Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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How To Hang Window Boxes

Word up my fellow Pinterest playas. Hope you got down with some baking, crafting, painting, organizing, sewing, building, or knitting fun because it’s time to share this season’s (completely unofficial) Pinterest Challenge (not sponsored by Pinterest or anyone else, just dreamed up by Katie to make us stop pinning and start doing). The only rule is to pin something you’ve wanted to get done (big or small) and do it. You know, instead of sitting on your duff pinning other things… which I’ll admit happens a whole lot in my world.

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Our mission this season? Window boxes! I actually pinned two window-box related pics, this picture just for the eye candy of it (at $90+ bucks per box they’re purely for inspiration) and this tutorial for making them (which we planned to do if we couldn’t find ready-made ones in our price range). We thought they’d add some nice dimension and soft greenery to our long boxy ranch, and they’d been on our list for a while. They’re definitely not necessary for resale or anything, but we just couldn’t part with this house without seeing how cute they’d look. How’s that for being a weirdo? Anyway, here are the three windows that we thought could use some quaint greenery…

Window Boxes

And here are the materials (the window boxes, liners and brackets) that we grabbed last week at Home Depot (we priced out building vs. buying and realized it was pretty close).

Window Boxes 1 Materials

We loved that the planters were clean-lined and mid-century-ish (it was like they were made for a ranch). As for how to hang them, here’s what worked for our brick facade:

Step Numero Uno: Use a hammer drill to drill pilot holes for the screws for each bracket (after carefully marking where you want them to go by holding up the window box to make sure it’s centered).

Window Boxes 2 Drill Pilot Holes

Step Dos: Hang the brackets according to the package instructions (you’re essentially just drilling them into the pilot holes you make while adding that weird little metal thing up top (we’ll get into what that’s used for in a second). Oh but we made two mistakes for you, so now that we know what not to do, we wanted to spread the word:

  1. Don’t use the cheap/short/non-masonry screws that come with the kit! We had 2″ masonry tapcon screws that we had leftover from our fireplace project that worked really well.
  2. Don’t use a regular drill to get the screws in, be sure to use a hammer drill! It really got them in tighter and the ones we screwed with the regular drill were lose and needed to be redone.

Window Boxes 3 Drilling Bracket

Step Tres: Once we got our method down, it was easy to get them in nice and tightly. And then the weird metal thing on the top of the bracket could be bent over the window box once it was placed onto the bracket, thereby locking it into place. The metal thing was so soft you could just bend it with your hand. Although I should have told you guys that it was crazy hard and the only reason I could do it with my bare hand is because The Hulk is my second cousin.

Window Boxes 4 Attaching Box

Step Four: Drop the plastic liner into the planter box while making a weird face (check). Oh and be sure to pop out the two drainage holes in the plastic liner beforehand (I used a house key to smash them out since they were slightly perforated but I couldn’t get them with my finger). The cool thing about the drainage holes in the plastic liner is that they line up with the pre-drilled drainage holes in the planter box, so that was nice planning on Home Depot’s part.

Window Boxes 5 Putting Liner In

You might wonder what John and Clara were doing while I was on window box duty…

Window Boxes 6 Clara Mulching

Yup, they were spreading mulch. And it was adorable. And we all had about 100 inch worms on us by the time we were done outside.

Window Boxes 7 Clara Mulching 2

But back to the window boxes. I used an old “cheaper and already grown in” trick, which is to buy two hanging baskets from a local nursery (Great Big Greenhouse, here in Richmond, where I actually had a store credit so they didn’t cost me anything). The reason hanging baskets are so smart for window boxes is because they already spill down and appear to “drip” instead of the typical pots and flats that they sell for gardening. Hello, instant gratification!

Window Boxes 8 Hanging Basket

I just dumped them out and very very carefully divided them as gently as I could…

Window Boxes 9 Dumped Out Flower

… and bam: I had a few spilling-over flowers for each window box, without having to play the waiting game while they grew over the edge.

Window Boxes 11 After Full House

Aren’t they cute? I have no idea what kind of flowers these are. I think the white and pink ones are petunias though. Maybe these purple guys are some other blend of mini ones?

