Kitchen cabinet upcycle...???

[Baumshell28]

I want a raised planter box for an herb garden. I’ve been stressing over how I would go about building one myself. Some things get hard & complicated since I’m wheelchair bound. I can’t afford anything online...even used ones! As I was internet surfing for ANY way to do this, I realized that when we bought the house, the first room we stripped down for remodel was the kitchen. I had wayyy too much cabinetry on every single wall, so...I pulled the uppers off one wall & have been passively using them in my art studio as canvas storage & drying areas! What do y’all think? Each corner, and the middle will be supported by cinder block “legs”.
I’m catching any advice y’all are throwing! GO!!

 

[Friendly_Lurker]

I've never done anything like this but you could paint the inside with something waterproof and put holes in the bottom for drainage.

 

[Chikibabymom]

I want a raised planter box for an herb garden. I’ve been stressing over how I would go about building one myself. Some things get hard & complicated since I’m wheelchair bound. I can’t afford anything online...even used ones! As I was internet surfing for ANY way to do this, I realized that when we bought the house, the first room we stripped down for remodel was the kitchen. I had wayyy too much cabinetry on every single wall, so...I pulled the uppers off one wall & have been passively using them in my art studio as canvas storage & drying areas! What do y’all think? Each corner, and the middle will be supported by cinder block “legs”.
I’m catching any advice y’all are throwing! GO!!

The raised planters I’ve seen at the store are pretty expensive so I think it’s amazing you’re making one with cabinets! It’s also clever to repurpose them instead of just throwing them away I’m looking forward to seeing the finished product!

 

[CleaverFox]

So I built raised beds in my yard with 6x10” boards and railroad ties. Basically. Raised beds typically do not have a bottom. Doesn’t mean you can’t have one, they just usually don’t. You use the board width to raise the height of the ground and fill them with dirt. Raising your bed height. For what you’re making, they’re more like gardening boxes. Still a great idea, and the already present dividers would work nice for separating your plantings.
Typically lumber used outdoors is dried/pressure treated/or soaked for ground contact and/or rot and insect prevention. That being said, you could still get more than a handful of good years out of these as planting boxes. You will need to put prolific holes in the bottom for drainage. I also wouldn’t recommend any plantings that require constantly moist soil. It’s just going to speed up the warping process.
If you decide to paint them, the wood will still need to be able to breathe. Meaning, take on water, dry out, expand and contract with heat and cold. Adding layers of heavy sealing paint to the entire box is going to hinder this. Causing the paint to bubble, peel and flake. As well as damaging the wood quicker. If you’re able to sand them down, deck stain would probably be your best bet. If it were me I’d only do the exterior of the boxes and put down landscaping plastic inside the boxes. Poke holes in it aligning to the holes drilled in the bottom of the boxes. Leave a good lip on the outer edge. This helps protect the boxes from the soil, and anything in the box or paint from getting into the soil. Then when you’re done for the season and need to dump them, you can just pull out the landscaping plastic like a bag. It’s thick, so if done slow and steady should come out without rips or breaking, even with the poked holes.
As far as using the concrete feet on the corners and one In the middle, you “might” be ok? I say this because usually the backs of cabinets are the thinnest most flimsy part. Even older all wood ones. Dirt and water are HEAVY per square inch. That’s a lot of weight stress on one surface. You could help support it by screwing in thicker plywood to the back before drilling your drain holes. Or you could put down your cinderblocks, a pallet (or something similar) and then the boxes. You want to help distribute that back weight out across and away from any pinpoints. So you don’t start getting cracks and come out one day and find the bottom fell out, literally.
The last thing, they should be emptied when not in use, allowed to dry out and stored. Wood warps and degrades faster the more elements it’s exposed to. Any water in the wood will freeze and expand. To increase longevity, it’s always better to let them dry out and store them when not in use. If you don’t want to get new planting material every year, buy a big plastic covered trash can and dump the cleaner soil into it at the end of the season. You can add some kitchen trash now and again as compost and the like. Black ones work best as they get nice and warm in the sun. Then next year you can add if needed and put it back in your boxes!
Hope you found this helpful!

 

[CluckerFamily]

That would be so cute!!!