Plants.
I love them. I’ve had a growing obsession with them for the past five or so years. My last “plant count” was over 50 at my house (many of them, wildly self-reproductive aloe babies), and I keep adopting more.
Running low on window space, I came up with the idea to turn this old filing cabinet into a plant stand. The file cabinet came from my mom’s office. They downsized and needed to get rid of some furniture. I originally thought it would be a perfect storage space for my classroom; however, I moved to a new classroom in the school, and it didn’t really have the space for it. It sat in my garage for several years. After I moved into my new house, I had an entire empty dining room looking for furnishings (I chose to keep my table in the kitchen). I also had a bunch of plants taking over the floor space. Thus, the plant stand idea was born!
This project took a LOT more spray paint than I had anticipated, but I am quite happy with how the end product turned out. I chose to paint it in navy, with gold accents. Gold is pretty trendy right now (although I don’t typically try to get trendy), and with the navy blue, I think it pops nicely. Sort of a retro/modern look.
Materials
- screwdriver
- pliers
- drop cloth
- rust spray paint primer (I used this Rustoleum one)
- clean metal spray paint primer (for the non-rusty parts)
- spray paint of chosen color (my choice: navy)
- recommended: this tool for spray painting (It relieved a lot of cramping/finger pain!)
This nifty little tool simply attaches to your spray can. You can press the trigger to spray, instead of pressing down on the top. It doesn’t seem like a big deal, but I noticed it’s much easier on the hands and well worth the few dollars!
Step 1: Prep for Painting
I wiped down the entire cabinet and all the drawers. It had been sitting in my garage for some time, so had accumulated a bit of dust, dirt, and a spider or two.
Then I took all of the drawers out, and unscrewed the drawer pulls. I also took off the label holders. These were a little trickier to get off since the metal inside the drawer was bent outward for it to stay on the drawer. I used the screwdriver to initially lift the metal label holder away from the inside of the drawer, then used the pliers to carefully straighten it out and push it through the slot where it had been held in at.
Next, I put down a few drop cloths in my garage to protect the floor. I recommend covering the entire floor if you are spraying an item this big, because a LOT of paint will become airborne and float around your work space. Then I spread the drawers out, standing up on their sides, so that I could spray all parts of them except for the one end on the ground.
Step 2: Spray, Spray, Spray
I began by lightly priming the cabinet and drawers. Using the rusty primer on the main unit, I targeted the few spots that were pretty rusted. I used a couple cans of the clean metal primer to very lightly coat the rest of the cabinet and then the drawers.
After adequate dry time, I sprayed my first layer of navy. I originally bought 4 cans of paint. I quickly realized that was not enough. So, I went to another store and picked up three more and sprayed two days later. Still not enough. I went to a third store, which had 4 in stock, bought all of them, and pretty well used those up, too. I probably could have used a half can more to cover up a few minor flaws on the insides of the drawers, but overall, it was looking good after 11 cans of navy. Eleven! A little more expensive than I had anticipated, but worth the end result.
Additionally, I sprayed the hardware with some gold I had on hand. I sprayed, waited a couple days, flipped them, then sprayed the other sides of them to get full coverage.
My recommendation would be to wear something that covers as much of your skin as possible when you spray paint something of this caliber. I wore shorts, a tank top, and flip flops when I did this (It was August) and I ended up looking like a smurf by the end of the first round of painting. As a result, I spent some time scrubbing blue out between my toes, and my tub had blue spots all over it after showering. Second round = long pants, socks and paint shoes, shirt with some sleeves. I also suggest wearing a mask so you don’t breathe the blue in, either.
Step 3: Reassemble and Plantify
Once everything had adequately dried, I put the hardware back on and brought it in the house. It’s pretty hefty so I brought the drawers in separately. I placed the big unit centered on the dining room wall and put the drawers back in, then played around with my plants until I liked how they looked. This plant stand is not in front of a window, so I had to be careful in choosing plants- this location will only be a nice home for the ones that need indirect light. Of course, I don’t have a ton of those so I ended up… adopting some more plants : )
I’ve added some dark brown burlap to the top of it, followed by a tray filled with plants.
I’m really happy with my new plant stand, and I think my plants are, too.
I’ve decided to place my DIY Wood Shim Art Work on the wall above it.
Have you ever upcycled metal furniture?.
What kinds of unique plant stands would you like in your house, for your plant babies?