Even the most durable materials in the countryside fade and crumble over time. Plus, they most often show rust. The same applies to barrels. As a result, such containers become unsightly and spoil the entire appearance of the garden. You can, of course, throw away the old tank and buy a new one. However, this requires a lot of money. That is why it is better to go the other way - paint the existing container in beautiful colors using stencils.
This type of activity will have double benefits: the barrels will be given new life, and children will be able to take part in this exciting activity.
Selecting a barrel for coloring
Various barrels are used for decoration: plastic, metal, wooden. They must meet certain requirements.
| Barrel material | Surface | Usage |
| Plastic | Smooth | For water. |
| Metal | No nicks or cracks. | Under water for irrigation and flower beds. |
| Tree | Stripped | For wine, compost storage, creating various compositions. |
How to paint, a few ideas to get you started:
Manufacturing procedure
The sequence of actions required to make a barrel is as follows:
- Choosing a tree.
- Making rivets.
- Making hoops.
- Assembling a cooper's product.
- Firing, soaking and steaming.
Preparation for painting and tools
The container for painting is properly prepared.
Barrel cleaning
Before painting the barrel, its surface is washed from dirt, leveled if necessary, old paint and rust are removed using sandpaper or a metal brush, wiped with a solvent, removing dirt and remaining dyes and oils.
Tools needed: barrel, rag, metal brush, sandpaper or paper, acrylic paints (paint cans), metal or rust paints, wood paints for exterior work, white spirit or gasoline, wide and narrow brushes, stencils, simple pencils, scraper, primer.
Using stencils
If a person knows how to draw, it doesn’t cost him anything to beautifully decorate a barrel, but if he doesn’t have such a skill, it’s okay, because stencils will always help. They are manufactured industrially or made independently.
Types of stencils
Stencils vary in different types and types
| Properties | Types and methods of use |
| Amount of use | Disposable and reusable. |
| Rigidity | Hard and soft. The paint is applied first to a flat surface, the second to a convex or rounded surface. |
| Adhesive layer | An adhesive stencil is convenient for complex work; it is glued to the surface and your hands remain free. |
| Multi-layering | Single-layer ones are used for simple one-color designs; multi-layer ones create multi-colored patterns. |
Tree
A metal or plastic barrel can be decorated with wooden slats. This will look especially good if the tank is used as a flower bed or washbasin. Wooden trim will fit well into almost any style of landscape design of a dacha or garden and will become a pleasant decoration.
In addition to the usual slats, you can decorate the tank with thin rods like a basket or decorate it with vines like a wicker fence.
Stencils for download
We believe that you can easily make stencils yourself by simply printing them on a printer in parts, cutting them out with scissors, and then gluing them together with regular tape.
You can save your favorite picture. We offer several to choose from. Left click on the image to enlarge it.
Stencil painting technology
The painting process varies depending on the work surface.
Metal and plastic barrels
After the preparatory work, painting of the barrel begins. Stages of work:
- Clean the surface of the barrel from dirt and rust, remove paint residues.
- A non-bright background is applied.
- Allow the layer to dry.
- If necessary, apply the background paint 2 times or use a primer before it for better penetration of the dye.
- After all layers have dried, attach the stencil. If it is not adhesive-based, then secure it with masking tape, as it can then be easily removed.
- Place paint on it, spraying it from a spray can or with a brush.
- To obtain a three-dimensional pattern, use a multilayer stencil or another layer, darker than the first. Paint the surface after the previous one has dried, slightly moving the single layer to the side.
- The painted barrel is allowed to dry completely.
- Place it in a permanent place and fill it with what it is intended for.
Stencils can be made not only from paper, but from anything: leaves, children's palms, always wearing rubber gloves, marks from old boots, flower heads.
Wooden barrels
Wooden barrels look best in a natural color, showing the naturalness of the wood. Therefore, to decorate them, most often they use varnish rather than paint. Before using it, you can also apply a small design with a stencil. For example, a bunch of grapes will indicate that the container is used for wine.
If a wooden barrel in its natural form looks bad, then the same technology is applied to it as for metal ones, making the first layer the background one.
If you don’t want to decorate the barrels yourself, but prefer to buy ready-made ones:
A terracotta-colored barrel is not a barrel, but a design element (smiley)
- Pay attention to the color. White, beige, terracotta, brown and other natural colors look more solid than blue and green.
- Currently in our country the choice of ready-made containers is small. And what is found in garden centers costs as much as a spaceship. When choosing from technical barrels, give preference to wooden ones over iron and plastic ones. A wooden barrel has a certain charm even when aged. The same cannot be said about old plastic or rusty iron.
Over the years, a wooden barrel becomes almost antique, and an iron barrel becomes simply old (smile).
