I built a set of modern-looking planters for the front of our house – something a little different from a rectangular box:

I built three of them, and in three different sizes for visual interest:

I was inspired by the simple construction of these tapered cedar planters combined with the appearance of these expensive mahogany ones. I began by creating a jig that would allow me to hold the posts of the planter in place while I laid the cedar strips across:

This ensured that each side was identical, and that each planter was at the same angle even at different heights. I laid each cedar strip (ripped into about 1.5″ strips from inexpensive cedar fence boards from Home Depot) with a spacer between each, and then cut off the ends by hand:

I had some help gluing and nailing the strips in place:

Then I trimmed off the angled ends of the posts:

And finished with a coat of spar polyurethane:

The result: