Plant Table Saga

Today I tell the sorry tale of the plant table saga. The story begins with some hens and chicks succulents I had in pots on the deck outside, but never got into the ground before the cold weather came. I decided to pot them inside for the winter. 

There were so many hens and chicks that I bought some other types of succulents to mix it up a bit. This created several pots with some hens and chicks still left over. I forgot to mention that when I was buying the other types of succulents I found a cute little norfolk pine that I also purchased. This led to a crafty project of revamping a worn planter that you can view here. Plus, when my brother was coming to visit he was going to bring me a Christmas cactus, but later changed his mind and didn't. So I decided I wanted one and went out and bought one.

Now I have a lot of plants and a plant table was very much needed. After researching my budget I decided to make one. My complicated plan involved a slab of lumber on top and legs underneath. (Sorry if this is long, but I've never known a saga to be short.) Sooo, after looking and looking I found these legs at my local UW Swap shop for under $10.

I liked the look of these legs that just needed a cleaning. So I removed the legs from the table top and set to looking for a slab of wood. I wanted a length of six feet to fit under the window in our den which faces south and gets really good sun. I went to Home Depot, but decided against new wood. After searching craigslist for a while I found someone who was selling old wood bleacher tops!

I paid $10 and the seller even cut it to length for me. I was in business!

To my dismay I discovered that my table legs were too wide for my slab of wood. Gak! So I looked and looked for different table legs (second hand of course). This took weeks. I finally found some at our local Dig n' Save (they're not kidding).

Here they are, quite different than the first, but I like them. All they need is a cleaning and to be mounted.

Anxious to start I didn't bother to pick up or close the closet door before taking a photo. There is my slab of wood and one of the legs. Tools are at the ready, let's do it!

Here we see my handiwork - this girl knows her way around a drill and a screwdriver! Since my table is six feet long I put this extra support in the middle.

Clever, yes? See how well I measured and centered it? That's great, because I had to remove it and put two legs in the middle as the table was wobbly. With a sore arm from 28 screws and an ominous feeling that something was awry, my daughter and I turned it over and set it on the floor. It was still wobbly. My mood went from pissed off disheartened to dark. Please don't talk to me right now. 

I put the plants on it anyway, it looks great, but IT IS WOBBLY. Its fine until someone accidentally bumps into it. And in this house, someone will - my plants are not safe. The legs are steel and on tight, but the problem is aerodynamic. I can look at it as an engineering lesson I guess...

My next thought is to find three identical wood stools (used) and mount them under the slab for legs instead. Unless anyone out there has suggestions for making this table stable? I would appreciate any ideas. I will let you know how this saga ends. I think I'll call it "The Expensive Plant Table and Why Can't Anything Be Simple?"