Repurpose Dollar Tree Plungers And Brooms Into A Chic Plant Stand

Have you been looking for the perfect decor DIY for all those plungers and brooms that you have lying around? No? Neither were we, but this chic plant stand hack is making us rethink our DIY supplies box! It turns out plunger and broom poles are handy for more than just household chores. With a little ingenuity, you can use them to build a customizable and chic modern plant stand without spending the big bucks.

Now, chances are you don't have an excess of broom and plunger poles lying around, but luckily, Dollar Tree does. While everyone is crowding the seasonal and craft supplies aisles, mosey over to the cleaning supplies and appreciate how clever you are as you load your cart with wooden plungers (three or four should do, depending on the size of your stand) and six black metal broom poles. The poles are often sold by themselves, so you don't have to worry about what to do with the broom heads. One note: If you can only find plastic broom poles at Dollar Tree, they may still work for this project, but they won't be as stable. You'll have to be much more careful about the amount of weight you put on your plant stand. Alternatively, you can find a pack of 20 Gisafai Metal Broom Handles on Amazon for $40.

Head to the hardware store or gather some offcuts to get the wood pieces needed for the shelves. If this intimidates you, don't worry! Just ask for help cutting the boards to size and staff will do it for you. You can size your shelves however you like, but make sure you grab one additional board for the base of the stand and cut it to your desired stand length. You could also opt to use wood slats instead if you like the look or want your shelves to provide extra drainage, which would be handy for converting this project to an outdoor stand. Though Dollar Tree has small MDF wood planks, they tend to crumble in high humidity.

Next, spend some time mapping out the design of your plant stand. Think about what plants you want to put where accounting for their size and growing height. Once you know where you want your shelves to go, drill holes at the base of your metal broom handles. Next, drill pilot holes in the edge of the wood where you want to connect them to the broom handles with screws. Here's a guide on how to drill the perfect pilot hole in case you need a refresher. Then, complete the look by adding the plunger handles perpendicular to the broom handles, connecting two handles at the top of the stand. This provides a good spot to connect a wooden dowel across for hanging plants. You could also use another plunger handle for this as long as your stand is small enough for it to connect on either side.

Not only is this chic plant stand a frugal DIY, but it's also completely customizable. One idea is to make the shelves adjustable by using hose clamps. Taking a note from an adjustable entertainment unit DIY, you can drill holes in each corner of your shelves big enough so that they slide over the broom poles and rest on the hose clamps. As your plants grow, or if you just want to switch them out, you can move the hose clamps up or down the broom poles to adjust the height of the shelves as needed.

You could also forgo the shelves altogether and devote the whole stand to hanging plants. Using plunger handles or wooden dowels, create rows of rods to hook hanging planters on. You won't want to hang anything too heavy, but this idea would be perfect for a succulent collection. A hanging plant stand provides lots of room for creativity to hang the plants with different materials like jute cord, S-hooks, and macramé, just to name a few.

One last thing to think about is the stand's feet. The stand works best if the broom's attachable end acts as the feet. You can leave the threads exposed for an industrial look or cover them with a decorative accent. Try upcycling some old curtain rod finials on each leg for that perfect finishing touch. Or attach some caster wheels to the bottom so your plant stand can easily move to catch the season's light. Who knew there were so many ways to hang plants off broom handles?