I know it is a little early for Spring, don't get all excited now, but as a business man you must be thinking a season ahead all the time. So I was taking some time today to look at what I made as planters last year and how can I improve or change it to accommodate the newer styles that are trending. Here are some of the pieces that I made last year. I did well with some but not with the others.
This V shaped planter was a good hit, I made it with tongue and groove sides and then stained it in a Wedgewood Blue. I would suggest using a Marine Varnish or stain for exterior finish.
Then I played with the style a bit and tried the stain of traditional wood finish, instead of a paint. It was ok and my customers liked them but not as much as the original.
I made three different sizes of this style. Seems that the customers liked the middle one for decks and pathways. The larger ones were for front porches.
Then I played with the V shape again and made it more decorative, instead of the farm style planter. This stain is an Espresso, my most popular stain of all interior and exterior stain.
This planter is unique as it has the top part for a container type garden or plant, like a crawler that hangs that does not require deep soil for rooting. The interior or bottom is a door and a place to store your hose with a hole in the back to access the hose.
Next is the lovely square planter, a popular one with the senior ladies. They like that it is wide enough to hold several different styles and that they can put a chair beside it to work in the bed or container. Many used this one for vegetables, like carrots.
This one is stained in an Early American. I use a minwax (yellow tin) of wiping stain.
This one I sold a few. It is like one of the other ones, it has storage for your garden tools and seeds. Good for small spaces or condo patio's, only challenge was that it got heavy when the soil was wet to lift the top to access the tools.
Lastly I made this planter which is just a simple basic planter. The customers liked it but not as much as the others.
So those are some of the models I am thinking about making for my Mother's Day run this year. I encourage your feedback and any suggestion to alterations that I need to make.
Canadian Wood Guy
All photography is mine