Elevate your plants with my small outdoor plant stand build plans! These plans use 2×2 lumber and easy pocket hole joinery construction with a cheap painted concrete paver to top things off. See the full free plans here!
Check out my small outdoor plant stand build plans!
I’m not sure about where you live, but spring is in the air here in Maryland! I love flexing a little DIY muscle when the weather gets nice enough to roll the miter saw out into the driveway…and I love a good scrap wood project!
So this one was obviously a rewarding one to whip out one weekend. We used 2×2 lumber from our scrap pile and a concrete paver we had on the back patio. You might recognize it as one of the pavers I painted in my tutorial (now hosted on my other blog) for how to use a Cricut machine to make stencils!
This piece also works well with a few other concrete paver builds we’ve done, including our DIY concrete paver outdoor coffee table—perfect for small patios—and the matching concrete paver side table build. Can you tell I like pavers for topping off outdoor furniture? 🙂
Here’s what we used for this project—
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- (1) piece of 2” by 2” by 8’ lumber (actual measurements: 1 ½” by 1 ½”)
- Saw
- KregJig 720
- Drill, pocket hole bits, and (16) 2 ½” pocket hole screws
- Strong glue
- 12” by 12” concrete paver
- Fine-grit sandpaper
- Outdoor wood finish
- Safety equipment
- Optional: Wood clamps, outdoor acrylic paint
And here are the small outdoor plant stand build plans!
Always take the proper precautions and safety measures before working with any tools or materials. Wear safety equipment and work with a professional to complete projects when necessary. Read my full terms of use and disclosure for more. Happy making and stay safe!
Step 1: Cut the lumber and drill pocket holes
The first step for this project is to cut all the required pieces. Make sure that you wear all the appropriate safety equipment (e.g., protective goggles).
You will need only one piece of 2” by 2” lumber. If you can purchase 2” by 2” lumber by the foot, you will need only 7 feet. However, many hardware stores do not sell 2” by 2” lumber by the foot, instead selling it only in 6’ and 8’ lengths. If that is the case, you will need to purchase one piece of 2” by 2” by 8’ lumber. I purchased pine.
Here is the cut list:
- (4) 12” legs
- (4) 8 ½” supports
Using a pocket hole jig, drill (2) pocket holes in the end of each of the support pieces. This will total 16 pocket holes.
If you are unfamiliar with pocket hole joinery, it is a great skill to learn! Pocket hole joinery creates a strong joint, which is perfect for supporting a heavy concrete paver. I have a guide for using the older KregJig K4, which translates well to the newer Jig you see here in these pics and describes pocket holes.
2. Assemble the wooden base
Use 2 ½” pocket hole screws to attach the support pieces to the top of the leg pieces as shown below. This is all you need to do to create the base.
For this step, it is helpful to have either an extra set of hands to keep things in place, or a few clamps. It would be very hard to complete this project by yourself with no clamps.
Use fine-grit sandpaper to gently sand the entire base, removing splintered areas and prepping the piece for a finish.
3. Finish and seal the wooden base
If you were keeping this piece inside, you would not have to finish and seal the wood. However, for an outdoor plant stand, you will dramatically extend the life of your piece by finishing and sealing the wood.
Use a finish that it designed specifically for outdoor use. It can be a stain, a paint, an oil, a urethane—whatever you want! Just make sure it is designed to protect wood outdoors. I used a semi-opaque stain and sealer in one that I used on our deck posts.
4. Use strong glue to attach the paver to the base
Once the finish is dry, it’s time to finish your little plant stand by adding the top! Glue makes this the easiest step of the tutorial, too. Instead of dealing with drilling into concrete, simply run a thick line of strong glue (like construction adhesive) around the entire perimeter of the top of the base.
Then position the concrete paver over the glue. The weight of the paver negates the need for any clamps. And, as a bonus, the paver covers up all of the pocket holes. Nothing to patch! Once the glue cures fully, you can begin to use your outdoor plant stand.
As an optional step, you can use outdoor acrylic paint to add an embellishment to the paver. I used a stencil I made out of vinyl and metallic green paint to paint a large monstera leaf onto the paver.
And here’s my finished small outdoor plant stand!
I love how this stand turned out, and I’m looking forward to using it through the fall! The best part about this stand is that, when the wood is finished for outdoor use and the paver is adhered with glue that can withstand the outdoor elements, you can use it to display seasonally appropriate greenery all year.
Pin my small outdoor plant stand build plans tutorial!
Brittany is a seasoned DIY home and garden expert, running a creative brand since 2014 that inspires others with approachable plant care guides, woodworking tutorials, and decor projects. She is a certified project manager and has completed extensive coursework in the art and science of growing your own plants. Her work has been recognized by major publications, and she routinely collaborates with fellow DIY industry leaders—but her favorite thing to do is inspire you! Learn more about her here.
Oh that looks perfectly easy to try. I do have a kreig jig somewhere, I bought it to try and learn to make frames for my canvases (I’m an artist). I always have trouble figuring out how to set it up/refresh my memory how they actually need to be setup with the wood I have on hand. I hope I can brave doing this project as I have a plant that could really use a frame to hold it up, and I can probably just use a few scraps of wood to finish the top since I don’t have a concrete slab on hand to use. Thanks for sharing this project!
Of course! This is a great project for you to jump back in 🙂
I do not own a pocket jig.. 🙁 can this be made any other way?
Absolutely! You could just make it using traditional wood screws through the legs and into the aprons. I’d use some wood glue, too.