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Design ideas for a built-in planter

pam kueber - Updated: November 3, 2020

Retro Renovation stopped publishing in 2021; these stories remain for historical information, as potential continued resources, and for archival purposes.

Lynne writes, asking for some advice:
Hi Pam – About two weeks ago my husband and I purchased a 1959 ranch home in Florida.  Just inside the front door is a brick planter with wooden slats that divides the dining room from the living room.  I have seen this type of thing before, but have not come across any solutions as to what might be done with it.  I don’t want to demolish the thing, but would like to get rid of the slats.  There is dirt and gravel in the planter.  Perhaps you or your readers may have some ideas.
Thanks,
Lynne in Kansas
Of course, I ask for Lynne to tell me more:

Hi Pam – I am a real estate appraiser and you could say it’s my hobby.  In the past couple of years I have been watching the prices in Florida, in the meantime my husband and I went to Texas and Panama looking at possible retirement/vacation homes.  I love the east coast of Florida, and we traveled down there from our home in Kansas City about a month ago and saw 15 homes in one day.  I was specifically looking for a ranch home that had not been renovated.  I wanted terrazzo floors and many of the homes we saw had ceramic tiles installed over the terrazzo.  I was looking for something with at least three bedrooms within walking distance to the beach.  When I saw our home that morning, I loved it, although we kept looking.  At the end of the day, although we had seen newer homes that had been renovated – this was just the house for me.  It has a pink bathroom and a seafoam green bathroom, an inground pool and a detached two-car garage.  The home was built in 1959 and the kitchen seems to be fairly original (cabinets are definitely original) although the appliances had been replaced during the 70’s.  We pulled up the carpets and had the floors refinished – that is actually happening this week while we are back in Kansas City.  The floors are the only renovation I will be doing.  The one thing I am not sure of is the brick planter between the dining area and the living room.  I wonder if any of your readers have encountered anything like this.  I would like to remove the wooden slats, but then will be left with a fairly low structure right where someone could run into it!  I am considering some sort of widely spaced shelves where the slats are now.  The planter contains gravel with dirt underneath.  (I hope no insects!).   I love reading your web page – I no longer worry about the pink bathroom!  I have always loved danish modern mid century furniture, so now I am having a great time shopping for some cool stuff for the house.

Thanks so much – I have attached a photo of my husband Larry and me.  I would have taken a photo at the house but we won’t be back there for another couple of weeks.
Thank you, Lynne! You two are so cute, and you’re Florida house: I’m jealous! Meanwhile, I’ll throw this one open to readers. Readers: What kind of ideas do you have for Lynne and her planter?

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Comments

  1. Peter says

    Well…I’d keep the planter (you’re in FLA, after all). Barring that, I’d empty/clean-out the planter, use the empty space for storing stuff, and place a top with capotinne (sp?) leather a-la Barcelona Bench. The slats are great. I’d leave them and even consider centering a period un-framed (wraparound canvas) painting to highlight this feature.

  2. Sara in WA says

    I’ve always liked those planters so why not leave it for a while and see if you like living with it. I like the slats because they are unique and original to your house. If you have a cat – make a bench. Otherwise I’d paint the slats and the brick the same color so it looks more like one piece. And an accent color might be nice to define the entry. Might be easier to spray paint those slats. If you do plants, which would soften the hard lines, replace the soil and you can put empty plastic liter bottles in the bottom for drainage and to save on potting soil. Love your house from what we can see! Congratulations on such a great, fun place to enjoy. And when I’m soaked and Gavin is frozen . . .we’ll dream of your place and be jealous.

    • Lynne says

      Thanks for the advice – I am going to paint the entire thing after we get the furnishings in, and choose a nice accent color. It will probably become one of my favorite features!

    • Carolyn says

      though hard to tell in this photo, the glass has a frosted pattern on it. I think converting the planter into a bench/landing pad almost console/entry table might be a great idea, and I like the idea of there being some sort of divider where the slats currently are, glass would allow light though, something w/ a slight pattern or some sort of design would be cool. There are a lot of retro-glass options out there.

  5. Gavin Hastings says

    Ok…my last comment for the day…I promise!

    I think part of the problem here is that we are imagining a finished product and comparing it to the photo above. There is a reason why I used a $ sign when I previously wrote the word $uggestions….

    The planter WILL look completely different with greenery yes,even silk.