Window Boxes 12 After Purple Detail

I think the window boxes are sweet little additions. Not giant and commanding, just casual and simple. I actually love that they’re the color of the brick so the flowers are the star and they don’t look too busy. And as they continue to fill in and spill out more I think they’ll look even better.

Window Boxes 13 After Other Side

So there you go, three window boxes, some tips for what not to do while hanging them, and one way to find already-droopy flowers to fill them.

Window Boxes 14 Pulled Back

And just look at that fresh come-hither mulch. Me-ow.

Don’t forget to check in on Katie, Emily, and Renee to see what awesome projects they’ve whipped up (they’ll all be sharing theirs sometime today as well)!

  Pinterest Pic

And we’d love to hear what you guys did for this season’s challenge. If you’ve already blogged about it, just:

  1. click on the blue “Add Your Link” button with the odd cartoon head at the bottom of this post (you might have to do some scrolling, depending how many projects are added)
  2. add a link to your specific blog post about your project in the url field (not your home page)
  3. where it says “name” write a descriptive name for your project (ex: “Homemade Leaf Wreath”) as opposed to your actual name
  4. we’d also love if you could quickly link back over to our project posts within your own (here’s Katie’s, Emily’s and Renee’s) – it’s also nice to link to your inspiration project on Pinterest as well as to directly link to the original project/site, just so they get some love too.

And if you’d rather just link over to your project in the comment section, feel free to do that – or even add a link to a free photo sharing site like Flickr with your pics if you don’t have a blog (remember to set the gallery to public so we can all see it). I’m borderline too excited to see what you guys have been up to…



Comments

  1. Riva says

    That hanging basket trick is BRILLIANT! I’ve been wanting to buy a planter to put outside my front door but I held back because I didn’t know what on earth I would put INSIDE of it. Hanging basket contents OF COURSE! Thank you Sherry!

    Reply

  2. Ella says

    I normally love window boxes, but I’m finding yours too small, low, and sparse to have much effect… I can hardly notice them in the distance shots. They don’t look balanced with the size of the windows. I believe window boxes should be slightly wider than the window in order to look balanced, but with the heavy black shutters beside your windows, they look even more unbalanced. Might I suggest doing something to beef them up? I guess you can’t make them wider now, but I’d suggest painting them black and adding a LOT more foliage to them.

    Check out the difference between yours and the first house here: http://www.deborahsilver.com/blog/the-window-box-a-hybrid-vehicle/

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh yes, I can’t wait until everything we planted beefs up a bit (I’m sure by summer they’ll be a lot fuller)! We actually liked that they blended with the brick in tone so they wouldn’t look busy (we though they laid in nicely instead of competing with the porch or the pergola) and they seem to fit our house’s style more than something larger with lots of traditional molding. But it’s definitely a personal preference thing :)

      xo
      s

  3. Dawn says

    Looks great!! What is the little bright green plant to the left of your carport (when you are facing it head on) in your landscaping? We need something like that in our landscaping and I like the color. :)

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Isn’t that pretty?! It’s my favorite tree. A dwarf maple (a green type, since we thought that would pop more than a red one would against the brick). Hope it helps!

      xo
      s

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We just looked at nearby homes that had window boxes that we loved and checked out the proportion of those (none of them seemed to span past the window opening even if they had shutters, and many of them had a few inches of space on each side, but once the plantings filled in and bulked up they look nice and balanced. Hope it helps! :)

      xo
      s

  6. Crystal @ 29 Rue House says

    I love how they turned out and I like that you bought the boxes since that worked best. I was a little worried that my store bought organizer turned into a bookshelf wouldn’t fit within in the rules of the Pinterest Project since I wasn’t copying something exactly from Pinterest but I had pinned a bookshelf before and it was something I’d been wanting to do for our girls room. Anyway, glad it is still free spirit-y and fun!
    http://29ruehouse.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/repurposed-kids-bookshelf.html

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Of course! Anything goes as long as you’re getting something done that you’ve longed to do while pinning it (even baking, organizing, hanging frames or window boxes, etc) :)

      xo
      s

  7. Amanda says

    Is it bad that the thing I love most about this post is “step número uno”? Seriously, I’m going to have to go back to see if you’ve done that before. ;)

    Reply

  8. Shannon says

    Thanks for all you do. I’ve followed you for a long time, and because of you “can do” spirit my daughter and us decided to attempt a big furniture rebuild. I linked up our PB Stratton Bed Knockoff. I hope you can come check it out at bohemianjunktion.com. You both inspire us to tackle projects we were hesitant about doing before. Thanks!

