My final project’s vision was to create a shelf that had a terrarium inside of it with a bauhaus aesthetic. First, I found a bauhaus design that I wanted to base my shelf off of.
Initially the shelf had a circular shape but I found that the design and terrarium would work better with a square shape instead of a circle. I the gathered all the materials needed, which were:
- wood
- sheets of glass
- rocks
- potting soil
- plants
- moss
- super glue
- a coating so the wood wouldn’t rot with the terrarium
I already had paint, nails, wood glue and a drill. After I had all my materials, I figured out the measurements of wood pieces I needed and cut them all down to length.
Before I put the shelf together, I labeled each piece of wood to make sure I know where each piece goes, what color to paint it, and which ones get coating. I then painted each piece of wood a specific color to make it fit the aesthetic. After waiting for it to dry, I assembled the shelf. I glued all the pieces together first and then drilled the square base together and the right and left side shelve pieces that stick out to give it extra support. After that, I had to spray a sealant on it to make sure the wood does not rot with the terrarium.
After I was done assembling the shelf, I had to build the terrarium. Originally I planned to make the entire inside of the square part a terrarium but I realized it would work better if I created it in the smaller square inside the larger square. First I had to measure and cut the pieces of glass to fit the square, then I glued the pieces to the wood and began to put the rocks, soil, plants and moss in the terrarium. I made the piece of glass in the back of the terrarium shorter than the front to give room to build the terrarium and water it.
My design changed a lot during the process, but I’m still happy at the way it turned out. The design was planned to be circular, but it is square. The terrarium was going to be bigger and I had planned to attach a large, long piece of wood to the back to the entire shelf but I decided against it.
One of the biggest challenges I had for this project was making sure the alignment of all the wood pieces were correct. I also overestimated the size of the terrarium when shopping for plants. The plants are a bit big for the space but I think it ended up looking nice.
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I liked this design and I think the final result worked to the aesthetic. I think the wood that was used appeared too much like lumber, and the final build might have benefitted from edges that were more squared. What have you considered to achieve the circular center that you originally intended?
Have you considered other color options? I liked what you presented, but there are few limits to the basic colors that were used in the Bauhaus movement. Those you used do directly reference specific work from that movement, so the aesthetic was acheived.
This project came out looking really nice in contrast to where you have it in your room. It’s awesome that you are able to access the plants and water them easily without having to take off a lot of the shelf.
Nicole, I think you did a great job with making sure that the Bauhaus aesthetic was the center piece of your project. The terrarium was also a nice touch that help it not be too much Bauhaus. One suggestion I have is o put the glass with the cutout in the front so you can water the plants easier.
Very simple and beautiful. I like how the color matches with your room. I hope the water doesn’t affect the glue.
This is super cool! I think the colors are amazing and it really fits with the aesthetic you chose and the room that you put it in. The plant element is a really interesting feature and I think that you chose the correct plants for the setting. I am curious how this connects to the wall?
Hey Nicole great work on your project. I like your initial sketches and switching to a square design. The vertical and horizontal lines work well and so do the colors. I hope watering the plants won’t be too much of a hassle. Good idea using half of the glass panel to have room to water the plants. Overall great job!
Hi Nicole,
Great work on your project. The shelf looks very beautiful. The colors looks great in your room. I have one suggestion, have you thought about coloring the lower part of the glass so it hides the plants soil?
It looks really clean as a decorative piece. I think some of the thicknesses in wood could’ve been varied, to give it a more Bauhaus feel, or if you could’ve managed the circular center, it would’ve turned out even better. As it, I like it quite a bit, good job.
Nicole, I really like your terrarium/shelf I think you really nailed the Bauhaus aesthetic. What I also find really cool is that it serves three different purposes, it is great to look at has artwork on a wall, it can be used as a shelf and it has plants on it. Excellent job!
Nicole, I really love how it turned out! It’s very unique, I haven’t quite seen anything like it. I understand the difficulty of making circular objects and I think the square turned out very well. I think you met the aesthetic you were going for very well. It’s not my favorite aesthetic personally, but it did turn out very well.
Nicole, This turned out looking really cool. The thing that I like the most is that the aesthetic between the shelf and the terrarium are vastly different and the contrast ends up looking really neat. I feel like when I usually see terrariums they are made with muted colors and are often very modern. I like that you have managed to create a design of a terrarium based off of an aesthetic that is not usually used with them. The final design is really neat. I am also using live plants in my project and it has caused me tons of problems. I was wondering if there is any issue currently, or maybe in the future with the plants dying. If they do die, is there a way for you to easily remove and replace them?