salvaged galvanized bucket fountain

when we moved into our newly constructed house almost four years ago, 

the entire backyard was nuthin' but dirt.

together, Mom and i came up with ideas for our own personal oasis,

i created a plan and sketches, and after a harrowing journey with the WRONG contractor,

we got the RIGHT guy - and our vision finally began to unfold.

when it came to the center of the yard design, we knew we wanted a fountain -

but we couldn't find anything commercially that we liked.

so i started looking at what we had and what i could do with it...

and what we HAD were some galvanized buckets and watering cans!

continue reading to see how i created an easy fountain with them...

.

a wood accent 'wall' provides the structure to hold the buckets in place:

we had our contractor sink two 4X4 posts into the existing hillside, 

 then attach one pre-made wood fence panel from Lowes * to them.

he thought i was nuts. even when he saw the drawings. whateverrrrrrr...... 

i bought a galvanized faucet, gathered up all of the galvanized buckets, 

and played around with the buckets, working out how they looked best (small to large).

once that was worked out, i screwed the faucet piece onto one of the wood slats on the fence panel.

i hung the top bucket from the faucet and used strong metal shower curtain hooks 

to hold handles of the larger sizes - the bottoms of the bigger buckets sit on the ones below.

(to be sure they could handle the weight of the water without eventually cracking the wood slats.)

because nothing is screwed in place (except the faucet), it is easily dis-assembled for cleaning.

but i did learn a valuable lesson the last time i did that:
TAKE PHOTOS FIRST.

by the time i cleaned out all of the buckets, i forgot how to tilt them correctly!!!

i originally planned to have the water coming out of the faucet

and into the small watering can, then spill down into the buckets... that didn't work out.

(the hole in the back of the faucet has a metal piece in the middle of it, 

preventing me from inserting a hose.)

instead, the hose simply comes between the wood slats on the fence panel

then bends down a bit to fit between the faucet and the bucket. 

it isn't perfect, but when viewing the fountain from the house or back patio, 

it still looks like the water is coming OUT of the faucet and into the top bucket.

(you can see the white hose just under the faucet in the photo above)

the fountain pump sits in the lowest bucket, hidden by the one above it.

it has a very long power cord, that goes behind the fence panel 

then over to an exterior landscaping outlet that we had installed.
(not shown in this photo)

the hose attached to the pump runs out the top of the lowest bucket, hidden by the one above it,

then goes through the wood slats and behind the fence panel.

(you can see the hose behind the fence panel in the photo above)

it took a little bit of fine-tuning to get the water pressure right,

but once i did, the fountain was exactly what we wanted!

since i couldn't use the watering cans in the fountain construction, 

i just sat them next to it - along with a few extra buckets that i found later.

we also have galvanized light fixtures and a fan, plus some vintage galvie planters on the patio,

so this look carries our theme further out into the yard.

the fountain sits on the built-up area at the back of our yard created by a stone retaining wall... 

it is in the center, and a real focal point. plus the sound is wonderful!

this project wasn't expensive or hard to create, and we truly do enjoy it every day! 

btw, there is rope lighting behind the edge of the stone retaining wall,

and also behind the wood fence panel.

it throws everything on that slope into beautiful warm light every evening.

thanks for visiting one of my most popular posts on homewardFOUND decor - 
make sure you see all of my newest content 

including that this project has been published
in Country Sampler's Farmhouse Style Magazine summer 2023 issue!

* btw, this is not a Lowes sponsored post.
  i'm just sharing the source to help you out!

shared online

funky junk interiors | diy salvaged junk projects #515

thank you for the feature, Miss Donna!