Paint a Metal Plant Stand With Bold Colors

A simple metal plant stand doesn’t have to stay plain or boring. With fresh paint, this tiered metal plant stand takes on new life. The gradient colors give it a bright, cheerful style. It works anywhere, whether inside, on the porch, or on the patio. Maybe it will remind you of your tie-dye days!

It’s time for our monthly Thrift Store Decor Tour. Please take a look at my friends’ projects at the end of this article.

Vintage Metal Plant Stand

This little gal is probably as old as I am. It belonged to my Nana, and it’s been tucked away in my basement for the last 50 years.

So, it has fifty years of dirt, grime, and a little rust. You may have noticed that one of the corners of the mesh plant stand is a little broken.

How to Clean a Tiered Metal Plant Stand

I reached for an old bottle of Krud Kutter. I filled a spray bottle with the cleaner, but the old spray bottle wouldn’t work. Using gloves, I wiped off half the plant stand to show you how well this stuff works.

After wiping it down, I hosed off the metal. You can clearly see a difference in the photo above.

Next, I used a small wire brush to remove rust from some of the areas. It worked really well.

Don’t forget to clean and wire brush the underside of your wrought iron plant stand.

One last blast with the hose to remove any remaining dirt, debris, and brushed off rust.

To speed up the drying process, I grabbed the leaf blower to remove large droplets of water.

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Blowing off the water droplets and laying the plant stand on its side in the sun. Finally, the project was ready for the next step: painting!

Tie-Dye Effect on a Metal Table With Spray Paint

Initially, I was using these three paint colors that I used on the boho wicker basket that I love so much.

Spray the Metal Plant Stand With Primer

But first, the vintage wire shelf needed a coat of spray paint primer. I chose a very light gray.

Suspend Paint Sprayed Project From a Tree

Here’s where things get a little less than perfect. I wanted a tie-dye look for the old plant stand. During a conversation with a friend, she thought it would be a good idea to hang it from a tree to spray the paint while the project was spinning.

You know how, when you were a kid, you would twist the swing so that you would unwind, and then the chains would automatically rewind to spin some more? That was my plan.

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It seemed like a good plan to hold the paint can while the plant stand spun around. I did this several times with each of the three muted colors.

Spray Paint Project Fail

This was the result. It reminds me of how you pour all of the Easter egg dye together to dispose of it, and it turns that ugly brown color. The technique worked, but the colors were all wrong. The patterns are very faint.

On to Plan B: Bold Colors

Prime Metal Tiered Table Again

I started over by priming the metal plant stand with white spray paint.

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Spray Paint: Bold Colors

These are the fun, bright, bold colors I chose for plan B.

I hung the table from the same tree and proceeded with a different technique to get a gradient pattern that mimics a tie-dye gradient effect. In the photo above, you can get a feel for where my color placement starts.

I began with Seaside on the bottom shelf in the front. However, I was having so much fun that I forgot to take pictures as I added more colors.

There was no winding or spinning involved in this technique. But I do recommend suspending a project similar to this at eye level to give you more control over where your paint flows. I was able to rotate the plant stand easily when I needed a different angle. In addition, as I moved toward the top shelf, I loosened the rope and lowered the tiered stand to make it easier to paint.

How to Layer Spray Paint Bold Colors

This is the “front” side of the metal table, sporting blue, yellow, and pink.

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The back side of the lower shelves is yellow and orange.

Remember color mixing in art class? Pink over yellow gave me a bright orange.

On the top shelf, I used pink and blue. Together, they created purple.

Touch-up Paint Colors on Metal Tiered Plant Stand

After removing the table from hanging in the sun, I moved to the shade so that I could see where there were some touch-ups needed.

After touching up the lower shelf, I placed some brown craft paper to keep the color accurate without any overspray from the other colors.

The trickiest color was purple. I sprayed pink, added blue (too much), then I had to spray more pink, then more blue.

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Here is a close-up image of the bold colors I combined to achieve the tie-dyed gradient effect on the small plant stand. As I mentioned earlier, it belonged to my Nana, which was maybe 65 or 70 years ago. My Nana loved her plants and flowers. She had plants indoors, as well as flowers and gardens outdoors. Each week, she took cuttings for her and Granddad to take to the cemetery to place on family graves. Remembering her in the garden tending to her flowers brings a big smile to my face.

Tie-dye Inspired Gradient Plant Stand

The fresh new look of the vintage tiered metal plant stand makes me smile every time I look at it! Do you love it as much as I do?

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Look closely at the pink flower on the bottom shelf. Looking at it through the yellow shelf makes it appear orange!

Would you call this ombre? Even though it’s different colors?

Isn’t spray paint fabulous? It’s so versatile and easy. You can change up an old family heirloom or thrift store item in less than one hour. I think it would be “Nana approved”.

Did I mention that it makes me smile every time I look at it?

Let’s see what the rest of the team has been working on:

• How to Paint a Ginger Jar
• How to Make Paper Bag Pumpkins
• How to Make a Bundt Pan Craft
• How to Make a Dydro Dipped Epoxy Tumbler
• Paint a Plant Stand with Bold Colors (You are here, thank you.)
• Upcycle and Repurpose a Tray Table