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Happy 1st day of Spring!! My cousin Lindsay texted me the other day and asked me to post about our DIY flower boxes. It has been so beautiful lately here in MN, I think we all have spring time sunshine on our minds! So here you go Linds! Hope this brings you some sunshine! Love you.

A couple years ago my aunt and uncle asked us to make flower boxes for their cabin up north. A flower bed or a flower box is a beautiful way to brighten up your outdoor living space! It can add a lot of simple charm and color to your home.

How to Build a Window Box

Materials

• 1×10 and 1×3 cedar
• 5 lag bolts
• Caulk
• 1 quart exterior grade white paint
• 1 quart primer
• Paint roller, pan
• Wood glue
• Hammer
• Wood filler
• Tape measure
• Electric drill
• Drill bits
• Sand paper
• Level

Step One- Cut Boards

Measure the width of the window and cut to your specific window dimensions. We made our window boxes very large! A good dimension for the depth and height is 11″ deep and 8 ” high.

Just remember that once full of plants and soil a window box can be extremely heavy. My aunt had said she ended up putting 160 pounds of dirt into each planter. Luckily, Jamie secured with 5 large lag bolts and hung from them with his body weight to ensure the planters were in for the long haul!! We had also made wooden brackets to support the weight of the boxes.

Step Two- Assemble

Place bottom of window box onto a flat surface. Clamp the front and back boards onto the table and against the bottom window box board to hold securely into place while you drill the front and the back boards onto the bottom board. Repeat for the side boards.

Adding trim provides a clean and finished look to your window boxes. To add trim, cut four pieces the length and height of your box for each side of your window box. Secure into place with a nail gun or nails.

Step Three- Prime and Paint

For a smooth finish make sure to fill in any nail holes with the wood filler prior to painting. Make sure to sand down the wood filler once you have applied.

Using a brush, apply the paint primer to the window boxes. Once paint is dry, apply the paint color. We had used white to match the trim on their cabin.

Make sure to sand down the entire window boxes prior to painting and in-between priming and painting.

Step 4- Hang Window Box

At first we drilled holes into the siding to place our lag bolts. If you aren’t placing such large window boxes you could also secure with screws and nails and secure with a 2×4 block behind the window box and below the window for support.

We clearly had forgotten a ladder… 🙂

 

Step 5- Create Drainage

Drill holes straight through the bottom of the window boxes to allow for drainage. Drill a hole roughly around every 6 inches.

Jamie being the professional waterproofer that he is, waterproofed the boxes to ensure longer life and to protect the cabin so that the water didn’t leak onto the siding.

We also had gotten to the cabin on the beautiful spring day that the mayfly’s hatched. I had never seen anything so crazy in my life. But it made for good laughs and a good story!

Step Six- Fill Window Box

It helps to add an inch or so of gravel prior to adding in the dirt to allow for excess water to drain. Cover gravel with potting soil and add the beautiful flowers and water!

Pallet Flower Holder

Jamie also made me a beautiful pallet planter for our 1st Christmas. We had decided we wanted to make one another Christmas presents. And Jamie being the creative carpenter that he is made me a gorgeous pallet headboard. He had some leftover materials so he put together this pallet flower holder. He of course thought it was “junk” but knew the pallet treasure I would so appreciate!! And it makes for awesome yard art!!