Materials: Two Benno DVD, mother-in-law tongue plants
Description: Just wanted to submit a hack I did recently. I've been looking for a good headboard that divides my room a bit (bed is not against wall) and I needed something sturdy to hold a pillow so I could read sitting up and that would look good from both front and back (most normal headboards don't).
I was walking by a big office building in downtown LA when I saw a long, narrow planter filled with mother-in-law tongue plants. I've also been trying to get those plants into my bedroom because they produce oxygen at night (http://greenspaces.in/blog/ted09/ - good TED video about three helpful plants for growing your own oxygen). Then it dawned on me that I just needed a very narrow 80" long planter as a headboard. I looked all over until I found something perfect: two Benno DVD towers that I built, leaving the backing out of one of them, laying them horizontally on a cabinet that's flush with the top of my bed and attaching them together with a few screw plates.
Then I bought about 10-6" round terra cotta pots with saucers and replanted the plants in those from what I bought at home depot and the local nursery.
Voila! I'm totally psyched and it was MUCH cheaper than some of the big outdoor planters I was looking at to do the same thing. There is a slight notch on the right/bottom of each unit, but that can be masked any number ways: black tape, cutting the excess off or just leaving it alone – as in my case, it's not very noticable.
Thanks for reading and keeping up the awesome site!
~ Jake Levine
This is definitely the best hack for me. Nicely done. Great job!
ReplyDeleteplants do not produce oxygen at night! they breath in oxygen and breath out CO2 in the absence of light. the process of photosynthesis (photo as in light) happens during the day when there is sunlight, where plants produce oxygen. during the night the process is reversed.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I heard too... is it that bad thought? I guess it does more good during the day than harm during the night, no?
DeleteLooks really good!!
xx
Plants that live in hot conditions sometimes photosynthesize at night. They are called CAM-plants.
DeleteThe most important benefit of CAM to the plant is the ability to leave most leaf stomata closed during the day. Plants employing CAM are most common in arid environments, where water comes at a premium. Being able to keep stomata closed during the hottest and driest part of the day reduces the loss of water through evapotranspiration, allowing such plants to grow in environments that would otherwise be far too dry.
Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulacean_acid_metabolism
Get some nice CAM-plants to your bedroom. :)
Thanks for the plantinformation in the video and nice hack.
ReplyDeleteThis is so cool and would make any sort of room divider more awesome-- what a great idea! Love the combination of nature with the clean lines of the base. You could even mix up the plants in the planter and create a mini jungle!
ReplyDeletealso-- I'm no expert, but I believe that CAM photosynthetic plants (like this one) *do* release oxygen at night. they're a good air filter none the less though...
Looks nice. Is it stable enough to lean on it while reading in bed?
ReplyDeleteLove these hacks..this is how i live my life, trying to find something that can be used for, recycled, or turned into something else..and plants are great for cleaning the indoor air, no matter the time of day, and will spread oxygen and cheer..I can't live without them now..
ReplyDeleteCool, but how do you water it? isn't it going to rot the wood.
ReplyDeleteI thought I had posted previously but probably forgot to hit submit. Just wanted to say good work on the hack! I like your style!
ReplyDeleteTwo Benno DVD, mother-in-law tongue plants Description: Just wanted to submit a hack I did recently. I've been looking for a good
ReplyDeleteHi there! Just wondering... what did you use for the legs of the headboard unit? Where they also IKEA parts?
ReplyDeletewow...just found this...thanks for all of the feedback. glad you like the hack. here's some answers to your questions:
ReplyDelete1) the plants are in individual 6" round planters with saucers - that's how i water them and keep the wood from rotting. key point that i forgot to mention.
2) these plants, and i think succulents in general operate differently than non-succulent plants and they release their oxygen at night. the video has more details. something to do with the desert environment from which they originate and that being better for them in some way (don't remember exactly why).
3) the base is a combo of a filing cabinet - you can see the drawer pulls on the top photo and another ikea unit of the same height that's part storage for my desk behind the headboard.
4) it is stable enough...i've anchored the dvd towers to the top of the desk and filing cabinet mentioned above with 'L' brackets and screws. the two towers (LOTR!) are held together with 'I' brackets.
thanks again!
jake
Good to know (about this plant!) thank you, and nice hack! xx
DeleteHey I loved your hack so I used it to make myself a headboard. It's a bit different. I used the billy bookshelf extenders to make the legs so it's freestanding. I put some decor on it too.
ReplyDeletehttp://tinypic.com/r/200u5g3/7
http://tinypic.com/r/345htzq/7
http://tinypic.com/r/iyl8bc/7
Yours is pretty nice too! xx
DeleteThis is great and gave me so many ideas for my kids' bedrooms. Great detail!
ReplyDeleteThis is so so great! i love plants and this gives me so much idea on how to redecorate my bedroom.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea. But please do not put live plants in your bedroom. There's a reason why no-one does it.
ReplyDeletePlants give out Carbondioxide at night. Thats why we always see plants in living areas but never in bedroom (except may be those bamboo sticks).
Putting plants in bedroom is a no no in Feng Shui also, and for the very same reason.
Actually you have it backwards.... plants take up CO2 and release water and oxygen! They are only going to make the air cleaner.
DeleteAnyhoo.... looks great!!! Nice job! I want to try this.
Educate yourselves on the different types of photosynthesis before making wild claims... And frankly pets should also not be allowed in bedrooms because they give out CO2 at night and worse yet... Emissions of methane and other noxious gasses too... Hmmm so do we for that matter so we should all just keep out of bedrooms... Or sleep outside with plants all around us! Hows that for fong shui?
ReplyDeleteThis was an awesome hack... Instead of making smart comments like I did can't we just stick to that?
your significant other gives out carbon dioxide at night too! i wonder what it's like to live in fear of EVERYTHING. shame that.
ReplyDelete