Put a Plant on It | DIY Painted Terra Cotta Pots

by | Aug 24, 2016

If your apartment or home is feeling a bit stagnant or void of life, there’s one simple thing that can breathe life back into it, quite literally. Plants. They say that plant ladies are the new cat ladies, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with this. These lush green creatures do more than just plump up the shelving in your home. They come with their own laundry lists of botanically beneficial reasons to keep them around—from helping to purify the indoor and outdoor air toxins to balancing EMF waves emitted by the electronics in your home.

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In the coming months, OTW Contributor Kaitlin McHugh will be introducing you to different house plants in our newest monthly series “Put a Plant On It”. This new series will cover every nervous new plant momma and poppa’s burning questions: from how much light, water, and love the green babies need to survive per week to what room in the house they’re best suited to inhabit. Buying pottery to house your green plant babies can sometimes feel like the most expensive part of being a new plant owner. Believe me, if I potted all of my greenery in my favorite ceramic artists’ pieces, I would be deeply in debt. I’m a firm believer in picking your pieces, peppering in the pricier pieces with some less expensive ones. In an effort to ensure that your plants have beautiful new pots in which to call home, Kaitlin and I decided a DIY painted planter piece would be the perfect way to kick off the new series.

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WHAT YOU NEED

terra cotta pots

painters tape or washi tape **

paint brushes

a few acrylic paints in the color palette of your choosing

your imagination

** If you’re working with tighter lines and smaller pots, the washi tape is the way to go


  1. Using the painters tape or washi tape, outline your chosen design (pppsssttt: triangles make for quick + easy implementation)

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2.  Choose your color palette for the terra cotta pot and fill in the painters tape lines

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3. Let the paint dry

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4. Remove the tape

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5. Pot some of your plants in your pretty new planter

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all photos by Justin Zsebe