Coffee Table Planter
This is the most advanced of the plant projects, but having Erik’s guidance gave me the confidence to take it on. When filming the show last year, Erik would tease me whenever I mentioned “Nature, Not Furniture”, and it got me thinking . . .
“What if we combined the two and created living furniture?”
I began noodling on it and when I presented the idea to building a living coffee table planter, Erik jumped at the opportunity. The vision I had in my head was to make the coffee table a planter, fit with a waterproof planting trough and drainage hole. The trough planter would live underneath the table, hidden by the apron, and a sunken area on top, or “river,” would run through the table where the plants would be planted. Once the plants were in place, the trough would become invisible, and it would appear as if the plants were growing out of the table itself.
Armed with this vision, Erik and I put pen to paper, drew out a design, and got to work.
Tools, Materials, and Plants
Wood of your choice [Insert amount of wood)
We used a plank of California Sycamore, which is a native to Los Angeles
INSERT AMOUNT For trough
Power drill
Band saw
Clamps
Kreg jig kit
Kreg 1-inch screws
Tape measure
Wood glue
Hand saw
Power sander or sandpaper (300 grain)
Pencil
Finishing oil
Wet rag or old t shirt
Plants of your choice—I’m here suggesting three plant variations you could choose, depending on your style.
Variation 1: ~80-100 cut flowers of your choice
Variation 2: ~10-12 assorted 4” philodendron and scindapsus
Variation 3: ~40-60 Assorted 2” and 4” succulents of your choice
Building Instructions
If you are using raw lumber for this project, you must first mill it to ensure all of the lines are straight and flat.
This involved using a planer and jointer to flatten it out, but if you’re buying pre milled lumber, these steps may not be necessary
To create a live edge (the unfinished edge of the wood) for the river, first choose which side to use for the river. After choosing the preferred side, we cut the plank in half with the band saw, ensuring that we had 12” of width.
Here’s the tricky part. In order to have the two live edges mirror each other, we used a technique called book matching. This involved cutting the 2.5” thick slab in half with the band saw to create two mirrored 1.25” planks
This was tricky since we were cutting along the live edge, but we got it done slow and steady
Once the width and thickness were cut, we then needed to cut it to our desired length of 46.5”. We chose 46.5” so that it hangs 3” over the apron on the short ends. We used a handsaw to cut it to the proper length. The final dimensions of the table tops should be 46.5” long, 1.25” thick and about 12” wide depending on the live edge
Mill the remaining lumber from the sycamore slab to prepare to make the legs and apron.
Using a table saw, cut the four pieces for the apron.
Cut the long sides to 36” x 1” x 4”.
Cut the short sides were 18” x 1” x 4”.
Also using the table saw, cut the four legs. Each leg should measure 18” x 2” x 2”.
Standard height for coffee tables is between 18-24”
With the legs and apron measured and cut, connect the legs and apron using biscuits and wood glue.
Biscuits are little connector pieces that fit inside a groove created by your biscuit gun (great name, but not as delicious as it sounds). Biscuits are commonly used in furniture-making for added support joinery but are optional here.
After the biscuits are cut and in place, glue the legs to the apron, clamp, and let dry overnight .
