an indoor greenhouse and other ideas for living with greens

i called my sister in new york yesterday and she tells me that it is snowing. burrr. as much as i love white fluffy snow, i like green better. so that's what today's post is all about - some hacks, some are just simple repurposing of ikea items - to help you bring in a little green.

an indoor greenhouse

peter thompson and linda sinkovicthis hack two detolf glass shelf units to create some indoor plant space.

they write, "we needed space for a lot of indoor plants, and we needed to protect them from being nibbled on by our dog or cats. rather than build something from scratch that might not look so good, i bought two detolf glass shelves and added some fans on top.

the fans are necessary to keep the air flowing through (keeps bugs and mildew to a minimum). the fans are standard 120mm computer fans that run on 12v. to power them, i bought a power supply from radio shack and hooked it up to the fans (be sure to get the polarity right - fans won't run if you have the +12 on the wrong side)."

lamp shade planter

noe's melodi pendant lamp, found in the as-is section for a buck, is repurposed into a planter. anchor the base with a few rocks, fill it with potting soil and you're set!


gaje plant stand

ted and sharon combined an ikea salad bowl and a gaje speaker stand to create a plant stand. just drill three holes into the bottom of the bowl to line up with the three holes in the speaker stand.


asker hanging plant holder

marc uses the ikea asker utensil holder as a potted plant holder. he says, "the bigger sizes have a hole at the bottom that allow drainage. these ended up being perfect as a nice partial cover up for our urban backyard's rusty fence."


fniss wastepaper basket plant pot

this is from andrea of heavypetal (love the blog name!), modifying a fniss wastepaper basket into planters.

here's how andrea did it: "i carefully drilled three holes in each bottom using a 5mm (1/4") drill bit (the plastic is thin so you have to apply gentle pressure with the drill or the bottom may crack). i filled each one with a mixture of coco earth (to retain water) and sea soil, a gorgeous dark soil that practically matches the black of the containers."

table with plant centerpiece

rob turns in this interesting table (vika byske & fintorp legs). a hole is cut into the middle of the table top to fit a bjuron planter. recessed halfway, the planter is fixed to the table top with gorilla glue and finishing staples.

see more of rob's table with plant centerpiece.