©2020 Elizabeth Boahen ©2020 Elizabeth Boahen ©2020 Elizabeth Boahen ©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
I reviewed my designs and reorganized my inventory. With a few changes, I had just enough screws to finish the project. I immediately built the bottom tier. I repurposed angle brackets from a closet an used them to support the legs. This also allowed me to cleverly attach the 2nd tier. That same night, I finished the plant shelf. My plants had a new home.
Mistake #2 Everything—even the screws I used—were repurposed from other furniture or projects. At one point in this project, I thought I didn’t have enough screws to complete the project. I ordered screws but I miscalculated their size. When I saw how big the screws really were, I decided to test them on some scrap and . . .
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
Mistake #1 I thought attaching the wheels first would be a good idea. I can see the mistake even as I write this: attaching the wheel first could mean an unbalanced base, i.e. angled legs. Luckily, I was able to remove the wheel. I attached the first leg and wheel, balanced it on top of another leg and against a wall, and called it a night.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
The plan: The wheels have a base with 4 screw holes. The plan was to drill a screw through the wheelbase, through the shelf base, and into the leg. The remaining screw holes would have smaller screws that didn’t go through the base. Then I would build the next 2 tiers in the same way.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
I cut the remaining legs in a style that matched my desk’s legs and began prepping my materials. I traced the wheelbase onto the bottom of the shelf, sanded the legs, and marked which side was the bottom of the leg.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
For the first tier, I measured out 8 legs with one being much thinner than the rest. The thin leg served as a practice round since I haven’t used my jigsaw in months. It was a good decision.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
This was the first time I didn’t make multiple prototypes for a project. Normally I sketch, make digital renderings, and build low level prototypes, but the longer I took on this project, the unhealthier my plants would become. With 3 (Update: 4) aloe sproutlings on the way, I needed to move. I chose a shelf height and plugged in my jigsaw.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
Researching plant shelves helped me see what designs were out there as well as assess the total cost ( time, money, and work ) of this project. I found that most plant shelves are designed for short and fairly small plants. Buying a shelf would mean waiting for shipping and I would have no guarantee that the shelf would support my growing plant family. There were features and construction methods I wanted to use ( for example, a rod for hanging plants or pocket holes ), but I learned that I didn’t have the right materials or that I needed more practice in order to implement them. I iterated through sketches and brainstorms and broke down the building process for each design and silhouette.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
I used a good portion of my time relearning woodworking practices and studying shelf designs. Before this project, I built my desk so I had some woodworking experience. However, as someone learning the craft on their own, there is always more to learn. I learned creative ways to hide screws and nails, how to maintain structural integrity and how to be more conservative with wood glue. At the same time, I continued looking at plant shelf designs—applying what I learned to the designs I studied.
©2020 Elizabeth Boahen
I got to work.
Strong enough to hold my plants Can hold various pots Maximizes sunlight Bonus: Hold my plant supplies
After I graduated from Smith, I moved back to NYC. Throughout my college career I owned multiple plants. Now years later, my plants need a place to sit and they can’t fit on a windowsill anymore. Using some of the remaining materials from a previous project, I set out to make a plant shelf. This was my wishlist:
Plant Shelf
All images are owned by Elizabeth Boahen, Eli Boahen, and cannot be used without express permission from them.
UX Design + VR/AR Design About Skillset Summary