Like many fans of midcentury modern design, I love the lines of the iconic Modernica Case Study planter, which originated after World War II. It’s simple and elegant.
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But I don’t love the price tag. One of these planters will set you back $160 to $295, depending on the size. You can find it at different retailers like this one, but they never seem to go on sale.
What’s a midcentury design admirer on a budget to do?
At first I put my hope in Target. I kept waiting for them to unveil something, especially since they launched Project 62, a housewares lines inspired by the midcentury era. (The name references the year 1962). In December, I saw these planters in a store.
Target Project 62 Wood & Stone Planters – Large $69.90 (White, Black, Gray), Small $29.99 (White, Black, Gray)
Hey, not bad, Target! They certainly echo the Modernica planter with the cylindrical pot and the four-legged wooden stand. I like what they’re doing here. But these planters didn’t stir my heart the same way the Modernica ones do. I think it has something to do with the legs. OK, this is picky, but I don’t like how the legs taper so that they’re wider at the base and rounded at the edges. (Strangely, the Target site shows two different types of stands: one with tapered legs, and one with straight legs.) I also don’t love how they cross at the bottom.
Even though I was excited to see these, I went with my gut and left them behind in the store. If I wanted to get one now, too bad! These are hard to get your hands on, especially the larger ones. They’re always out of stock on the Target site. Honestly, though, the quality seems so-so — the legs wobble a bit.
West Elm has a midcentury vibe going on, so I looked there and found this turned leg planter. But at $179, it didn’t solve my price tag problem.
You know whose price tag works for me? Ikea. I already have a large snake plant housed in a 9″ diameter pot from Ikea (one of the Kardemumma pots, which I wrote about in this post). For years, I set the pot on an Ikea Frosta stool, but the height is too tall. What if I just looked for a stand?
Alas, Ikea doesn’t seem to make a stand for a single large plant (though they have options for displaying multiple smaller plants together as I wrote about in my post about Ikea planters). They certainly don’t have any with a midcentury look. (Frankly, I’m surprised that Ikea hasn’t capitalized on the midcentury modern craze. All they have to do is dust off some designs from their archives, which they did briefly in 2014, but if I recall correctly, most of these items were not available in US stores, except for the coffee table.)
Thwarted by big retailers, I was left with no choice but to look on Etsy. I don’t usually turn to Etsy because it’s kind of all over the place. Sometimes it’s hard to find what you’re looking for and you have to slog through pages and pages of results.
As it turns out, there’s lots of people making midcentury modern-inspired plant stands on Etsy.
I looked at a lot of different shops and decided on a Canadian one called Hook & Stem as they had many good reviews. They’re a husband-and-wife team in Toronto who seem environmentally minded. Where possible, they use reclaimed wood, they say. And if reclaimed wood is not available, they look for local and sustainble sources. They also don’t use stains or dyes in their woodwork. They use the type of wood they say they are using, finishing them with a non-toxic oil. Their plant stands come in five types of woods, from Ash (the lightest) to Walnut (the darkest) — and in three heights.
I opted for a stand in the medium height. The total height is 17″ which means your pot sits either 8.5″ or 9.75″ off the ground depending which way it is flipped. Hook and Stem offers their stands in various widths to accommodate your plant pot. And if you don’t see the size you need, you can ask them to customize for you.
The stand took three weeks to arrive in California. (This includes the time it took to make the stand.)
The package was surprisingly slim as the stand was flat packed. Ample bubble wrap protected the stand.
There was a handy card with assembly instructions.
I got the stand in mahagony.
As promised, putting it together was super easy.
Ta-da! My Ikea pot fit perfectly.
I love my new plant stand and don’t have a single bad thing to say about its quality. It feels solid and stable and is beautifully made. My interactions with Hook & Stem were great as well. I had questions during the ordering process and they got back to me quickly. For something made to order the price isn’t bad either. The medium height stand for a 9″ pot cost $45 (I snagged it during a sale; the regular price is $50). Shipping was $15. My Ikea pot was only $8 plus tax. Total price paid: $68.67.
Although the pot I have isn’t perfectly cylindrical like the Modernica one, I achieved the look I wanted as it’s all about the stand. (Though, hmmmm, what if Target started selling its cylindrical pots separate from the stands? I would go for that.)
In the end I’m glad I bought from Hook and Stem, a small business with sustainable practices and obvious care in what they do. It makes me happy to look at my plant in its stand every day.
