or two. My backyard nook consisted of one narrow wall and one long wall, so I decided to create a rectangle and two squares for the space!

With all the small slats in hand, I started to lay out the design on top of the long slats, making sure to space them equally, covering any holes on the long slats. You can have the ends of the horizonal (short) slats stick out the side, or make them flush with the vertical slats. Whichever way YOU like works best! I chose to make the edges flush for a more contemporary and sleek vibe.

It took about 22 short slats (placed horizontally) and two long slats (placed vertically) to create the rectangle one. And for the square, it took 11 short slats (placed horizontally) and two short slats (placed vertically).

The exact dimensions and number of slats will vary based on how long your blinds are to begin with, as well as how wide each slat is.

Just lay them out and play around with the spacing until you get a design you like!

Step 6: Start Gluing

I used a caulk gun and liquid nails to adhere my slats together. Whatever glue you use, be sure to apply enough so that it will stick, but not TOO much that it squirts out the side and makes a big mess!

Also, be sure to work on a level surface so you can get all the slats straight. This should be in an area where you can leave them to dry for several hours, or even overnight.

I found as I glued the slats together, they were always sliding around and I had to be careful not to touch them or else all my hard work had to be redone.

After all the slats were in position (and as level as possible!), I carefully laid down some old baseboards on top and a few heavy items to weigh down the slats. This helped to clamp down the glue while it was drying. I let it dry overnight to make certain the slats and glue would hold.

**I suppose if you had enough clamps available, you could actually clamp each slat together after you glue it for a tight fit while it dries! Since I didn't have that many clamps, I went with a more creative solution.**

Step 7: Painting!

Once dry, the planter is officially complete. If you like the white color, you are good to go!

If you want a little touch of color then painting is the next step. I had some extra "Teton Blue" paint by Behr that I used for a shiplap feature wall inside our house. I used our paint sprayer (HomeRight Finish Max Super) to quickly spray the slats, but you could use a low nap paint roller or paintbrush to get the same effect.

I didn't take any pictures while I was painted because, well, my hands were a little busy. 😁

Look how beautiful that blue is!! I'm glad I chose to paint it.

Step 8: Upcycled Planter Containers

This is a separate DIY in and of itself, but seeing as I was already repurposing the blinds I decided to get creative with the containers, too!

You can obviously go and purchase some pre-made planter boxes like *these* from Amazon but what’s the fun in that?! 😁

1. I started by collecting various plastic containers of various sizes. Large yogurt containers seemed to work best for this project, but I also made a few smaller ones out of empty wood filler containers, and a tall, narrow one from a raisins container.

2. If you need to finish off the last few bites of yogurt before you can start, go ahead and do that. I don't recommend eating the wood filler, though. 😉 Once the container is empty of its contents, be sure to wash and thoroughly dry it.

3. Cut the top lip off of your plastic container. You can also cut one side a little bit lower to give it a nice curved shape!

4. I've seen people up-cycle old containers to make them look like they were made of plaster or ceramics. Typically, they will use Plaster of Paris and smother it all over the outside of the container in an organic, handmade way. Since I didn't have Plaster of Paris, I decided to use some extra, pre-mixed joint compound. I used an oil painting knife and spread the compound all over the outside and bottom of each container. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I wanted these plastic containers look like they had an organic, ceramic feel. Let it dry overnight or for a full day if you are patient enough!

5. If you want to skip over that last step, that's totally fine! Simply move on to drill drainage holes in the bottom and one on the top back to use for hanging it later.

6. Paint the containers to give them a final, finished look. I chose a glossy charcoal grey (which I had on hand from another painting project) and painted them using our spray painter. It was a little difficult to use the sprayer because these containers are so light and they easily knocked over during the process--I probably should have put some rocks in the bottom to weigh them down while painting.

7. Let them dry! And hang them using S hooks on your new repurposed blind planter wall!

**Because the plastic containers were pretty thin and flimsy, after the joint compound dried, they were pretty fragile. I accidentally squished the side of one and the compound cracked! Not sure how long these will hold up, especially being outside, but since the cost was free (except for my time) I'll risk it for now. I think the finished, painted product turned out great!

Step 9: Fill Planters With Faux Foliage

This is where you really get to choose how you want your planter wall to look! I decided on some faux succulents, grasses, and trailing foliage to put in mine. I bought them at Hobby Lobby and spent *quite* a bit because I wanted them to be good quality faux plants. I’ll justify the expense knowing that these will definitely stay alive much longer than other outdoor plants I’ve tried to water, fertilize, and ultimately kill. I don’t have much of a green thumb.

I also wanted to use faux plants because where I live, real succulents can't survive outdoors in the winter. I really wanted to add a nice pop of greenery outside that I could enjoy during ANY season!

You *could* try to grow REAL plants or make this into an herb garden, although with the weight of soil, water, and a plant, it might be too much for these vinyl slats to handle. I guess that is the biggest downside to using these vinyl slats instead of just building a planter wall from wood!

I quickly discovered that even some of my faux plants only worked if I hung them from the side of the slat planter wall, instead of in the middle; the weight of the containers put a slight strain on the vinyl slat, pulling it away from the wall.

Step 10: Install Your Planter Slat Wall

I purchased these black brackets on Amazon for $10 for a pack of 10. In order to install them to the exterior wall, I first measured the distance between the slats and it was about 16" wide. Using that measurement to mark a level line on the wall, I drew out where I would need to place the brackets so the slat panel could fit perfectly.

I drew where the holes should go, then used a drill bit to drill through the stucco. Next came installing the hardware directly to the wall by screwing them in using the provided hardware. Last, I hung the planter from the brackets by placing the top slat over the brackets.

The final touch was placing the S hooks into the planter containers and hanging them from the planter wall. I put one container on each square panel, and three offset on the rectangular wall panel.

Step back and ENJOY!

Step 11: The Final Reveal!!

I love how this repurposed, up-cycled project worked out! Sure, it took some time and creativity, but it utilized a bunch of things I already had on hand! I'm hopeful that this will last even during the fall wind storms and winter snow, providing me a little pop of color and greenery even when the weather gets wintery.

Let me know in the comments below if you think you'd like to try this planter wall, or if you're inspired to at least upcycle some materials from around your house. Best wishes on your projects!!

Step 12: Things I Learned...And Costs Revealed

Weight distribution:

I mentioned earlier that the weight of the containers and faux plants started to pull on the vinyl slat, especially on the square planter I made. I think because the plant was placed right in the middle of the slat, it pulled away from the wall about an inch.

The rectangular planter worked better because I offset the plants, one on the left and two on the right. The weight was much better distributed that way!!

Cost:

So, while this is titled as an up-cycled project, I realize that I had a lot of these things on hand already. If you end up buying all of the supplies (not including the power tools) here's the cost:

• vinyl faux wood blinds $36

• liquid nails $4

• caulk gun $12

• paint (cost varies by color and quality) ~$7 for a sample size

• plastic containers, bought on Amazon, $19 for 7 wall containers

OR recycled: basically FREE!! Technically, $3-$5 per container of yogurt/raisins/etc

• Plaster of Paris $10

• S hooks $2 for 5

• brackets for mounting on wall, $10 for 10 brackets

• faux plants (I spent $70 🙄 at Hobby Lobby on all these faux succulents! They are great quality and I do think they will last a LONG time! But, if I had waited for a seasonal sale, I could have bought them for much less; I was not patient, though, and bought them at full price!)

_________ TOTAL: $161 ____________

Total cost for me/using what I had on hand:

• $70, faux plants

• $2, S hooks

• $10, wall brackets

_________TOTAL $82 ________