If you’ve been around from the beginning of this blog/home making journey, you know I love a good repurpose project. This amazing plant riser made from remnant butcher block is no different! The entire project cost about thirty dollars, my only purchase were the matte black legs, everything else I had on hand. Cheap and most items on hand!
Every Great Project has a Backstory
A few months ago we started organizing and purging things from the attic. Yes, decluttering your attic provides the same good feels as purging your main living spaces. It’s amazing how much we hold on to or put out of sight out of mind. Don’t want to look at it? Throw it in the attic – eventually you’re going to have to deal with it.
Which is exactly what happened with a coffee table. We weren’t sure what the end result would be, so it got thrown to the attic, only for us to bring it back down to list for sale. You know what happened before it was listed? It quickly became the temporary riser for my plant babies. While this took up a significant amount of space in our dining room, but was a great temporary situation and allowed for me to come up with some ideas to give my plants a window seat.
Let the Repurposing Begin
Remnants become a staple in the life of a DIYer – It feels impossible to throw out something that has such great potential to be another project. Small slabs of butcher block counter tops fall into this category. I have walked past these few pieces of wood countless times over the last year or so. One remnant had already been cut relatively narrow and had wonky corners.
Perfect! David gave the sides fresh cuts on the miter saw and proceeded to sand everything smooth. Fortunately, the mouse sander worked perfectly for this project, as our orbital retired over the summer. I think it is important to continually note – your finish is only as good as your prep. Using 80, 120, & 220 grit gave a really smooth surface.
What was the hardest decision for this project? If you guess stain choice, you would be correct. Going with the theme of repurpose, I planned on using one that I had on hand. I could have gone “Special Walnut,” but really didn’t want this small table to be so dark. Ultimately, I decided on “Driftwood” by Minwax for a great weathered wood look.
Followed by Spar Urethane from Minwax which gives a slight sheen, but provides excellent protection against water. Plenty of watering, misting of the leaves, and sometimes the humidifier the water protection piece was really important. Of note, proper application of Spar Urethane requires three coats with a light sand in between each coat. You simply cannot rush quality and the end result will be worth the extra work and dry time.
The Finishing Touches
The only purchase made for this project were the trapezoid matte black legs from Amazon. With a coupon these were under thirty dollars delivered to my porch. Can’t say enough about the quality of these legs. There is a great selection of sizes and would be perfect for many different projects!
The only thing I might have done differently would have been to order a taller version. Height during the design process wasn’t a big deal, but now the riser is the perfect height for our sweet pupper to knock plants over. We still love her and the plant babies are happy.