Making a planter out of an old file cabinet is easy to do in about 30 minutes and will cost less than $10 in supplies! Quick, easy, high-impact DIY project for your yard and garden.
I originally saw this idea from builds_by_Kristen on Tiktok, click for her tutorial.
Where to Find a File Cabinet
It is really easy to find a file cabinet for free or very cheap! Here are some places I’ve found them for free:
- Facebook Marketplace
- Local Classifieds
- Yard Sales
- On the side of the road (yes, this is a thing!)
Supplies needed for turning a file cabinet into a planter:
- 1 file cabinet
- 2 cans spray paint
- 1 drill wide bit
- 10 cubic feet potting soil
How to Make a File Cabinet Planter Box
- First, take out all the drawers. If it’s been sitting watch out for spiders.
- Clean the cabinet, if necessary.
- Lay it down on its side so the openings are facing up.
- Drill drain holes – don’t skip this! Drain holes are important for plants to grow properly.
- Spray paint the cabinet your desired color. (affiliate link)
- Let dry (this part takes the longest).
- Move it to your desired location.
- If desired, run drip tubing through the planter to make it hands-free. This tutorial can be applied to this planter for drip irrigation (the tutorial is at the bottom of the post).
- Fill with soil. I filled the bottom 4 inches of mine with rocks and pieces of cardboard and then tilled the rest with soil. It held 10 cubic feet of soil.
- Plant!
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Use an outdoor spray paint that is made for metal surfaces. Usually, this will be called and “all surface” spray paint and have “interior/exterior” listed on it. You can also use an enamel spray paint. I used a semi-gloss.
Nope, I don’t recommend it. I would use these strictly for non-edible plants. If you’re looking for an easy and quick DIY garden box tutorial, click here.
I had a cabinet like this, there are a few options.
1. If you have the proper tools and can do so safely, you can remove the front from the drawer that fits in the bottom. This will maintain the opening at the top while filling in the bottom portion.
2. If not, you can use a piece of sheet metal and cut it to size like I did here. Once you fill it, it seals enough without fastening it.
3. If you’re putting two next to each other, you can put the open end flush with another cabinet and fasten them together.
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My exclusive Gardening 101 course guides you through each step, from starting seeds to harvest. This course will teach you everything you’ll need to know about planning and growing your own garden.
DIY File Cabinet Planter
Ingredients
- 1 file cabinet
- 2 cans spray paint
- 1 drill wide bit
- 10 cubic feet potting soil
Instructions
- First, take out all the drawers. If it's been sitting watch out for spiders.
- Clean the cabinet, if necessary.
- Lay it down on its side so the openings are facing up.
- Drill drain holes – don't skip this! Drain holes are important for plants to grow properly.
- Spray paint the cabinet your desired color.Let dry (this part takes the longest).
- If desired, run drip tubing through the planter to make it hands-free. This tutorial can be applied to this planter for drip irrigation (the tutorial is at the bottom of the post).
- Move it to your desired location.
- Fill with soil. I filled the bottom 4 inches of mine with rocks and pieces of cardboard and then tilled the rest with soil. It held 10 cubic feet of soil.
- Plant your plants in the planter.
MA says
Veggies are fine to plant. We’ve used our filing cabinets as raised bed planters in our veggie garden for years. We didn’t paint them on the inside. Even if they rust, they’re only adding iron to the soil and that’s a good thing. We filled the bottom third with small logs and sticks, added mulch in top of that and soil on top of the mulch. The wood at the bottom eventually breaks down into soil and nutrients. Yours look great with flowers!
Janet says
You say you would not recommend planting veggies in these planters, but you didn’t give your reasons. Can you please elaborate?
Alli says
The metal and paint are not food-safe. If you painted them with a food-safe product you potentially could unless they start to rust.