Funky Junk Interiors

 

A nature-inspired branch ladder plant stand

Most of you know my love for decorating with nature. From branch handled toolboxes,  twig garlands to firewood stars and log candles, shopping my own backyard has long been my fav shopping mall for home decor.

I’m a real branch fanatic in particular, so when Stacy from Not Just a Housewife sent me her beautiful new book, Natural Accents (Amazon affiliate link) to review, I kinda squealed, and darted for the wood section.

This post contains some affiliate links in which I earn a small percentage if you purchase anything through these links, at no extra cost to you. Thank-you for helping to support my blog!

Natural Accents – find on Amazon HERE

And I wasn’t disappointed. How beautiful is this book?!

I’ve read a lot of decorating books, and I will say, this is one that won’t outdate itself anytime soon. The projects are truly unique, easy to do, and timeless. Lovely, sharp illustrations with easy to follow instructions. It’s like your own Pinterest on paper without endless clicking. 🙂

And oh my gosh… there’s even a chapter on how to take care of houseplants. I’d better read that…. 6x. 🙂

Well Stacy, your book most certainly inspired me to invent a nature inspired branch ladder plant stand, vs. using a ladder I already had. My patio is finally starting to look like summer!

Here’s how I did it…

How to build a branch ladder plant stand:

 

Supplies I used:

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Two 2x4s

Various thick branches for the rungs

Outdoor durable paint of choice

Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils:

• Farmers’ Market
• Market Extensions – Flower

Cordless drill

Miter saw

Stencil brush

Paint brush

Various buckets for planters

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How-to:

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1. Cut two 2×4’s to desired length.

2. Stain or paint the ladder sides as desired before assembling. 

I didn’t’ have any long reclaimed 2x4s on hand so I used two new ones. I’d rather paint new wood vs old anyway. A little backwards decor theory there…

I used white ceiling paint, with no primer. Because it’s all I had in stock. I find it self primes and wears like nails, so it’s all good!

Funky Junk’s Old Sign Stencils:

Farmers’ Market

Market Extensions – Flower

2. Stencil along sides of ladder if desired.

I wanted the ladder to wear something unique. Like… a flower sign, as if it were set up to sell beautiful, abundant flowers at the weekend flea market.

With the current Farmers’ MARKET stencil, you can make any kinda market sign you wish with this Market Extensions Collection. 4 new mix and match options! Today I am showcasing Flower.

Here’s how I did this:

(the above picture shows a previous Farmers’ Market design that has since been changed)

How to mix and match stencils on a thin surface

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a) Position the Farmer’s Market stencil first. Stencil the word Market only.

b) Slip an extra board underneath the stencil, and pencil-in the registration marks.

c) Remove the Market stencil, and position the FLOWER stencil by lining up the registration marks on the stencil with your previous stencil marks. Stencil the image.

I then made the wood look older by beating and scraping across it with a hammer, then slightly sanding it with a palm sander. 

How cute is that?!

3. Decide how wide you’d like your ladder, then cut branches that length on straight angles.

The hardest part of this project was attempting to cut the branches on the same angles. But with rustic branches, just remember, wonky works. 🙂

4. Measure and mark how far apart you’d like the branch rungs along the outside of the ladder sides.

5. Attach branches by pre-drilling pilot holes into the sides of the 2x4s, then screwing in each branch rung from the outside.

I love collecting branches when I go for mountain walks, so I had these guys on hand. The branches are a little on the hefty side, perfect rung material.

Seriously… how rustically cute are these branch rungs?!

6. Collect various galvanized buckets (with handles if possible) to use as planters.

A beat up collection of galvanized junk and other odds and sods came to the rescue for the planters.

7. Pre-drill holes into the bottoms of the buckets, then place rocks or gravel to cover the holes. Add soil.

8. Hang buckets to the ladder rungs, with screws for each handle.

8. Once buckets are hung, plant, then water.

I found adding the plants AFTER the buckets were already on the ladder to help me place what plant I desired where.

Ready to see how adorable this turned out?!

Ladder reveal

 

How adorable is this?! Welcome to my very own little Flower Market! On my patio.

The branch ladder acts as a plant holder that takes nearly no room, perfect for tight spaces! That’s the handy thing about height!

Various planters were grouped together on a nearby table to add to the flower ambiance.

Pretty cute, right?!

Here’s some added tips on how to plant what, where…

Flower planting tip:

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Much like decorating the interior of your home, I did the same with flowers when deciding what to plant where:

• set the flowers on the floor
• mix and match by colour and how they will trail down
• arrange so the planters don’t have wide open empty gaps that will never be filled in

It’s fun to play and see what you come up with!

Plant names

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And in case you’d like to know the names of all these plants and flowers, here they are…

Top planter / Bellagio begonia (looks like pom poms!!) and Wire Vine (adore!!)

Middle planter / pastel violets and Moneywort

Bottom planter / lost the tag


Smaller bucket on rail / Sparks Will Fly begonia and Silver Falls

Taller bucket on table / Unbelievable begonia and Golden Sunset

Clay planter / violets and ivy

(aren’t you proud of me for saving the plant tags?!)

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Anyway, I’m rather smitten with how this nature-inspired branch ladder plant stand turned out! It takes up virtually no room, it’s easy to maintain because everything is in one spot, and you can even move the planters around if desired!

They’re going to look even cuter once they grow in more!

Think you’ll give a branch ladder plant stand a go this summer?

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This post was also originally part of a giveaway which is now over. Congrats #38 Carol B!

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Other related projects you may enjoy:

Make garden-themed IKEA crates

Build an easy garden-themed reclaimed wood gate

Learn how to create this scrap wood garden-themed walkway

Visit many other OUTDOOR and GARDENING projects

Get inspired with MANY other stencil projects HERE