    I think what will really make it spectacular is AFTER you furnish this room….pick up one accent color…and for 7.99 -paint the slats a color harmonious to the furnishings of both the living room and dining area.

    I don’t know if you are responsible for the nuetral color….but adding a popping color will make this a real focal point. Best wishes in your new home.

    • Lynne says

      Thank you – I am leaning toward leaving the slats after reading all the posts. I was looking for an original home so I should play up those features. I will not remove the slats – your idea of painting them an accent color and highlighting the feature is a good one. I took the photo the day we got the keys to the house – so the carpets had yet to be removed and I will definitly think about an alternative to the existing door. There is a courtyard from the front and sliding doors with a small inground pool, the entire thing is fenced so a front door with glass panels would not be a problem. Thank you so much for your input!

    • Lynne says

      Thanks – I am taking your advice to paint the slats an accent color – the terrazzo has a lot of moss green and light brown in it with a white/off white background so we will see how that turns out after it has been refinished. I like greens and blues – would you paint the entire thing – including the bricks on the lower part of the planter or just the slats?

      Thanks!

      • Gavin Hastings says

        Brick color/floor color

        Slats/accent color

        But you really won’t know until you begin. My gut feeling is that to paint the brick a contrast to the floor may make a bit MORE of a room divider than you really want. I think it might become not a focal point….but something really jarring in the corner of your eye….no matter where in the room you look.

        Before painting the bricks…take a trip to the art store and purchase a few sheets of mat board (which is available in a million colors) and just rest a few pieces up against the brick and live with it for a few days.

        See you in January!!!

        • Lynne says

          That’s a great idea about the mat board. You guys are welcome to drop your suitcases off anytime 🙂

          Thanks!

  6. Frank says

    Okay, I took a cue from Annie B’s Pete and Trudy room divider and came across this bookshelf/room divider from Target. I don’t know if the dimensions would work, but you could place one or two of these on top of the brick planter.

    http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_n1Jgy6WlY9E/SoQ8Ajw_RSI/AAAAAAAADrI/srQOKrbQB3w/s400/desmond%2Bscreen.bmp&imgrefurl=http://www.mattersofstyleblog.com/2009/08/mad-men-redux.html&usg=__z39KSSCVJydAsdyTnwMksvRNflE=&h=289&w=400&sz=12&hl=en&start=62&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=jMPjq3a1HTQF6M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3DMad%2BMen%2BPete%2Band%2BTrudy%2527s%2Bapartment%26start%3D54%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26ndsp%3D18%26tbs%3Disch:1

      • Lynne says

        Thank you Frank – love the photos and that Desmond screen would be perfect. The only problem with the slats is that they block the view completely when looked at from dead-on, but the screen you pictured is see-through. Maybe I can find something similar. Thank you!

  7. Larry says

    I like the ideas of using fabric or glass in some way to replace the slats, but I would do it a bit differently. I would build, or have built, three long narrow boxes from 1×2 pieces of a nice wood. I would have the builder route a groove down the length of each piece so that the glass or fabric stretched on a piece of thin board could slide into the groove so it appeared to be floating inside the box. It would create more of a panel with a thick chunky wood frame. I’d attach each panel to the ceiling and the planter box below with a round dowel affixed to the panel right in the middle at the top and bottom sort of like it was spinning on an axis but of course they wouldn’t spin. I would space each panel apart so they weren’t touching. Well, I can see it all in my head at least!

    • Lynne says

      AHHHHH! That’s a wonderful idea – What you can’t really see from the photo is that when you look at the slats from straight on, it creates a solid visual barrier. Thanks so much – that’s really creative!

  9. Annie B. says

    How about a room divider like the one in Trudy and Pete’s apartment in “Mad Men”? I love the slats, myself, and the monstera idea.

  10. Heidi Swank says

    I, too, think that you should keep the slats. They define without placing a barrier. I also agree with the idea of putting succulents in the planter. My neighbors did the same thing in the planter that sits under their carport and by their front door and gets no sun. They planted a variety of succulents and whatever survived they planted more of.

    As for the front door, which I agree needs to go, there is a company here in Las Vegas, who made front and back doors for our 1959 rental house. The front is solid core with birch outside with three square windows down the middle and the back door is the same but made of fiberglass as it gets lots of Vegas sun. However, unlike the high price of Crestview doors, we bought both doors custom made and installed for about $1500. It would be a bit more for you with the shipping, but still way below what Crestview charges. Email me if you are interested.