Plan Ideas

Given our new pets that our neighbour inadvertently gave us, I was forced to put my wifes plant unit together before it was ready to be assembled. With pest control people steaming and spraying their way around the place to kill these almost indestructible little buggers, I didnt think having its parts stored all over the place was a good idea, so the night before their first treatment, I rattled the thing together with the parts I had.

As an aside, these damned bedbugs are killing us. We spent two months with everything we owned packed away in sealed bags and boxes while we went through three treatments of steam and spray. The steam kills the shitty little things and the spray contains any new bugs that hatch. The first treatment saw dozens drop like flies, resulting in only three being found at the beginning of the second treatment. At the start of the third, the exterminator only found one. We figured we had it beat, so he told us to unpack everything. It was like Christmas came a week early around here.

To make sure we had gotten rid of them, I had them do a "canine check". They arrived with a mutt that was taken from a pound in Florida and trained to search out bedbugs. Supposedly, it cant be sidetracked by flies, mosquitoes and spiders, and when he/she/it sniffs out a bedbug, it sits down and stares at the spot he smelled it in. Things went great at first. The trainer/exterminator let the dog out of its cage and off they went with the dog poking its nose here, there and everywhere. I was pleased to see it didnt stop anywhere, especially in my office and our bedroom. When it hit the last bedroom, however...it sniffed...it freaked...and it sat down and stared at the headboard. The trainer/exterminator tore the bed apart and came up with two, hopefully both males or both females. It looks like we still have them, so it looks like we will be having a few more rounds of treatments. Damn!

Anyway, the plant stand went together pretty easily, and I wired up the lights, hooking each up to a digital timer. Once I got it together, I rolled it into the dining room and my wife loaded up its shelves with her plants. As you can see from the photo below, they were being put on shelves with grow lights none too soon.

The first photo is a close-up of one end and shows the basic design is working, although I think it needs a solid rail around the top, about an inch back from the edge, to give the top some weight...

The wiring you see all gets hidden behind the pilasters, which I am currently working on. I did change my mind with these. They originally were to be flat stock with multiple beads running their full length, but I just didnt think they would add the weight I think the unit needs. I have the new design glued up, and they are now 2" half rounds glued to 2.5" flat stock, which is a reverse of the existing beads. I might be able to knock them off this week.

I havent finished the cabinet area at the bottom yet, so I didnt include a shot of it because it looks like hell. The following photo is a shot of the entire upper area, showing two of the three display shelves, and because it is missing the pilasters, it looks bad enough. Hopefully, you can see that the bones are working, though...