Let the Plants Have Light!

Another gift I made was to add a shelf to a large picture window in my living room.  We have quite a few plants and at our old house we had an enclosed porch with nothing but windows.  They loved the sun room!  The plants have been placed to try and collect as much light as possible, but it's nothing compared to what they use to have.  So, Heidi asked me to make a shelf to hold plants that could be placed about half way up the widow.  So this is what I came up with...

It gives the plants the sunshine they need and actually provides some privacy at the same time.  They are slowly coming back to life with their new home.

The upcycled part about this gift is that I used an old piece of grey barnwood sitting in the back yard of the cabinet shop I work at.  To achieve this look, I used one of my favorite techniques....skip planning.  I take set the depth of the thickness planer so it just barely shaves the surface so it will reveal some of the raw wood, but still keep some of the original live barnwood surface as well.  I did add a stain to give it some depth, but it is a very beautiful way to bring old grey barnwood back to life!