Straightforward Hands-on Window Plant Shelf
Let us show you how we whipped up this CRAZY plain window plant shelf! You can make it in less than an hour & without any fancy tools, meaning you will be out shopping for more plans in no time. We even used some scrap wood we already owned, so the Hands-on project only cost us $2 to complete!
We have put some greenery in this window, but adding the floating shelf gave us room for plenty more! It adds some interest to a formerly non-descript window and the plants are especially glad in the sunlight! You can see what it looked like previously along with all of our bathroom before and afters.
Note: We lately had our old windows replaced (woo hoo!) so we have updated *some* of the pictures in this post. We also brought in Plenty more plants.
Tools & Materials
The steps and materials will depend somewhat on your specific window, but here is what we used for ours.
- Cove molding or quarter-round
- A wooden board or, in our case, scrap butcher block
- Saw (we used a circular saw, but a miter saw or table saw could work also)*
- Hammer & nails (or nail gun)
- Measuring tape
- Level
- Pencil
- Paintable caulk
- Paint (to match your existing trim)
*You could also get the board cut to size at Lowe’s or Home Depot, in which case you would not need a saw. You could likely use a small hand saw for the thin quarter-round supports.
You can also see how this window shelf is installed in the swift video below. We also give pointers about picking the right depth shelf, plus some of our go-to straightforward houseplants!
Note: You can also watch this video on YouTube.
How To Pick The Right Window
This project will not work on every window, but ours was a strong candidate for a few reasons:
- It has a deep sill
- It does not need a window covering
- It it not an egress window
First, it has a deep sill (about 4″). Any shallower and we’d have trouble fitting our plants or pots in the window. You can make your shelf stick out into the room a little, but we hoped ours to be flush with the window casing.
Secondly, this window does not have a window treatment. Blinds or roller shades would interfere with a shelf like this, so any windows that those coverings might be a no-go. Our window is frosted, so it gives us the privacy we need without needing a blind. Our window came frosted, but here is how to frost a window yourself. We have frosted plenty of windows in other houses and it is an straightforward Hands-on!
Lastly, since this is not a sleeping space, we did not need to worry about egress – i.e. a viable escape route in case of emergency. Bathrooms are not required to meet egress, but we were sure to install our shelf in a way that allows the window to open behind it.
We also opted to hold the shelf in place with a few small finish nails (as you will read in a moment) so it can easily be knocked out of the way if there is a real emergency. These are all good things to consider before adding a shelf to a window.
How To Make A Window Shelf For Plants
This project was so swift that we did not stop to take a single progress picture, but I think you will find the process fairly self-evident from the after photos. It is simply a piece of butcher block resting on two small pieces of cove molding!
We used this butcher block because we had a scrap piece left over from this built-in storage project. It’d be pricey to purchase it Simply for this shelf, so a basic 2×4″ could work instead! But, depending on the interior span of your window (ours is 28″), you will likely want something sturdier than a standard 1″ thick board. That could sag over time, especially if you plan to put heavy-ish items on it.
Since the butcher block is quite sturdy, we simply found a way to prop it up in place. We did not want big brackets, so we chose to try this low-profile cove molding instead. It blends nicely with the window trim, nearly giving us the effect of a floating wood shelf.
So with those material considerations in mind, the steps themselves were plain:
- Cut your wood shelf to size using a saw (ours measured 4″ deep & 28″ wide) or have it pre-cut
- Cut two pieces of cove molding to the depth of the window trim (ours was 4″)
- Measure & mark the desired placement of the bottom of your shelf on each side of your window trim
- Nail the cove molding into the window trim, using a level to make sure they do not slope forward or back.
- Add your wood shelf and check again for level.
- Nail your shelf to the cove molding (we went from underneath) to keep it in place.
- Caulk nail holes and paint them to match your trim
The nails we used were simply plain 1.5″ finish nails in our nail gun – nothing especially heavy-duty at all – because the shelf itself truly is not that heavy. You can even see the divots where we put the nails in (guess they could use a second coat of caulk!).
Again, this was a truly swift, especially plain Hands-on project that we did in the spur of the moment with some leftover butcher block. We enjoy how it turned out, and highly recommend it if you have a room that could use some extra interest AND plenty of plants!
Oh, and if you are wondering more about what is ON the shelves – besides the plants – those are wooden hands covered with milagro charms that Sherry picked up on our Mexico family vacation last year.
Other Hands-on Shelf Projects
If you are looking for some more Hands-on shelf projects, we have plenty of those:
- How To Make Built-In Pantry Shelves
- How To Make Straightforward Closet Shelves
- How To Make Built-In Shelves Around A Doorway
- How To Make Swift Laundry Room Shelves
- How To Build Hands-on Floating Shelves
Plant Care Guides
If you are looking for more information on some of our go-to plants (real and faux!) check out some of these posts below:
- Monstera Deliciosa Care Guide
- Golden Pothos Care Guide
- Marble Queen Pothos Care Guide
- Neon Potho Care Guide
- Snake Plant Care Guide
- Fiddle Leaf Fig Care Guide
- Tree Philodendron Care Guide
- Protecting Outdoor Plants In A Deep Freeze
- How to Propagate Succulents
- My Go-to Faux Plants
- Straightforward Houseplants To Keep Alive
- 10 Houseplants For Better Indoor Air Quality
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