    Oh yea, I’m so going to try that hanging basket trick!

    Reply

  10. Jaya says

    We purchases angled (tilted??) window boxes two years ago but the masonry bit still would not drill through the brick so we freaked out and left it alone. Do you think our mistake was not using the hammer drill? and we did so many searches on google trying to find out whether it was better to drill through the brick or the mortar and got so many conflicting articles. After reading this I am tempted to give it a go again!!

    Reply

  12. cd says

    Er – I love the idea and the flowers, but in my mind I imagined much bigger boxes? Like, ones that would underline the whole window from shutter-to-shutter? I think I’ve only ever raised an eyebrow at two projects you’ve ever done, but the scale seems off on these. Is there a correct decorator’s formula for how to scale these?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      All the other ones we’ve seen on brick ranches don’t include the shutters so we followed suit. They’ll look beefier when the flowers fill in for sure :)

      xo,
      s

  13. Valentina says

    I like your boxes and admire the work you’ve done to put them up, but it seems to me the planters would look even better if they were white. That way they’d stand out more and go well with the trim (like the porch columns and such)

    Reply

  14. Renee says

    Do you think these work on the sides of decks? Or do you think there are better options? Thanks!

    Reply

  15. Meredith says

    The window boxes are cute! I love that the flowers bring some softness to the brick facade, a feature my little ranch shares with yours :-)

    I’m curious what your thoughts are about drilling into the brick knowing that you are selling the house soon… were you apprehensive at all? Is it an easy fix to patch the holes if the future owners want to remove the brackets? I think I would be too scared to drill through brick/tile like you guys have!

    P.S. I love the cargola more and more every time I see a new pic!

    Reply

  16. linda says

    I just finished master gardener classes and am considering a gardening blog so this post really interested me. If I may make a few suggestions for others considering window boxes – use the largest size planter that fits your window so that the plants have as much soil as possible so they don’t dry out as quickly. Succulents are beautiful and would be a great choice. A good watering of the basket before dividing will make teasing the roots apart easier & reduce transplant shock. Finally, be sure the planters drain well so roots don’t rot. Love window boxes! for charm!

    Reply

  17. bex says

    I kind of looked to see if anyone else had answered, but didn’t immediately see any. They’re all petunias. Wave petunias, actually. The purple are mini wave. The difference between wave and “regular” petunias is that “spilling” effect. You can also get waves in the flats – not in the baskets – for way cheaper than most baskets. Look for the Proven Winner brand – they’re always fantastic (my mom owns a flower shop/nursery, and this is where my moderate knowledge comes from! Ha.).

    Reply

  18. Laura C says

    Looks really cute – yet another relatively easy update that will make your house show better. So smart!

    Reply

    • Laura C says

      P.S. – I love your updated comment disclaimer. Do people really submit things like that (the fart thing)? LOL

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Hah maybe once a year we get something really weird like “your baby is an alien!” Or “you smell like a fart” which is kind of hilarious but not really on topic. Haha!

      xo,
      s

  19. Kristin says

    I too love window boxes and may tackle this project. I don’t have a hammer drill though. Any guidance on how much voltage, etc. I would need for some basic projects around the house?

    Reply

  20. Fahlon says

    Although the window boxes are a close second, the picture of John and Clara crouched down spreading mulch is too adorable! The apple and the tree.

    Reply

  21. Margaret says

    What’s a hammer drill? Does it have a different action than normal drills? Yours looks like it’s a corded one – would you recommend it?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Yes, we love ours! It plugs in just like a drill but it’s more heavy duty (like for drilling into masonry, interior/exterior brick walls, etc). It’s the entry level one from Lowe’s (just a basic model) and works really well!

      xo
      s

  22. Misty says

    I’m not sure if anyone has mentioned this in the comments above, but you’re right, the white and pink flowers are petunias and the little purple ones are called “Superbells”. They are definitely super! They don’t require pruning or pinching back, they are drought and heat resistant and bloom like crazy all season! Nice choice of plants, I like the hanging basket trick and your flower boxes look awesome! I’ve always wanted some… maybe this will be my inspiration for the next pinterest challenge! :)

    Reply

  23. Katie says

    Those window boxes look so cute!

