DIY House Number Planter and Rental Friendly Front Porch Decor

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Miracle-Gro. All opinions are 100% mine.

Last week you might remember I shared how I was working on a rental-friendly refresh of our front porch. Today I’m excited to show you the results plus a tutorial for an easy-to-make house number wall planter!

Since we rent our little Venice home I couldn’t make any huge changes to the porch, nor did I want to make the financial investment to do so. I opted to do a few simple things that really gave the porch a face lift. It wasn’t in bad shape before, it just was a bit bland for my taste. The first thing I did was create the house number planter, then I added a pair of rail planters, and finished the refresh by painting the front step a dark gray.

I love how there’s now a little pop of color and texture on the porch. The house number planter makes such a great impact from the street and adds just the right amount of modern decor to the space. The best part is that I was able to fill up all three planters using just one bag of Expand ‘n Gro planting mix. Check out the full tutorial below to learn how you can make your own house number planter.

DIY House Number Planter

Supplies

Extra large galvanized circle wall planter
Modern house numbers
White spray paint + primer
E600 glue
Ruler
Drill + drill bit, for making drainage holes
Miracle-Gro Expand ‘n Gro planting mix
Succulents
Screws, for mounting the planter
Gardening gloves

Directions

1. Start by spray painting the house numbers white, or whatever color you like. Apply one thin, even coat and allow it dry for 1 hour. Repeat another coat and let them dry for 24 hours. This step is optional. I chose to paint the numbers to give them more contrast and make them easier to read.
2. Use a drill with a drill bit fitted for drilling into metal to create 3 drainage holes along the bottom edge of the planter.
3. Use a ruler to align the house numbers on the front of the planter. Apply glue to the back of each number and position into place. It’s easiest to arrange and glue the first and last numbers first, than adjust the middle numbers accordingly. Allow the glue to dry for at least 24 hours (and 48+ if you’re in a humid environment).
4. Hang the planter onto the front of our home using wood screws (or anchors and screws if drilling into plaster/concrete).
5. Fill 1/3 of the planter with Expand ‘n Gro. Slowly add water and use a spade to mix the soil. Once expanded plant your succulents.

After planting the succulents in the wall planter, the rain planters were next. First I removed the rubber drainage plugs so there would be proper drainage in the containers. Next I filled each rail planters 1/3 of the way full with Expand ‘n Gro, added water, mixed the soil to allow it to expand up to 3x and planted the flowers. Easy peezy!

I found it easiest to wet the potting mix using a watering can so I could control the amount of water. You could also use a hose, just start with a little bit of water, get mixing, and add more water as needed. Expand ‘n Grow holds up to 50% more water than regular potting mix and can grow plants up to 3x bigger than native soil so it’s the perfect thing to give your new plants a boost. I used my handy paint-dipped garden spade, an old DIY project from over three years ago, to mix the soil.

The icing on the cake—or rather the new doormat on my freshly painted step is this playful fruit doormat. Just the thing to get the home ready for summer!

Before you place your next Prime order, add a bag of Expand ‘n Gro to your cart and you’re on your way to an easy home makeover. What would you do to refresh your front porch?

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