Hey there, it’s me, Stacy – I know that it’s been a while since I’ve posted a little DIY, but 2020 has not gone as planned! I’m sure that that doesn’t surprise you though; I don’t think that anyone would have guessed that we would be in lockdown for so long, I’ve lost count. It’s certainly put a dent in our plans to move, but that is a story for another day.

So, while we have had to defer those moving plans, Hubs has developed a new gardening obsession: Indoor plants! We can’t share any tips with you yet, since we need some time to see if we can actually keep them alive. What we can share though is a very simple shelving solution; a must for once the plant-bug bites! If you’ve been bitten, you know – once you start collecting them, you can’t stop!

Right, back to the shelves.

What you will need:

• Wood to serve as shelves; Hubs used some off-cuts he found lying around at his workshop
• Jute rope
• Drill bit
• Screwdriver bit
• Drill
• Tape measure
• Pencil
• Steel wire
• Side cutters
• Pliers
• Screws
• Knife (to cut the rope)
• Tape (to tape up the cut ends of the rope)
• Vernier (optional)

  

Step 1

Using the vernier (or tape measure if you don’t have one), measure off where you would like to drill the holes to feed the rope through.

Step 2

Fit the drill bit to your drill and make the holes. Hubs’ was a bit blunt, so it created smoke. I was assured that I didn’t need to panic, but it may be best to make sure that the bit is sharp!

Step 3

Stack the shelves on top of each other and feed the rope through.

Step 4

Measure out the total height for the unit that you need; add about 20 cm on to the end and cut off.

Step 5

Wind the tape around the ends that you just cut; it just helps to prevent fraying.

Step 6

Fold over the ends of the rope to create a loop and fix with the steel wire, using the pliers to clamp the steel wire firmly. This will create the hoops for the shelves to be hung from.

Step 7

Install hooks at the shelves location and hang them. At the moment the shelves will still be on top of each other; we just found it easier to hang them first and then determine how much space we wanted between the top and bottom shelves.

Step 8

Once you have determined the height of the shelves you can take them down again to fix the top/middle shelf in place. Hubs used screws through the wood and the rope to do this.

Step 9

Hang the shelves and fill with plants:

Before:

After:

Easy-peasy!

It really was as simple as that! Of course, the area has already changed and we have again already run out of space… it would seem that Hubs is intent on creating a jungle in our little courtyard!

It’s very pretty though, so I shall allow it 😉

Until next time,