    I actually had already done a project from pinterest and happened to have the post going up yesterday so this one was pretty easy for me! Does that count or is it cheating :)

    Reply

  24. Karen Q. says

    Looks fab-u-lous $herdog! Love it! And I totally agree- I’m diggin the wood tone look, blends so well with the brick. :)

    Reply

  25. Carolyn says

    I read here every day and really love all that you do and learning about how you do it. But I was an English major and I can’t keep silent any longer about something that makes me wince on practically each and every one of your posts.

    You use the word “actually” way, way, way too much. I know you’re trying to sound conversational, but it adds nothing. Try deleting it from your next sentence and watch how the meaning remains the same.

    I am painfully aware of how much everyone hates the grammar police and I’m truly sorry. But this one quirk in your writing bothers me so much and has for years! I (actually!)couldn’t stand it anymore without saying something (said with much respect/blog love because I only want to see you improve).

    Also, Clara is utterly charming! She is the star of YHL.

    Reply

    • Jen says

      Those verbal (that can translate to written) ticks are so hard to shake sometimes. Once I was leading a meeting for a volunteer organization I was co-chair of, and was using “you know” way too much as I was talking. I could hear myself doing it, and I could see my audience getting more and more annoyed/bemused. To my horror the more aware of the tick I became, the more I said it until “you know” was at the start of and/or embedded in every sentence that came out of my mouth! I was like my brain went rogue and I couldn’t stop saying it even though by that point much of my audience was openly laughing at me! Thankfully I had a sense of humor about it, and ended up laughing at myself. But man, it was weird how hard it was to get my brain unstuck on that verbal tick!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      That’s so funny! When I was a teenager I said “like” about ten million times per minute. I think it drove my dad (the teacher) a little crazy :)

      xo,
      s

    • Jennie says

      While I know this comment comes from a place of good intentions, it does make me a bit sad. Writing is very personal, and it doesn’t need to be perfect to be enjoyable.

      Professional writing is a big part of how I make my living, and while I agree that it is desirable to aim for improvement whenever possible, what bothers one person may not bother another. Folksy and conversational writing is quite enjoyable because it’s casual and relatable (at least in my opinion).

      Sherry, I’ve never noticed any extreme / irritating overuse of the word in question. While it may not be “necessary” in a sentence, it is often used conversationally to convey a certain meaning or intent, and it’s okay if that translates into writing within reason. This is a blog after all, not a dissertation.

      All this to say, I enjoy your writing. I think you and John are very good at what you do and I hope you’ll keep doing it for a long time to come.

  26. cappy says

    They look great! How are the plants (?) on your porch doing? Is the front of your home south facing or north?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think it’s north facing? We added some annuals but the boxwoods on either side of the door are doing well! I think they’re around a year old? I lost track! Haha!

      xo
      s

  28. Paula M. says

    Ditto what others are saying about the “d’oh, why didn’t I think of that?” reaction to using hanging basket flowers for a window box!! I love that idea. Instant gratification, as opposed to waiting eons for the cheap-o little plants I buy to grow and spread.

    And holy cow, what’s with the person getting her knickers in a twist that you didn’t build the window boxes? What’s next, making our own paint and carving our own paint brushes from a tree branch? Please.

    Reply

  30. Jennifer says

    Love your window boxes, but I’m partial to them so I might be a bit biased. I don’t agree with anyone who says to make them bigger. Our house was built with one and it is a bit wider than my son’s double window. It’s nice, but it takes a ton of plants to show up. I always have several different plants in it-tall, medium, and ones that spill over the side. $$$$! This post just reminded me to water my investment, lol.

    Reply

  31. carli says

    O how I wish we had a house that flower boxes could work on! Unfortunately, our house doesn’t lend itself well to these little beauties. Doesn’t mean I can’t wistfully linger over these pictures and dream, though ;)

    Reply

  32. Haleigh says

    Looks great! I love the idea of using hanging baskets to fill in the planters more substantially.

