TikTok Shows You How To Turn A Dated CD Tower Into A Stylish Plant Stand

Gone are the days of buying CDs and hoping they fit on your CD-specific shelf. Though CDs are still sold today, according to Billboard, their popularity has plummeted since the 2000s, thanks to the inception of music streaming. Just as Gen X had to put away their vinyl record and cassette storage units, millennials had to put away their CD towers. What do you do when cleaning a closet and stumbling across those forgotten furniture pieces? Turn them into plant stands, of course! The narrow shelves may not be useful for books, but they can house beautiful small plants.

TikTok user @victoria turned a standard CD tower made of metal bars with a wooden base and top into a chic DIY plant stand. She removed the top and base to clean and paint them white, spray-painted the bars with gold paint, and placed square mirrors on each shelf. The mirrors made the shelves functional for plants while giving the entire project an elegant vibe.

CD towers come in many shapes and sizes, so the plant shelf possibilities are endless. Some are wire racks with slats big enough for CDs and not much else, while others are wooden furniture pieces built to look like bookshelves. How you go about turning it into an indoor plant stand will largely depend on the style, but there are plenty of ways to turn it into something unique. Wire racks may be better suited as trellises for vining plants, while the more detailed furniture pieces will work well as displays similar to what @victoria did in her TikTok.

CDs don't take up much space, making whimsical shelves a possibility, like the Atlantic wave wire CD tower on Amazon. Consider yourself lucky if you find one of these tucked away in a closet. It may be more difficult to turn into a plant shelf, but with a little effort and some power tools, you can shape some wood to fit onto the shelves to display plants in a unique way. Large rotating shelves can be used to display a large plant on top with smaller plants on the sides, rotating it daily to give each plant some sunlight. You can always make this DIY project multifunctional by storing CDs, trinkets, or small books alongside your plants.

A can of spray paint will be your best friend with this project. The kind of paint you use will depend on the shelf material you're working with. Krylong COLORmaxx on Amazon gives a great glossy look that works for indoor and outdoor usage, making it a good choice if you choose to go outdoors with your finished project. Go for a stylish look with metallic paint on wire shelves, or keep it classic with a matte finish on wooden shelves. You can also paint these shelves by hand if there are tricky nooks and crannies, or to achieve a detailed design.

CD towers often have many small spaces that you may need to remove to fit plants. Bring out your power tools to remove extra wire shelves, while wooden stands likely have adjustable shelves you can easily remove. If you need to cut through wire, you can do so with an angle grinder, then use sandpaper or a metal file to smooth out any rough edges. You may want to pick your plants out before you start this project so you can determine what kind of space you'll need. If you have your heart set on different-sized plants, you'll need to ensure each one has enough headspace between shelves so they have room to grow.