Sometimes it takes being challenged to see something through a different lens. Today is another Int'l Bloggers Club challenge and the theme this month is Iron. This one had me stumped for days until I remembered something buried deep in my stash that I've never found a use for.

A wrought iron door knocker! But I also found a barrel stave in there too and well the rusty gears in the old noggin started turning. Several hours later I emerged from the workshop with a unique barrel stave outdoor wall planter for our back gate and I'm thrilled with the results.

Repurposed Iron Door Knocker Wine Stave Flower Planter

Had it not been for our challenge this month, I don't think I would have ever thought to put a barrel stave and an iron door knocker together.

Creativity involves breaking out of established patterns in order to look at things in a different way.
~Edward de Bono

The fleur-de-lis door knocker has been buried in the box for so long that I don't remember when or where I got it. I'm a sucker for anything French so it's no surprise that I bought it without having a purpose in mind. I knew one day I'd figure out what to do with it and I'm so happy today's that day.

So I have the ornamental iron door knocker and the barrel stave but now I need something for a flower pot.

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So many times I've stood looking at this barrel stave wondering what in the heck to do with it. I contemplated turning it into a stool but I don't think that would be very comfortable. But adding legs was definitely up there on my list of ideas.

If you haven't heard of our Int'l Bloggers Club, we are a group of blogging friends from around the globe who come together on the third Monday of every month to share a themed DIY project. Links to my uber-talented friend's iron-inspired ideas are included further down in the post.

We have members from Spain, South Africa, Australia, the USA, and Canada. The theme for our last challenge was silk or linen where I made a No Sew Tailored Bed Skirt For Adjustable Beds.

Before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to make the barrel stave outdoor wall planter, almost all of the DIY projects shared here at Interior Frugalista have step-by-step tutorials so why not get your budget DIY on and subscribe. You can also follow us on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.

Thanks to our challenge we now have a lovely barrel stave outdoor planter hanging on our back gate and I love it.

The plan was to use a flower pot that fits inside the metal ring of the door knocker. The problem was the flowers covered the ornate details of the door knocker.

Onto plan B...

I found the turquoise metal flower pot at the dollar store. The hanger was perfect to bend around the door knocker ring so the flower pot could hang instead.

I could have left things alone because the pretty pop of turquoise is a nice juxtaposition between the rustic iron door knocker and the barrel stave. Instead, I decided to age the flower pot with some rustic charm.

I'm not 100% sure that was a good idea because the turquoise color really popped. Too late now! Would you have left the turquoise flower pot as is?

How To Make A Barrel Stave Outdoor Wall Planter

Enough chatter, I've included the instructions below for how to make the barrel stave outdoor wall planter.

Step 1 - Whitewashed Barrel Staves

This step is completely optional. While I love the natural wood on the oak staves, the door knocker looked lost against the dark wood. One option would be to paint the iron door knocker but I chose to whitewash the barrel stave instead.

First, I sanded the oak staves to remove the glossy finish. Then I brushed the staves with a whitewash glaze, brushing the glaze both vertically and horizontally to get it deep into the grain of the wood.

I let the glaze sit for a couple of minutes before removing the excess with a lint-free rag. You can see the process in the photo below.

Step 2 - How To Age A Metal Flower Pot

This step is completely optional. I aged the dollar store flower pot hanger to match the galvanized metal hoops on the barrel stave. I still wanted some of the pretty turquoise color to peek through the finish. Pictured below are the products I used to achieve the galvanized patina.

Big difference, right? Here's a close-up of the dollar store $1.50 metal flower pot before the galvanized paint finish.

To achieve the galvanized look I painted the pot with layers of paint that I had on hand, starting with a dark gray.

The first layer is hurricane gray chalk paint brushed in random brush strokes with an inexpensive chip brush. For the remaining layers of paint, applied it with the same chip brush, some of the wet paint was removed by dabbing it with a lint-free rag as follows.

1. Layer One - Hurricane Gray chalk paint (Dixie Belle Paint Company)
2. Layer Two - Metallic Silver paint (Modern Masters)
3. Layer Three - Pewter Gray chalk paint (FAT Paint Company)
4. Layer Four - Copper Primer, Metallic Copper paint, and Green Patina (Modern Masters)
5. Layer Five - Blackened Bronze Metallic Surfaces (Sophisticated Finishes)
6. Layer Six - Wicker White Multi-Surface craft paint (Folk Art)

Here's another technique for achieving a galvanized metal patina with paint but without the aging that I did on my rustic garden hand tool organizer.

Step 3 - Assembling Outdoor Wall Planter

Assembling the outdoor wall planter was quick and easy. First, I attached the door knocker to the barrel stave with 3/4-inch wood screws. To cover the screw heads, I dabbed some blackened bronze and copper primer paint with an art brush to match the wrought iron.

Next, I bent the hanger on the flower pot over the ring of the door knocker. Then I attached a D-ring picture hanger onto the back of the barrel stave and hung it on our gate. Last but not least, I planted pretty pink petunias for a pop of color.

Thanks for stopping by the Interior Frugalista today! I hope you were inspired by this one-of-a-kind wall planter idea.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comment section below or the Contact Me tab at the top to drop me an email. I love hearing from you!

If you enjoyed this Repurposed Barrel Stave Outdoor Planter idea, I'd be so thankful if you shared it with a friend and pinned it to your Outdoor Planter Ideas or Outdoor Garden Decor board on Pinterest.

Now let's see my talented friend's iron-inspired ideas by clicking the links below.