    I recently made some window boxes myself. For anyone interesting in DIYing, I used treated fence boards from Lowes and painted them white to pop against my house. The wood for two huge planters only cost $6! Got the idea from Pinterest of course :)

    Reply

  33. Corrie says

    thank you so much for the tip with the hanging plants! so simple, so brilliant! can’t wait to try it out myself..

    Reply

  34. Felicity @ Our Little Beehive says

    I love window boxes! I was going to build a pair for our shed, but I figured anything I planted would die in the summer when we’re away. I think I may add them this year – I want to put Christmas lights in them in the winter.

    I shared a tutorial for a tailored teepee I sewed for my little boy. He LOVES it! Now we need a bigger house too ;)

    Reply

  35. Carly says

    Have I told you how much I LOVE the Pinterest challenge idea? I love the community it has created and how it has turned the sometimes negative “People just pin a million things they never make” into a positive “let’s recreate some of the things we love…because we CAN!”

    So thanks for being creative and letting us all in on it! :)

    Reply

  37. keisha says

    Love it! Also, love the black mulch.

    Can you please tell me, what is that plant underneath the planter, to the right? Is that a Japanese maple?

    Reply

  38. Evelina says

    I Love with a Capital L how your window boxes turned out. The wood looks beautiful against the brick. Are you guys thinking of bringing them to the new casa Petersik or are they a more permanent fixture? You guys def got me inspired to do some gardening of my own after this post. I put down some topsoil and grass seed last night — hey it’s a start! Thanks!

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      We’re conveying them with the house because they’re fitted to that window size and the style of them really looks nice with a ranch :)

      xo
      s

  39. Carolyn says

    Gee, thanks for publishing my comment yesterday. I guess you can’t take a little (very polite) criticism? I’ll read elsewhere then. You two always profess to value your readers but it seems you don’t, actually, unless it’s all praise.

    Bye!

    Reply

  40. Robin says

    Hi Youngsters!

    I’ve always been a window box fan and think yours add some nice dimension to what could feel like a flat facade since the house is so long (like a rancher is suppose to be). And since I’m late to the party and you’ve already posted about the siding update, love the gray + yellow combo, so fresh and springtime I’m sure it will put a smile on every potential buyers face :) Ant they’ll just keep grinning and grinning all the way to making you an offer.

    My Pinspiration share is about space planning for a large or long & narrow room to make it comfy and interesting.

    Thanks, Robin

    I’m a little late to the Pinterest party but thinkin

    Reply

  42. Claire @ Claire K Creations says

    Adorable! I can’t believe what a difference such simple changes make.
    I found a house yesterday that I am in love with. Just have to get the husband to fall in love with it on the weekend and the owners to not want a ridiculous load of money for it and we have found our renovator!!! It would look super sweet with window boxes too.

    Reply

  43. Meg Sluyter says

    I can’t believe what a difference the boxes make. They look great. I also made a window box for the challenge, except mine is made to sit on the sill inside :). I haven’t gotten the courage to do hanging ones yet, but maybe soon since you guys make it look so simple.
    Also, I started making these giant dominoes (from a 1×8) for wall art and I’m totally borrowing your pager code idea for them. I had hoped to share them for the challenge but they aren’t done yet, hopefully tomorrow. Thanks for all your wonderful ideas! :)

    Reply

  44. Erica says

    I saw those exact same window boxes at Home Depot the other day, and I totally considered buying them, because I want window boxes for the front of my ridiculously plain house. Too funny! Glad to know they look good hung up just in case I decide to buy them some day!

    I also want to commend you on how nicely you responded to a random commenter today. I kind of figured you had a way to look up comments relatively quickly when I saw your response, and I was super amused when you posted them all. :-) I wouldn’t have been nearly that nice. I’m sure you weren’t happy behind the scenes, but it was funny to see your super friendly response to such a negative person! Great job!

    Reply

  47. Amber says

    We have window boxes on our house, and they always look a little sparse. I love the hanging basket idea! How many baskets did you use to fill up each window box?

    Reply

  48. Michelle says

    Hey Sherry,
    Just wanted to say thanks for hosting the Pinterest Challenge these last couple years. It’s been fun to participate, and even more fun looking through all the great projects submitted by everyone. I’ve found a lot of new blogs to follow, and a bunch of projects to try for myself!

    Reply

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