Bringing plants into your home can
help brighten the gray winter season and help you feel closer to nature. Plants
can also provide cheering blossoms, refreshing scents, and even edible leaves
in some cases. And indoor gardening can be a fun hobby or DIY project. But if
your home doesn't seem to have a lot of natural places to add plants, you need
to get creative.
Here are some creative DIY projects
to help you incorporate more plants into your home until you're surrounded by
greenery.
Hang Planters From the Ceiling
Hanging a plant from the ceiling can
be a great DIY project that allows your creativity free range. You'll need some
hanging hooks with screws on the end, plus a drill and possibly a pair of
pliers. Once you've installed the hooks, creating fun DIY planters is the next
step.
You can create your own plant
hangers with elements such as twine, yarn, embroidery hoops, or even old tin
cans; let your imagination run wild.
Build a Rope and Wood Shelving Unit
One popular and easy-to-make shelf
for potted plants involves hanging wood boards at intervals on thick rope knots
(similar to how a rope ladder with wood rungs is constructed). You can make one
of these shelves yourself if you have three to six boards in the correct size,
two lengths of sturdy rope, and hardware and tools to mount the shelf above a
window.
Other than the wood and rope,
supplies and tools you'll need for this type of DIY shelf unit include:
- Wood stain and rag (optional)
- Hooks to hang the shelf
- Drill and drill bits
- Tape measure
- Saw such as a circular saw
This is a fairly simple project if
you're experienced with power tools. After cutting the wood to the desired
length and staining it, you'll need to drill holes for the rope, knot the rope
and string it through the holes, and install mounting hardware to hang the
shelf from.
Install a Garden Window
A garden window, also called a greenhouse
window, is a three-dimensional window space where you can set plants to get
natural light from three sides. This feature can be a great way to provide
enough natural light for a tropical plant in a home that has lower light
levels.
To install a garden window, you'll
need a variety of tools and supplies such as:
- Insulation
- Power tools such as a miter saw
- The garden window unit itself
- A level and prybar
- Flashing to seal the window
against weather
This can be a more involved DIY
project, since it requires knowledge of how to frame a window as well as how to
properly flash the window to prevent water intrusion. But if you have the DIY
skills to do it, a garden window installation can be a very rewarding project.
Design and Build a DIY Green Wall
A green wall is a type of vertical
garden that covers a surface (such as a wall) in greenery. You can purchase a
kit that will sit flush against the wall and has pockets for plants to grow in,
or you can construct your own unit and then install it. Either way, you'll need
some sturdy hardware to attach the unit to the wall.
If building your own vertical garden
unit, be sure to consider how you'll water the plants once they're installed. A
watering system that automatically waters each plant will ensure that your vertical
garden is as carefree as possible. You'll also want to consider which plants
you'll use in your design. Different colors and textures of plant foliage can
provide different aesthetics.
These are just four ideas for
filling our home with plants. Whether you prefer succulents, lush tropical
greenery, or herb plants, these DIY projects will give you more options to
install them in your home.
For advice on DIY projects or more information
about the types of hardware and DIY
supplies we sell, give us a call today or come into the store.
We'll be glad to talk about your home improvement projects such as green walls
or hanging plant shelves and help you find the materials and hardware you need.
