Our Fixer Upper: Indoor Vertical Herb Garden
In my opinion, nothing brightens up a room and makes it feel perfectly styled like plants and fresh flowers. I try to have a little green in just about every room of the house and whenever I can't figure out what kind of trinket or accessory I need to finish a space, I always reach for a plant. Our mudroom was looking a little blah with all white walls and no decor so I decided I needed to take advantage of all the great light it gets with two full walls of floor to ceiling windows.
It all began with the chalkboard wall, which was my solution to break up all the white in the room and I also felt it was appropriate for a mudroom/entryway area. I used this chalkboard paint from Target and painted two coats on the wall, taping off all the edges and trim with painters tape. The Wooster Shortcut is my favorite brush for trim and I used an inexpensive small roller for the rest. Since I'm kind of in love with black walls lately, I love the way the chalkboard wall looks and I may end up doing another small chalkboard wall section in my kitchen too!
I started thinking about what I could hang on this entryway section of the wall that would pop against the chalkboard paint and that I could also utilize writing on the chalkboard for. I had seen some seriously swoon-worthy indoor and vertical gardens on Pinterest but I never dreamed I would have an appropriate space for something like that. Since this room is right off the kitchen and butler's pantry, I thought that an herb garden would be totally practical and also the perfect opportunity to use the chalkboard element to label each plant. I started looking for hanging planter options and was going to order a system from Ikea that was going to cost around $75 for all the parts and pieces I needed. Thankfully I procrastinated ordering it and the next day I found these vintage metal hanging plant holders at an estate sale for $3 each! I spray painted them with this super pale turquoise from Lowe's and purchased small terracotta pots (under $1 each at Lowe's or Home Depot) that would fit inside them. I got all my herbs at Home Depot and was thrilled that they all happened to be the perfect size to fit inside the pots I got.
The animal head planters were purchased from my favorite home store outside of Charleston, Celadon, but I noticed that they also carry them at Anthropologie now. I didn't purchase them with this project in mind but I found them packed away in a closet from the move and thought this would be the perfect place to hang them together. They are a little trickier to get the plants in because the opening is small but my herbs that are in them seem to be thriving so far! I finished off the wall with a little sign from Target that kind of brings all the colors together and centers the space. I typically don't like these inspirational quote signs but this one was just too perfect for this wall!
I'm about two weeks in and all my plants are still living and many of them have grown significantly since I planted them! This is actually the perfect location for a vertical garden because it's the spot we walk past most each day so I never forget to water! So far I have watered every 2-3 days and that seems to be working well. I'm thrilled with how this little DIY project has brightened up this room and it's the perfect cheery greeting when we walk in the door! You can shop all my materials and sources for this project at the end of this post.
xoxo
Emily