And finally, an example of how a brand new water barrel can completely spoil the appearance of a beautiful house. Yes, this photo was not taken in our country. Which is comforting.
How a new expensive water barrel can hopelessly ruin the look of a new expensive home
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Painting a barrel with your own design
In landscape design, gardeners often use the method of decorating various old objects. Painted barrels look great on the site. The best images are those that are drawn with your own hands, without using a stencil. In fact, it's not that difficult, and if it doesn't work out, you can paint over it and try again.
Preparation of such barrels comes down to cleaning them, degreasing them, and applying a primer.
Then, together with the children, they go on a mysterious adventure, looking at everything, including on the way to the dacha, and choosing a future design for the barrel. Sometimes they take a picture from a children's book. To ensure that children are not disappointed in their creativity, they select a drawing that is appropriate for their age.
The next stage is the selection and application of a background layer that matches the color of the future drawing. Let it dry thoroughly.
If you have carbon paper, use it to transfer the image onto the barrel. If there is no carbon copy, draw a barely noticeable outline with a thin brush so that you can correct something. Start painting the inner parts of the picture using multi-colored paints.
Finishing water tanks with mossy stone effect
The most beautiful decor is one that grows on its own!
Another option for finishing garden barrels is the effect of old mossy stone. It will take time for the moss to grow, but it is simple, cheap and effective. In a construction container, a mixture of cement, crushed high-moor peat, PVA glue and kefir (yogurt) is diluted in equal proportions. The finished mixture should have the consistency of very thick sour cream. Using a spatula, it is applied to the walls in a layer several centimeters thick, covering the edges and the inside. Drying is also carried out slowly, with spraying with water and under plastic film. After filling the finished container with water, the finishing layer remains slightly damp, and thanks to the mixture of peat and kefir, it quickly becomes covered with a beautiful layer of moss naturally.
Mr. Summer Resident: some useful decorating tips and coloring options
The word colorize can be interpreted in different ways, for example, decorate. The result is sometimes superior to using conventional paints. You can take beads, shells, pebbles.
The preparation is the same as for regular painting; you can apply a background layer if the barrel is not a very beautiful color, and then start decorating. You can glue leaves, branches, straw to the surface.
The barrel can be braided with willow twigs or vines. An excellent decorative option: shells, pebbles, broken ceramic tiles, mosaics, fragments of mirrors (preferably without children), lids from cans and bottles. You can decorate the container with textiles, giving it the appearance of some figure, for example, a fairy-tale character.
If the barrel is to be used for a flower garden, it is not buried completely in the ground, filled with soil and a beautiful flower bed is obtained. Small flowers are planted in front of it to decorate.
A wooden barrel is cut in half and slats are nailed to it at different heights to create a cascade of flower beds.
Twine or rope is glued onto the barrels in a circle, creating a three-dimensional pattern.
When decorating a barrel, the materials are selected correctly, depending on its further use. They also take into account the place where it will be placed. For example, a barrel for collecting rainwater can be painted with just one paint, without a pattern.
Planting flowers
For such flower beds it is best to use annuals. You can plant early species, as well as those that bloom later. Such a flowerbed will delight you with bright colors all season long. Low flowers are best suited for this type of flower bed. Colorful petunias, marigolds of different varieties, mirabilis with its bright flowers and calendula will look great here. Orange, red and yellow gazanias look great on an “overturned” flowerbed.
Among the ground cover flowers, you can opt for the begonia, beloved by many gardeners. Pansies that delight with colors and mesembryanthemum, dazzling with an abundance of colors - from bright pink to yellow - are also suitable.
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Other uses for old barrels
If the barrel has become leaky and no longer serves its purpose, there is no need to throw it away immediately. From it, especially wooden ones, you can get a lot of useful things not only for your summer cottage, but also for your home. For example: chairs, tables, armchairs, shelves, washbasins, chandeliers, waterfalls, small ponds, houses for pets.
Many creative owners combine barrels with other old items, such as watering cans, shovels, glass frames, creating real architectural masterpieces.
How to choose a product for painting
Of course, regardless of the material of the product, any barrel can be put in order.
It is important that the barrel is in good condition, so that there are no large holes in it, although even such a product can be decorated in an interesting way, and it will simply decorate a summer cottage, without practical use.
Most often in the countryside, barrels made of plastic and metal are used, so if they are decorated, it is most often such products.
In order for it to be painted well, it must be smooth, without pits or nicks; if there are such nuances, they can be removed by sanding.
Wooden barrels are also often found, in which gardening tools, some bulk products, compost, and so on can be stored. In order to paint such a barrel from the dacha well, its surface must also be smooth, this can be achieved by sanding.
