Succulent Table
A succulent coffee table is not one that tastes good, but rather one with your very own garden of succulents built in, with cacti et al.
Inspired by the Do-It-Yourself movement and in need of a coffee table, we perused Pinterest, blogs and the like for how to make said table out of pallet boards — something of which there seems to be no shortage of on Brooklyn sidewalks.
Andrew and I snagged a pallet of our own and made a makeshift wood shop in an outdoor storage area of a friend’s place in DUMBO.
We found a few helpful instruction sites, ripped apart the pallet and measured, sawed, nailed until we had a table with a built-in recessed plant box.
The next step was to build the legs — for this we found a long thin wooden log and sawed it into four pieces to have a coffee table the perfect height for foot resting when seated on the couch.
We sanded it down and before putting in any plants, sealed it with Wood Wax from Gowanus Furniture that we found a nearby favorite shop called, By Brooklyn, which sells an eclectic mix of goods made locally from slate cutting boards to Brooklyn Bridge shaped jewelry.
Brooklyn Wood Wax
This ended up being a really simple process. We melted the wax down and painted the table, sealing it to protect the wood from things like wine stains, but still allowing for a raw, pine wood finish.
Finally, it was time to plant. Succulents require a special soil which includes turface, pine bark fines and crushed granite. Succulents also receive water from molecules in the air, particularly in such a limited drainage system. We did over zealously give too much water to our succulents which results in a mass apocalypse except for a single cactus (Do not water them. At most maybe put water in a spray bottle and spritz them). We have since salvaged the wasteland that became our lovely table with an array of rocks and pebbles from the bay in East Hampton, and so we’re back in style one again.
Choosing a plant!
Helpful Resources:
- Far Out Flora – How to Build
- Succulents & Sunshine – How to Plant
- For sealing, go by the instructions of whichever sealant you choose
