DIY Succulent Table
February 4, 2011 by Matti | 62 Comments
Matti's Succulent Table
Mission DIY succulent table complete. I’ve wanted to make this baby for months. It’s a dissected old shipping crate and some other random scraps of wood lying around the house turned into a patio side table with a planting strip down the middle.
Old shipping crate deconstructed.
The next couple of pics show a bit of the process. The was a shipping container for artwork which I nabbed from work before they tossed it into the dumpster. Love the 3 Rs…reduce, reuse, recycle. I like these shallow crates…this guy was about 20 x 28 x 5 inches. Lots of screws on the opening end, but the other side had a ton of nails. Nothing a make shift crowbar couldn’t handle (aka a big screw driver).
Center planting box layed out.
The outside walls were about the same shape as I wanted the table, and I started to build everything around that size. Basically, I was making it up the design plans the whole time I was constructing this table. In the middle, the lighter colored wood (scrap), is the place where I am going to plant the succulent garden strip.
Table tops getting set in.
Randomly walking around looking at gardens in the hood, I spotted a big pile of old scrap lumber. I don’t know what these old scrap pieces of wood were used for originally…they were all in different lengths ranging 12-18 inches. But I thought they would make a nice rustic look for the table top. Score! Great thing was they were all the same thickness. I took the smallest one, and cut the rest down to match. In case you missed it, look up on images, you can see that I fasten all these small boards for the table top from the bottom side with some thin piece of wood.
Fastening it together.
I really tried to screw everything in so that the screws were hidden from sight. However, I figure the legs needed extra attention, aka 3 inch screws, they are visible. Those red legs by the way are from our old picnic table that once lived in the middle of our yard.
Matti's test of strength.
…and it passes the Matti’s strength test. Although, my buddy Jim pointed out that Max the Border Collie wasn’t so certain it would succeed.
Nearly finished.
DIY magic. But wait, the fun part. Planting in succulents. We drilled a couple holes in the bottom, covered them with screen, and put a layer of pea gravel in the bottom for drainage. Megan and I took a bunch of little succulent cuttings to plant. We tried to stay with those that grow on the shorter side. BTW, you can see more of the table and garden pics (that weekend) on our Flickr.
...and filled with succulents.
Yeah, another project to check off the list. Before we get going, here’s another shipping container that I transformed. Man, I swear I completed that project more recent than March 2010. Seriously need to make these DIY projects more frequent.
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62 Comments
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February 4, 2011 at 7:32 am
Sweet!
February 4, 2011 at 7:50 am
Good god you guys are amazing! I love the size of the wood pieces you used for the table top, and that you reused a bit of your old table as the legs. Nice work!
February 4, 2011 at 11:24 am
Love the look of the scrap wood with the succulents. Nice job.
February 4, 2011 at 11:34 am
beautiful inspiration…
February 4, 2011 at 2:10 pm
LOVE IT!
pretty sure it wouldn’t survive a wisconsin winter though, maybe indoors?
February 10, 2011 at 9:47 am
Hey Molly, yeah…I suspect that if I were back in WI…I would over engineer it to survive. It reminds me back to a project I did on Willy St where I retooled a dumpster find water bed framed and turned it into a plant stand. Matti
February 4, 2011 at 2:29 pm
This project = made of win.
February 4, 2011 at 4:26 pm
That is beautiful. I’d love a dining table like that
February 4, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Sweet !
February 4, 2011 at 7:13 pm
OMG! love it! It’s beautiful!! I have to try this!
February 5, 2011 at 12:25 am
Wow this is one of the coolest things I have ever seen! You are the man!
February 5, 2011 at 1:35 am
I’d like to make a bigger one and maybe line the trough with pond liner to protect the wood. Very nice, I like it!
February 5, 2011 at 5:44 am
Brilliant piece of DIY – looks better than “store bought”
February 5, 2011 at 7:59 am
Great job. Looks like Max the helper might need his own little tool belt.
February 5, 2011 at 11:08 pm
great re-purpose!! i bet you could make something similar out of an old palette, too! very inspiring!!
February 6, 2011 at 11:47 am
Holy cow. LOVE IT. Question: How long until the wood supporting the planter rots? I feel like negative Nancy, but I just gotta ask.
February 10, 2011 at 9:52 am
If I had to guess looking at stuff we’ve had sitting outside here in SF…I would say about 2-5 years..maybe longer. You could always go out and get some cedar or redwood (something a little more water / weather resistant), but for these experimental projects…scrap wood will last long enough. Matti
February 8, 2011 at 3:16 am
Merci !! bonne idée !
February 8, 2011 at 8:05 am
This one is really really nice !!! I’m going to share it on my blog !
By the way, thank you Matti for your comment last week about my vintage suitcase planter
February 9, 2011 at 7:43 am
Totally brilliant. When does the Megan and Matti Outerlands Succulent Nursery and Garden Shop open??
February 9, 2011 at 11:28 am
This is lovely, and a great project. I like the way you show it step-by-step. Those sempervivums won’t need much water, so it’s unlikely the wood will rot. There’s more of a concern that the roots of the plants will rot if they sit in water. But you know to water them very sparingly. I have some haworthias that have been in a nondraining container for several years—I just spit at them once a month or so, ha. I like the pebble topdressing, too. Especially since a table is a functional item, sometimes use for food, you don’t bare dirt showing.
February 10, 2011 at 10:01 am
You are correct, you gotta watch the water on some of these plants. I always say, people kill more plants from over watering than under watering.
Hey, I think we didn’t mention in the post, but we also drilled five half inch drainage holes, covered them with screen, and poured a layer of pea size gravel in the bottom…so it should drain well during our winter rains.
February 9, 2011 at 12:07 pm
ok, this is a definite weekend project i’m planning on doing for/with my mom! thanks. r
February 10, 2011 at 7:05 am
Sweet! Using re-purposed wood gives this such a great already-established look as well as being beautiful. Nice job!
February 10, 2011 at 2:54 pm
Easy, inexpensive, but very cool! My to-do list just got longer!