Made to Match: Custom ALLO Planters for Mulgrave Country Club
Adding greenery to a busy hospitality space is easy. Adding greenery that looks like it was part of the original fit-out is the real challenge. That was the brief when Mulgrave Country Club in Wheelers Hill, Victoria, approached Bloom Box Products to bring mobile planters into its large dining area.
The result is a set of nine custom ALLO planters, finished to match the club's existing interior so closely that they read as built-in joinery, while still rolling wherever the venue needs them.
The Brief: Mobile Planters That Don't Look Like an Afterthought
Mulgrave Country Club has been a cornerstone of Melbourne's south-east since 1961, and its dining room is a big, well-loved space that hosts everyone from midweek diners to large functions. The club wanted to introduce on-floor greenery to soften and divide the room, but two things were non-negotiable:
- The planters had to be mobile, so staff could reconfigure the floor for different events and seating layouts.
- They had to match the existing aesthetic seamlessly. Off-the-shelf pots dropped into a considered interior can look like a last-minute fix, and the club wanted the opposite.
Our Solution: The ALLO Planter, Customised
Our ALLO planter range was designed from day one with customisation in mind. Its modern aluminium framework is built to house a wide range of claddings and finishes, which made it the ideal starting point for this project.
We kept the planters at our standard ALLO dimensions and tailored the finishes to the space:
Custom timber cladding to match the bar
The club's bar area features Porta Contours Riverine timber lining. We clad each ALLO in the same profile, so the planters carry the bar's texture and warmth out into the dining room. The visual link between joinery and planters is what makes them feel like part of the original design.
Custom Pebble Grey powdercoat
Instead of our standard frame colours, the aluminium frames were powdercoated in a custom Pebble Grey, chosen to sit comfortably alongside the timber and the room's existing palette.
Built for flexibility
Every planter rolls on lockable castors, so the club can move them to zone the room, create breakout areas for functions, or open up the floor, then lock them firmly in place. Inside, our indoor planting kit provides a raised shelf to hold potted artificial plants, giving lush, year-round greenery with no watering, no soil mess and no maintenance for busy hospitality staff.
Fast Turnaround on a Custom Product
Because the ALLO is engineered for customisation, tailoring the finishes didn't mean starting from scratch. The project took 4 to 6 weeks from order to delivery, only slightly longer than our standard range, despite the custom cladding and powdercoat. Designing and manufacturing in-house at our own factory means we control every stage, from finish selection through to fabrication and quality checks.
The Result
Nine timber-clad, Pebble Grey ALLO planters now bring greenery to Mulgrave Country Club's dining area, tying into the bar's joinery and giving the venue a flexible way to shape the room. For guests, they simply look like they belong. For staff, they're a practical tool that moves as the space changes.
See the planters in place in our project video on Instagram.
Why Hospitality Venues Choose Custom Planters
Clubs, restaurants, hotels and offices are increasingly using planters as more than decoration. Well-designed commercial planters can:
- Zone large rooms into more intimate dining or lounge areas
- Guide foot traffic and define walkways
- Reinforce your interior design by matching existing materials and colours
- Adapt to events, when mounted on castors
- Add greenery without the upkeep, using artificial plants and indoor planting kits
If your venue has a distinctive look, a custom-finished planter will always sit better than a generic one.
Planning a Project? Let's Talk
Whether you need a handful of planters matched to your fit-out or a complete greenery solution for a commercial space, the Bloom Box team can design and build it. Explore the ALLO planter range to see what's possible, or get in touch with our team to start your custom project.