17 Creative Ways to Use Old Chairs in Your Garden

Use these ideas from home gardens to turn old wooden and metal kitchen chairs into garden planters and art. It’s a fun way to repurpose unwanted items and transform your outdoor space.

There are lots more garden idea galleries including creative garden paths and ways to dress up fences.

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Garden Art Chair Gallery

It’s a simple idea, but a good one. Old wooden and metal kitchen chairs are super handy in the garden. Paint them to stand out and use them to hold flower planters or other garden art.

I gathered these ideas at home garden tours—my favorite way to find inspiration for my own garden.

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1Succulent Chair Planter

I love this chair. If you look closely, you can see the planter was created with chicken wire and some coir lining. Succulents are ideal because of their shallow roots.

2Old Blue Kitchen Chair

3Broken Chair Legs? Put it on a Fence!

4Face Plant(er)!

5Red Chair with Watering Can

6Rustic Branch Chair

7Turquoise Kitchen Chair in Garden

8White Chairs with Purple & Pink Flowers

9Rustic Bench with Creeping Jenny

*Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia) is considered invasive in some areas of North America.

10Traditional Chunky White Metal

I don’t know if I’d call these garden art, but they’re small and uncomfortable so designating them as art is the only option left!

These were a staple in gardens for years and then seemed to disappear. For years I thought they were hideous but now I get a little nostalgic when I see them.

11Lime Green Wooden Highchair

12Wood Chair With Cutout For Flowerpot

This idea is very popular right now: cut out the seat of an old chair to hold the rim of a flowerpot.

13Wooden Yellow Chair

This milky yellow color is a favorite of mine. I love how it contrasts with purple and red flowers.

14Rustic Twig Bench

Not exactly a chair, but this wood bench adds a rustic, cottage look to the garden.

15Red Adirondack Chairs

I know some people love these chairs (“They’re so comfortable!”) but when I see them all I can think of is how hard it is to get in or out of them. That said, I love how you can use them to add bold color to the garden like the red ones shown here.

16Red Metal Vanity Chair

These old-fashioned metal chairs are not exactly comfortable but again, with the right paint color, they make good garden art.

16Made in the Shade

17Blue Schoolhouse Chair

This photo is actually from my old garden, taken approximately 15 years ago. I’d never seen a chair in a garden at that time but I didn’t have room for it in the house (and didn’t want to get rid of it) so it somehow found its way to the garden and stayed there. The birds and squirrels enjoyed it.

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~Melissa the Empress of Dirt ♛