If you've inherited an old display cabinet from your nan, but you're not really into showing off the 'good china' like she did, Melissa's going to give that old cabinet a modern update. Remove the glass doors, install some grow lights, give it a lick of paint and voila! You've got stylish vintage-style home for your indoor plants.

The hardest part of growing indoor plants is giving them the right amount of light they need to thrive. Grow lights can help and they come in many types, designs and colours, from those that look like a standard lamp to strips that can turn a shelf, cabinet or corner table into a colourful, strobe-like dance floor for plants!

Before and after DIY grow light plant cabinet

Before and after

Sue Ferris

Gather your supplies

  • Timber display cabinet
  • Black spray paint
  • Timber wax
  • LED strip grow lighting

You'll also need

  • Screwdriver
  • Masking tape
  • Kraft paper roll
  • Detail sander
  • Fine-grit sandpaper
  • Clean lint-free cloths
  • Drop sheet

For you to note

The glass door panels are removed to allow air flow around the plants. Dispose of carefully or reserve for another DIY project.

Here's how

Step 1

Step 1 How to make a grow light plant cabinet

Step 1

Sue Ferris

Use a screwdriver to prise off moulding on cabinet doors and remove glass. Take out shelves and brackets.

Step 2

Step 2 How to make a grow light cabinet

Step 2

Sue Ferris

Cover mirrored back and side glass panels with tape and Kraft paper.

Step 3

Sand back cabinet

Step 3

Sue Ferris

Sand cabinet with a detail sander. Clean with damp cloth and leave to dry.

Step 4

Spray paint the cabinet

Step 4

Sue Ferris

Lightly spray paint cabinet and door hardware, let dry, then apply a second coat. Let dry. Remove paper.

Step 5

Apply timber wax with a cloth for a deeper colour and soft satin finish.

Step 6

How to make a grow light cabinet

Step 6

Sue Ferris

Return the shelves, then install strip lighting according to instructions.

DIY grow light cabinet for indoor plants

The final result

Sue Ferris

How grow lights work

Grow lights mimic sunlight by emitting the full colour spectrum not included in normal lighting – including red and blue. This promotes photosynthesis, which is how plants turn light into the energy they need to grow.

You can get them as strips with a sticky back or as a standard lamp, as fluorescent tubes or halogen or LED bulbs, and as battery or electric powered.

Grow lights in cabinet

The grow lights illuminate the cabinet

Sue Ferris

Paint your pots

Paint your pots

Apply the first coat

Sue Ferris

Give terracotta pots a paint job and use them for your indoor plants.

  • To create a textured finish, mix 1/4 cup bicarb soda with 1 cup primer and apply to pot with
    a paintbrush. Let dry.
  • Apply a coat of Dulux Chalk Effect Paint with a paintbrush. Let dry.
Painted pot

Rub back the top coat

Sue Ferris

  • Rub back top coat with fine-grit sandpaper to let base coat show through for a distressed paint effect.

Add indoor plants

Indoor plants

Sue Ferris

Allow trailing indoor plants, like sun-loving string of beans (Senecio radicans) – aka string of bananas - to spill from the shelves of your cabinet.

You might also like:

The best plants to add to your terrarium

6 ways you're killing your indoor plants

How to create a succulent bowl

  • DIY
  • Garden
  • Decorating
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Melissa King

Melissa King is one of Australia's most popular and respected garden experts and television presenters. Melissa joins the Better Homes and Gardens team as its respected garden expert. "For a gardening presenter, this is the pinnacle and I'm beyond excited to be working alongside people I have admired for years," says Melissa.