The Prettiest Thrift Flip Idea for the Front Porch

Do you love shopping for bargains and repurposing your finds? Wait until you see this beautiful vintage thrift flip idea for the front porch!

A few months ago, Chris and I were thrifting in Vermont and found THE CUTEST vintage wicker baby carriage.

I didn’t buy it because it was pretty big and we didn’t have the right spot for it in our home. And when I mentioned to Chris what I wanted to do with it and where I wanted to put it, for the price?

He was not a fan.

And you know what? It was a little pricey. So I agreed and we left without purchasing that vintage baby stroller.

And it’s haunted me ever since.

Fast forward a few months. We moved into a new home with lots of expansive gardens and the most amazing front porch!

We’ve been trying to furnish several spaces and have been thrifting at the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Manville, New Jersey almost every Saturday since Christmas.

They have the best stuff there!!! And we’ve slowly been furnishing our home one unique piece at a time.

Anyway, would you know I found another vintage stroller there on our first trip?

Yup!

It’s not a full-size stroller like the one in Vermont, so I think this one was for little baby dolls. But it’s vintage, it’s cool, and wait until you see what I’m doing with it!!!

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Cute Thrift Flip Idea for the Front Porch

Whenever I’m out thrifting, I look for things to use in my gardens and there are a whole list of items you shouldn’t leave a thrift shop without.

But I digress.

To give you an idea of what I found in Vermont, here is the vintage baby carriage that we did not buy.

When I saw this in the antique store, I immediately said to Chris, this would make a great planter for the garden. We have three girls, it reminded me a little of them, and I thought it would be adorable nestled in with my cottage garden flowers.

He was aghast that I would even suggest turning this fine and expensive antique into a planter.

A planter that would be outside all season long with the New Jersey weather elements. For the price, not buying it made sense.

But seriously, wouldn’t it look cool all potted up in the right spot?

Anyway, It was super expensive so we didn’t get it, but I love the idea of finding one at a better price to make a planter out of it.

So this is the one that we found locally at the thrift store. It’s not nearly the same size, but it was $30 so Chris was OK with me turning this one into a planter. LOL!

As much as I loved it when we bought it, I wasn’t sure where I wanted to put it.

It has these metal wheels and I didn’t want to risk damaging the wood floors in some of our rooms.

So we left it on the front porch.

And to be honest, it’s grown on me there.

The color of the wicker coordinates well with the exterior of our home. And it adds some interest and character to the front porch.

So that’s where it’s staying.

And now that it’s spring? We need to pot it up with some flowers.

Oftentimes I enjoy making elaborate planters using the thriller, filler, and spiller method of container garden design, but for this project? I’m sticking with one type of plant.

And here’s how I did it.

Wait until you see how pretty it looks all planted up!

Supplies Needed to Thrift Flip This Vintage Baby Carriage

Not much is needed to flip this thrift store find, but we need some items to turn it into a planter.

If you can’t find something unique like a vintage baby stroller, there are lots of items that can be found at the thrift store that can be repurposed as a planter.

So if you don’t have something similar look for items like soup tureens, vintage crocks, copper boiler pots, hat boxes, teapots, etc. Anything that looks like it can hold plants will work!

Here are the supplies needed for this super quick and easy thrift flip!

• Thrift Shop Find
• Plants of Your Choice
• Pot Saucers

While I was at the nursery, I found this gorgeous scaevola. The fullness of the plant and hue of the blooms just spoke to me.

And it was the PERFECT size for my thrift shop find.

My plants are in decent nursery pots too, so I won’t need to repot them. Therefore, this quick makeover could not be any simpler.

How to Thrift Flip a Vintage Baby Stroller to a Planter

Depending on the design and condition of the baby carriage (or whatever you find), it may need some stability.

The one I bought, has a wood board as the base. So my vintage baby carriage is ready to pot up as it is.

If yours isn’t, consider adding a piece of wood or something to keep the plants stable.

And if you care about the inside, you may want to add some sort of plastic for protection like a plant saucer.

To turn this into a quick porch planter, here’s what I did.

First, I needed to determine how many plants or pots are needed, the approximate size, and then I went shopping for plants, containers, and saucers.

How you pot them up depends on what you find at the nursery.

Like I mentioned earlier, I found these beautiful hanging baskets of scaevola that would fit really well in my find, so that’s all I needed to do here.

But if you find plants that are much smaller, buy the amount you think you’ll need to stuff your thrift store find. And when I say stuff it, think about how much you’ll need so you don’t see any gaps.

If separate pots are purchased for repotting, make sure there are drainage holes at the bottom. If drainage holes are needed, drill a few so water can drain out.

Since I don’t need to repot mine, I simply dropped a plastic plant saucer in the carriage. Then added the plant.

Next, I cut off the plant hangers, because we don’t need those sticking out of the baby carriage.

I added some slow release fertilizer so they are well fed through the season and gave them a good watering.

And that’s it!!!! Wasn’t that super simple?

But what if you are repotting a plant?

• Fill pots about halfway with potting soil.
• Remove plants from the nursery pot and fan out the roots to encourage them to grow outward into the potting mix.
• Plant in containers that are slightly larger than the nursery pot, then backfill with potting soil until it is even with the soil surface of the plants.
• Place container in saucers inside the baby carriage.
• Feed with a slow-release fertilizer like THIS and water well.

And Here It Is!

Didn’t it turn out so pretty?

I love that color purple with the vintage wicker of the baby carriage. It adds a lot of texture, dimension and character to the planting.

When fall arrives, I’ll swap out the scaevola for mums, asters, or something more autumnal. But I don’t know, if this scaevola still looks good, I may keep it and add some pumpkins or something around the baby carriage.

And for winter, wouldn’t it look so cute all filled up with fresh cut winter greens from the garden? I can’t wait.

Wait Until You See What My Friend Found Thrifting This Month Too!

My good friend Jennifer from Cottage on Bunker Hill shared her ideas for how to add cottage style to a garden using thrift store finds.

Wait until you see how pretty they look in her gardens!

Jennifer also makes the most amazing DIYs. I love her latest creation using oven cleaner to strip furniture.

The piece looks incredible!!!

Want to Thrift With Me?

Come bargain shopping with me as we thrift at some vintage markets, antique stores and thrift shops in both New Jersey and Vermont (my favorite!)

Wait until you see some of these finds!

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