While the frame of your table is drying, start on the planting trough. The trough lives underneath the river but is hidden from view by the apron
Because the apron is 4” and the thickness of the tabletop is 1.25”, there is 5.25” of coverage to hide the trough
This 5.25” of depth provides flexibility if you want to plant in soil or simply cache plants inside of the trough
The trough can be made of any type of wood since it isn’t visible, and we used cedar plywood because it is was readily available
Cut the trough using a table saw or hand saw, cut the five pieces for the trough
The bottom measures 38.5” x 12” x ½”
At its widest point, the river is 7 inches across, so the trough will be hidden from view
For the two shorter sides, the shallow side will measure 12” x 3” x ½” and the deep side will measure 12” x 3.5” x ½”
The two long sides are a bit trickier since they will not be even from end to end. They will measure 38.5” long and 1/2 “ thick, but the width of the shallow end will measure 3” and the deeper end will measure 3.5”
This is the beauty of the trough. This ½” difference from one end to the other creates an angled bottom that will allow water to slide to one side. If you want to drill a drainage hole or two, drill it on the deeper side where the water will collect. The tapered angle of the trough’s slope was roughly 92-95°
With all of the trough pieces cut, we glued them together using the nail gun for added reinforcement and let it dry
This is an optional step as it can be dangerous since the wood is so thin
While this was drying, we started sanding down the live edge along with the entire frame to smooth out the lines where the wood was connected. You can use a power sander for the bigger pieces but a block of wood with sandpaper attached works just fine as well
When finished sanding, we went back to the finished trough to apply the resin
I’ll be honest, resin is not an eco-friendly substance, but Erik insisted that we use it for this first prototype. There are alternative waterproof and resistant finishes out there and I would certainly recommend those first
With the resin in place, the trough became completely waterproof and the wood is completely protected from any soil or water
Now to put it all together starting with the table frame and trough
Using the Kreg Jig, we drilled four pocket holes on each long side and two on each short side and dropped the screws in
With the trough installed within the table frame, it is time to add the two pieces for the table top.
Ensure that the two river pieces are the correct distance apart and are extending beyond the apron (3” on the short side and 1.5” on the long sides”
Repeat the process with the Kreg Jig, again drilling four pocket holes on the long sides and two on each short side before dropping in the screws
Apply the finishing oil. We used teak oil for this project, but feel free to use any preferred finish that brings out the natural grain of the wood. The sycamore turned a brilliant amber color, and the grain was absolutely stunning.
Note: With any urban wood, there will be small blemishes and inconsistencies in the grain. Urban trees are hardened survivors adapted to tough growing conditions, and because they are under more stress, growth patterns become unpredictable. In my opinion, this gives them more character, and it is quite easy to find beauty in these imperfections.
Fill the river of the table with whatever plants best suit your design aesthetic. Here are three beautiful options that we staged for the table:
Variation 1: Cut Flowers
After my time on the Big Flower Fight, my affinity for flowers has increased significantly, and this table is so well suited for cut flowers. To avoid using floral foam (it is not an environmentally friendly material), insert small jars and plastic containers full of water that sit below the table line. Once those are in place, cut your blooms of choice to the right length and place them in any arrangement that suits your fancy. I chose peonies, star of Bethlehem, thistle, dried banksia, plus one signature protea, and we organically inserted as many blooms as possible into the river, but you can use any assortment of fresh-cut seasonal flowers. For an even more eco-friendly approach, you could also replicate this same design with dried flowers.
Variation 2: Trailing Plants
This was my personal favorite of the three variations because I’m obsessed with any plant that trails. The design goal was to create an ombre color pattern from end to end, and I chose neon, brasil, and heart leaf philodendrons before finishing it off with an epic silver scindapsus for the waterfall. The waterfall effect was simply stunning, and the colors felt unified and melded together exquisitely. Instead of planting these in soil, I cached them in their nursery pots into the table opening. This is a secondary option if you don’t want to plant them directly into the soil, and the leafy growth covered any sight of the nursery pots below. Plant selection is totally up to you here, and I like the fact that I can trim back the vines of these plants at any time to preserve the shape of the river.
Variation 3: Succulents
This final variation involves succulents planted directly into the trough. First, lay down a 1-2” layer of orchid bark to prop up the succulents high enough above the tabletop; you could also use LECA. Top the orchid bark with a layer of sandy succulent soil mix and began to plant the 2” and 4” succulents. Most succulents share a lovely, muted tone and blend well together, but mix up your selection with purple, green, and blue hues. It’s more important, however, to arrange the plants by size; spread out the larger, 4-inch succulents throughout the river first before planting the smaller 2-inch plants in between the open gaps. The end result is astonishingly simple yet elegant, and because succulents are smaller and more compact, they highlight the natural curve of the live edge the best of the three styles. This design effortlessly balances form and foliage, and succulents are a crowd favorite.
