How to Paint Plant Pots For a Gorgeous Garden Upgrade – Here’s Everything You Need to Know to Get a Great Result and a Beautiful Backyard
Match up all your patio pots and planters, add a pop of color, or create an easy artistic design for a garden accent that’s uniquely yours.
Painting your plant pots is such a quick way to give your garden a quick upgrade for summer. Whether you’ve got a collection of mismatched planters you’ve accumulated over the years, or you simply fancy a new look for your patio, painting pots is an enjoyable job for a sunny afternoon. And don’t worry a jot if you don’t have an artistic bone in your body: you’ll find plenty of ideas here to paint plant pots that are easy to create but seriously stylish. You can paint planters made of terracotta, plastic, resin and metal, and wooden planters too, so this is a lovely way to create a cohesive look in your yard.
You can make your design as simple or detailed as you like. Perhaps you’d like to streamline your planters so they’re all the same color, or maybe you fancy adding a bright rim to your terracotta pots. How about giving your pots a pastel chalky finish, or making a smart house-number container for your front yard?
As patio ideas go, painting pots is such an easy win. Combine your newly fabulous containers with some quick and clever DIY planter ideas and some low-maintenance plants that thrive in containers, and everyone will be impressed! So let's get started, shall we? Here's how to paint plant pots and get a great result, step by step. I've added product links so you know exactly what you need, but do support your local retailers too.
1. Thoroughly Clean and Dry the Pots
Your first job is to give the pots a good scrub with warm soapy water and a stiff brush or scouring pad, then rinse. If pots have any white mineral deposits, use sandpaper first to smooth. Drying the pots is just as important. Terracotta is porous so it’s best to leave this to dry for at least 24 hours.
2. Prep the Pots for Painting
If your pots have a glossy finish, whether they’re made of plastic, resin or metal, lightly sand all over with 180 grit sandpaper, such as this from Amazon, and wipe off the dust. This creates a scuffed, slightly rough surface that the paint can adhere to.
Painting a terracotta pot? These don't need sanding but you must seal them inside and out. Terracotta is porous so if you skip this stage, moisture will seep from the soil through the pot walls and cause the paint to peel. Use FolkArt All-Purpose Sealer, available from Amazon, as it’s safe for use with plants. Using a flat synthetic brush such as this from Amazon, paint on two coats of sealer, inside and out, ensuring the first coat is dry before applying the second. Sealer can get sticky at it dries, so set your pot down on wax paper as you work.
3. Paint Your Pot
Use a product that’s a paint and primer in one, that’s suitable for exterior use. I recommend BEHR Premium Interior/Exterior Spray Paint and Primer, which adheres well to all sorts of surfaces including plastic, resin, terracotta, metal and wood. The standard paint is available in 38 colors and a range of finishes from matte to gloss. There are hammered, textured, metallic and faux stone options too, so you can find a paint that’ll perfectly match your garden style. The Home Depot has a great selection, priced $6.98 for a 12-ounce bottle, and $9.98 for a 11-ounce speciality finish.
This Oil Rubbed Bronze Satin finish gives a vintage look, or how about a Gold Gloss Hammered finish for a luxe vibe? If you want bright, then this Hidden Sea Glass turquoise is such a vibrant tone, or are you brave enough for Unmellow Yellow Gloss? Royal Purple Gloss will bring just as much drama but in a more subtle way, as will Ocean Abyss.
When spraying a pot, I find inserting a bamboo cane through the drainage hole saves me from getting a coat of paint too. Always spray outdoors, and protect the area well with an old sheet or cardboard. You’ll get best results with multiple thin coats, holding the spray can at 45° and constantly keeping it in motion – think about applying multiple short sweeps of color, rather than one long, continual spray.
Painters’ masking tape will help you create designs with different colors, but do use good-quality tape such as this from Amazon if you want clean, precise edges.
Check out all the ideas below for design inspo.
4. Add Details With Acrylic Paint
Acrylic paint designed for outdoor as well as indoor use can be used to add details. If you’re working with a terracotta pot, then you can apply acrylic paint directly to the pot without spraying it first. For other materials, it’s best to spray on an initial coat as the paint will act as a primer for the acrylic paint to adhere to.
