Why I wanted a fake flower/plant wall.
I’m very grateful to have got my very own dressing room/ walk in wardrobe. So as soon as we got the keys and I allowed myself to believe that this home was finally ours. (Read more on what I mean by finally in this blog post) I started to dream up what this room would become.
I went for the obvious IKEA Pax wardrobe design for awhile and started to save for it. However, because it’s a small box room with an awkward shape and window placement. The Pax just wouldn’t be quite what I was looking for, not for the money. Plus Pax items are constantly out of stock here in Wales. The last time we installed Pax. We had one drawer an opposite colour to the rest, as it was all they could get in stock for months.
Instead I searched other options and fell for the industrial pipe look. Embracing the open wardrobe idea. I decided this would be my dark, moody, maximalist room.
I didn’t want a plain, boring wall here. Because I plan on taking outfit selfies in the mirror directly in front of this wall. I’d also played with the idea of having an all green plant wall in my kitchen, but decided this would be the perfect opportunity instead. It’s bold, different and will give me the uniqueness I want for my mirrored outfit selfies and quirky room.
My thoughts on the wall.
Now it’s all complete, my thoughts are; I love it, I love that it adds texture to the walls and the small room. It’s definitely something unusual for a home, and it won’t need any maintenance or upkeep. Also, I barely get any dust settling, because this room is only used a couple of times a day. Meaning, realistically this is the best room for this piece.
The only slight change I wish I could make, would be for it to be wider. I bought 5m x 0.5m of chicken wire, so if i’d bought wider chicken wire. Or if I had cut it 3/4 shorter than it currently is, and placed two pieces side by side it would have filled the gap and ultimately look better for the mirror selfies. However, I probably would have had to buy more plants, and the plants would be a bit too close to the doorway opening. Potentially catching my hair, clothes etc on the plants constantly. Therefore, I don’t regret doing it this way. But perhaps something for you to bare in mind for your flower wall space.
What do you need?
- Chicken wire – with a fairly large square hole, if the squares are too small you may struggle to put the faux stems through them. Avg cost £9 per roll
- Florist wire or tape. Avg cost £4
- Fake Ivy garlands. Avg cost £12
- 10+ Artificial hanging plants. Avg cost £85
- 4 hooks or nails. Avg cost £3
Total to build my flower wall: £99.23
Your build costs may be slightly higher than my build costs. Purely because I already had florist tape and hooks from previous DIY’s. But you’re looking at under £10 to buy both of those.
A quick how to build:
Unravel the chicken wire and hold against your wall to gauge how tall and wide you wish to have your plant wall. (Be careful, if you have wallpaper, the chicken wire may cause tears in the paper if placed too closely, mine did). Cut the chicken wire to size, I used tiny metal cutters that I already had, although a cheaper alternative is, if you carefully place in between scissor blades and patiently bend the chicken wire back and fourth between the blades, you should be able to cut it that way too.
Next drill/hammer in your nails or hooks and place the chicken wire on/ around them.
Unravel all your garlands and plants and separate as likely they’ll be bundled together from the packaging. Individually place the plants through the chicken wire. You should choose plants that have long stems. This way they can hang down the back of the chicken wire and have enough weight to hold your plants still.
Use the ivy garland to fill gaps and hide stems and the chicken wire.
Secure the garlands and plants in place to the chicken wire with tiny strips of florist tape or wire.
A few tips when building your flower wall:
- Don’t try to ‘perfectly’ place your flowers/plants. Go in with the approach to haphazardly place them in random areas of the chicken wire and then take a step back and place the final few hanging plants/ ivy garlands where you can see gaps.
- A cheaper alternative to hooks are to place half of a nail into your wall and bend the remaining to curve around and hold the wire in place. I did this on the lower portion of the chicken wire.
- Make sure there’s at least a 1cm gap between the wall and the chicken wire for the stems to thread through.
I hope I’ve inspired you to install a flower/ plant wall in your home or work place. If you have, I’d love to see a photo, please tag me on instagram. @roseabovethethorns
Good Luck.x
