Mr. Frugalista found this narrow solid core 5-panel door at our local salvage yard that most likely came from a broom closet in an old home. When he brought it home he leaned it against the house on our deck and there it stayed for several days.

One sunny morning while enjoying my first coffee of the day still clad in my pj's (it's not nearly as relaxing showered and fully dressed) I looked over at the door and then at the wooden flower planter beside it and an Old 5-Panel Door Repurposed Into A Flower Box was born.

The idea to add a gable roof and turn the panels into oxidized tin came later.

How To Repurpose An Old Door Into A Flower Box

The old 5-panel door was hot off the truck at the salvage yard and they were just removing the hardware when Mr. Frugalista walked in the door.

Step 1: Painting the door

First, it got a fresh coat of chalk paint in the color Vanilla Frosting followed by light distressing around the edges. Normally I wax my chalk painted pieces but because this was going to be used outdoors in direct sunlight I gave it a couple coats of exterior poly. I applied a coat of dark glaze and wiped off the excess to keep the integrity of it being an old door.


The panels were just begging for a little something special and that's when I got the idea of inserting sheets of tin that looked like they had been oxidized from the elements over time.

Thanks to Modern Masters, I tried their Copper Metal Effects Kit and was thrilled to get the look of oxidized copper at a fraction of the cost by using galvanized tin.

Step 2: Punching graphics onto the tin panels

Note: This was a great idea, had I not decided to oxidize the tin. Once it was oxidized the punched graphics literally disappeared unless the sun shines on them at just the right angle. You may want to avoid this step OR just do this instead of the oxidization.

The graphics were found online and printed on regular bond paper. Using an Awl and a hammer, punched the graphic onto each sheet of tin. The masking tape around the sheets was to avoid cutting myself because they had very sharp edges.

Step 3: Oxidizing galvanized tin

Now, this is where the fun began. Included in the Modern Masters Copper Metal Effects Kit are Copper Primer, Reactive Metallic Paint, and Green Patina Aging Solution.


First I rolled three coats of Copper Primer onto the tin sheets, letting them dry 30 minutes. Already it looks like real copper.

After waiting 12 hours for the primer to completely dry I rolled one coat of Copper Reactive Metallic Paint. You would have a hard time believing those sheets were not copper unless you flipped them over. Kind of like flipping over dinnerware at a party to see if it's expensive china. Come on, we've all done it.

After 30 minutes I rolled another coat of copper reactive metallic paint but before it was dry I spritzed it with Green Patina Aging Solution and watched the magic happen.

Step 4: Building the gable roof

Step 5: Attaching the gable roof

Step 6: Attaching the tin panels

The tin panels were attached with glue and small upholstery nails. They look so amazing, especially when the sun hits just right revealing the punched graphics.

Step 7: Adding the wooden flower planter