Cinder Block Planter and Succulent Brick Wall

04 Aug Cinder Block Planter and Succulent Brick Wall

Welcome to our SB Sunday LIVING edition!  Today’s feature is a Vertical and Cinder Block Planter I created for my patio.  My husband and I recently moved from Dallas to Denver.  We decided to rent for a year or two (before biting another buying bullet) and found a perfect little bungalow in Congress Park.  And while we LOVE our new home (and super cool hood) we’re finding it’s really hard to go from owners to renters.  We were so used to making updates as we wanted or needed which made sense as homeowners.  However, as renters it doesn’t quite make sense for us to say, install a farmhouse sink or have the backyard landscaped.  Which is where today’s post comes in.  So our new “backyard” is less like a yard and more like a concrete jungle.  For now, let’s just refer to it  as our patio.  We were told that whatever we planted would have to be removed before we go so we’re not quite sure what we’re gonna do back there.  Perhaps an vegetable garden?  Ok, but back to project number one.  I’m not quite sure whom, but someone left a very large pile of wood scraps and cinder blocks on our patio.  And just when I was about to call our property manager to ask her to please have them removed – the very tiny DIY side of me kicked in.  I remembered seeing a post on one of my favorite home interior blogs – The Hunted Interior.  Kristin, crazy talented mastermind behind The Hunted Interior, created this stellar Concrete Planter/Bar.

After creating the basic structure of my planter I followed Kristin’s step-by-step instructions.  Using my measurements I began cutting the chicken wire and placing the landscape cloth within each block.  However, I did do just a couple of things differently.

First, I decided not to glue the cinder blocks together.  I planned to – bought the construction glue and everything – but then my husband reminded me that we’re renting – and that most likely this planter will have to be moved in a year and it would be much easier to disassemble if we didn’t use glue.  He thinks of everything.  🙂  The second thing I did differently to add my own twist was I incorporated a Vertical Planter with some of the extra bricks left behind.  I used a helpful tutorial found on Upcycle That.

We were pretty happy with the results and since we still have a pile of cinder blocks left think we’ll tackle Kristin’s Planter/Bar for patio project number two so stay tuned!