Plant Shelf for Window and Watering System

I made this project in my engineering class at school. Its purpose is as a place where my plants can get sunlight as I have run out of room along my window sill. I made this project with the intention for it to also have a self watering feature as sometimes I forget to water my plants and also for when I am out of town. When doing this project, I had to think a lot about the planning in terms of style, how it would fit in the window, and if it would be “cat-proof” as my cat loves to look at birds through my windows. 

Plexiglass

18 inch white chain x 4

2 hooks (for attaching the shelf to the wall)

Butcher cord

Scissors

Laser cutter (I used Epilogue Helix, but any will do)

Inkscape (or another workspace that can be used with a laser cutter)

20 ounce plastic water bottle

Clips (I used two different kinds as seen in the last two photos, but both work great)

Drill

Pliers

Paper towels

Extra:

Scrap wood

When planning my project I had to think about the design in terms of looks and function as they needed to make sure all of my plants could get the appropriate sunlight while still looking pretty. I had to think about material and whether or not I wanted the shelves to be adjustable. I spent a good amount of time designing it to fit in my window and fit the purpose I wanted it for. When it actually came to designing the shelves I used Inkscape. I designed them in a “bone” shape so the chain would not get in the way of the plants.

Using a laser printer, I printed the plexiglass shelves and spreaders. This took a couple tries as the first time I printed them, they were not centered correctly on the bed and therefore did not print right (last photo). After they printed I used paper towels to clean the selves and spreaders.

For this step, I combined all the chains, hooks (after drilling holes first), clips, spreaders, and shelves. I used pliers to fasten the clips.

For the watering system, I drilled holes into the top of a water bottle, then strung butcher cord through those holes. Then, I placed the cord into the planter after digging a little hole. I attached the water bottle to the chain using zip ties.

For my final steps I attached the hooks onto the frame of the window and hung up the shelf!

When I had some extra time, I designed three plant labels for some of my plants (on Inkscape). Then I cut them out on some scrap wood using the laser cutter.