Chelsea's Garage: Chandelier Terrarium {Part I}

By Cate

We've all seen em' - those brass chandelier/lanterns hanging in hallways or entryways... The mascot for all houses built in the 80's maybe... But brass is coming back and geometric is in so why not make the most of these old chandeliers and a new trend: make a terrarium!

ter·rar·i·um noun a usually transparent enclosure for keeping or raising plants indoors

There are several ways to build a terrarium. West Elm has a great tutorial on how to create a terrarium - both succulent (dry) and fern (wet). For my repurposed chandelier, I chose to build a wet terrarium.

After gutting a boring brass entryway lantern, I turned it upside down and filled the base with river rocks for drainage. After, I layered with potting soil and then planted some Moneywort {also known as Creeping Jenny}. For a wet terrarium, you can plant ferns or moss, but I chose Moneywort because of it's vivid chartreuse-green coloring.

{Before & After}

I chose to place my terrarium on our little balcony bistro table.

Oh hey there Thor {our new puppy}.

You can also position it on its side. Love how it looks "spilling" out.

Here's a better look at the base of the terrarium {what was once the top of the chandelier}. As you can see, there are holes so don't forget to put in on something for drips.