HomeMade Modern DIY Marble Planters

In this episode, I experimented using my new tile saw to cut stone tile from the Home Depot into strips that can be glued together to form planters. I'm always interested in introducing new materials and have long wanted to add marble and slate to the list of materials I'm comfortable working with. This project is really easy and the materials to make it are surprisingly inexpensive. The result is a minimalist and modern planter that is made from real stone!

Marble Tiles

I bought stone tiles from the Home Depot. The 12x12 grey tiles were about $3 per squre foot and the 12x24 white marble tiles cost about $5 a SF. I prefer stone tile to porcelain or ceramic since the material is solid and the edges are the same as the surface.

Liquid Nails

Gorilla 2-Part Epoxy

RYOBI Tabletop Tile Saw

RYOBI Orbital Sander

The marble tiles I bought from the Home Depot had a high gloss finish. I'm not the biggest fan of high gloss finishes, so I used 400 grit paper on my orbital sander to give the stone more of a natural honed finish. I also smoothed down the edges of the tiles.

I set up the saw and filled the reservoir with water. The water keeps the blade from getting too hot and also keeps the dust under control. I set the rip fence to about 3.75” and cut strips of the tile. It was really easy, but you can’t go too fast. I just tried to slowly feed the stone through the saw and let the blade do the work. For the longer 24-inch tiles, it might be nice to have an extra set of hands to catch the long pieces as they're pushed through. I cut 5 pieces to assemble a long box.

I used liquid nails to glue the pieces together. I didn’t want to have to clean off excess adhesive off the exterior, so I tried to be careful not to use too much adhesive. Gorilla 2-part epoxy also works well, but is a bit more expensive. Make sure to evenly spread the adhesive on the edges and wipe off any excess adhesive.

For the first planter, I used C-clamps and screwed them a little too tight, which caused a small crack in one of the planters. The crack was small, so I was able to seal it from the inside with liquid nails. For the second planter, I used rubber bands to hold the pieces together and that worked really well.

I let the glue dry overnight before removing the clamps and testing to see if they could hold water. If they leak, simply caulk the interior seams with liquid nails or construction adhesive.

The edges for one of the planters were a bit sharp, so I put a drum sander in my drill and rounded them down.

I didn’t want to put drainage holes in the planters, so I put about 3/4" of gravel in the bottom before filling them with soil and plants. I decided to use decorative plants and won't put in edible plants until I'm done researching non-toxic adhesives and/or am able to figure out a way to mechanically fasten the tiles together.

Good luck making your own marble planters and please email or tweet photos to @benuyeda or ben@homemade-modern.com. For more DIY ideas and projects, visit us at HomeMade Modern.