My indoor plant collection is growing, which I’ve decided has solidified my entrance into full adulthood. But plants and the pretty pots that hold them can be an expensive hobby, so I recently whipped up this little West Elm-inspired plant stand that’s affordable and easy to make.
I’ve been ogling all the pretty mid-century modern plant stands currently trending these days, but at over $100 a piece — this one pictured is $109 at West Elm — they’re just not really in the budget. Luckily they’re easy peasy and super affordable to DIY and you know how I love a good DIY.
I made these plant stands with scraps I had in the basement. The tall guy is made from leftover fence pickets and the short guy is made from 1×4 furing strips that I ripped in half. I had to do a fair amount of sanding to get them cleaned up and ready for their second life as plant stands.
First you’ll need to make your crossbar for the plant pot to sit on. I measured my pots and made my crossbar about 1/4″ wider than the clay saucer.
For reference, I’m using a 10″ clay pot with a 9″ saucer and an 8″ pot with a 10″ saucer, so my stands will hold a saucer up to 10″. The West Elm stand has a pot that fits snug, but I’m partial to clay pots and most plants do best in drain-friendly pots with saucers (in my opinion). My legs are 26″ for the tall guy and 22″ for the short guy, but you can make them in whatever size you require. Just use wood glue and then clamp the pieces together. If you’re building a large stand for a large plant or one that requires a lot of water, you might want to screw the pieces together. You can do that with a Kreg Jig. I’m using them for small plants that require very little water, so the weight isn’t really an issue.
Once your crossbar is ready (give it a good 24 hours for the glue to sure up) you can add your legs. Simply mark your attachment points and then glue and clamp together.
I made a piece of scrap wood to wedge between the bottom legs. This made the building process a bit easier and it insured that the legs didn’t splay in or out while everything was drying. I did use brad nails to make the legs a bit more secure. Again, for heavy plants, use screws and countersink them so you can putty them for a seamless look.
If you’re using quality wood, you can leave the plant stands raw. Since I was using gnarly treated wood and scrap furring strips, I chose to stain mine. This is Minwax American Chestnut. It’s the stain I’ve been using for most of my recent projects.
Add your favorite plants!
I like to have them stacked. Of course you don’t need two, but I like the way things look when they’re grouped. I think I may need a third, but let’s tackle that sideboard first 😉