Use synthetic or nylon artist's paintbrushes such as these from Amazon for best results.
An acrylic paint set such as this from Amazon with 18 59ml bottles of individual colors is an economical way to get a wide range of tones.
5. Apply a Protective Sealant
This step isn’t necessary if you’ve simply sprayed your pots with exterior-proof spray, but if you’ve used acrylic paint – especially if you’ve used it to cover the whole pot – then a protective topcoat of sealant will make your pots more durable. Use a spray-on clear acrylic sealant suitable for exterior use such as Aleene’s Acrylic Sealer, available from Amazon in matte, gloss and super-gloss finishes.
Apply two coats, ensuring that the first is dry before spraying on the second.
Leave your painted pot to fully cure for 48 hours before planting.
Paint-a-Pot Inspiration
All these 10 ideas are easy to achieve, even if you don't think you're much of an artist! Which one will suit your garden best?
Cohesive Color
Painting pots to match your garden furniture is such a great way to add a garden accent, especially if you also use plants like this fabulous geranium (pelargonium) in the same color. Or how about planting a clematis in a container painted to match the tone of its showstopper flowers?
House Number Planters
Making house-number planters to sit on your front step or outside your porch is both pretty and practical. These numbers have been marked out with masking tape, and the dainty flowers created by pressing a small artist’s paintbrush against the pot, so even if you don’t think you have an ounce of artistic ability, this project is easily achievable! This is a creative way to turn cheap bedding plants into a unique garden centerpiece and it's a quick job to switch in seasonal blooms so it always looks good.
Chalky Finish
Chalk-finish paint gives a wonderful textured matte finish that works really well to show off foliage and flowers, and brings interior vibes to help turn your deck into an outside living space without spending a fortune. BEHR Premium Interior/Exterior Spray Paint is available in a chalky super-matte finish and three tones from the range are suitable for exterior as well as interior use: Linen White, Chiffon Cream and Aged Grey are all stocked by The Home Depot.
Geometric Shapes
If you don't feel confident about creating a design with a paintbrush, then here's an idea that relies entirely on spray paint and masking tape. The geometric design is so striking and the trio of planters make a dramatic front yard addition.
Aged Effect
For an aged effect, apply a coat of a lighter tone paint over a darker toned paint. When fully dry, rub wire wool over the pot to remove some of the top coat. The key to getting a good result is to remove more paint from the areas that would naturally get more wear, such as the raised rim. Imagine using this technique to age a planter, then plugging its drainage hole with sealant to create a patio water feature with a solar-powered floating fountain: the perfect mix of vintage and modern.
Detailed Drawing
Acrylic paint pens make it easy to create more detailed patterns. Do make sure you choose markers that are suitable for outdoor as well as indoor use, though, such as these from Amazon. Acrylic markers make it straightforward to add words, too, so how about painting pots for your collection of herbs, each with the plant name written around the pot rim?
Bright Stripes
This stripy effect was achieved using masking tape. You’ll need to paint this in layers to get this overlapping effect, ensuring paint is fully dry before sticking tape on top. This would be a fun treatment if you're growing compact veggie varieties in containers, choosing colors that match the tones of whatever your harvest will be.
Paint Splatter Speckles
Try a paint-splatter effect by flicking paint from your paintbrush, with a solid band around the pot rim. This pretty effect would suit a solid-sided hanging basket so well, planted with trailing blooms.
Mosaic Effect
This mosaic pot is so appealing, yet it’s simple to achieve. The pot was given a coat of light-toned paint, then small blocks drawn on with pencil and filled in with paint. But what’s really clever is the addition of thin dark line along the base and right side of each ‘tile’, applied with a fine brush, to create a 3D effect.
Contract Pot Rims
Applying a deep angled band to the top of pots is such a simple idea, yet looks incredibly stylish. How about using this idea to turn that stash of old terracotta pots behind your shed into handy containers for gardening bits and bobs to DIY a garden storage upgrade?
Have fun painting your pots and creating a unique, characterful look for your garden.
