Antique Ladder repurposed as a plant rack

My kitchen was boring. White walls, and no counter space. This summer, Henry and I've been trying to fix up our apartment, make it more us, and more comfortable -while trying to spend as little as possible. We painted the walls a sunny yellow, and added the freezer and microwave shelf. I'd wanted an antique ladder to use as a plant rack above my precious south facing kitchen window for a while, and finally got it up last month. Now I'm actually getting around to sharing it! I found the idea on the blogosphere somewhere, and as a plant nut with no window space in my apartment, I'm always looking for creative ways to take advantage of my limited light. After unsuccessfully hunting at thrift stores, garage sales, and antique stores, I found this website: A Rustic Garden offers garden  accents and fencing, and they sell antique wooden ladders by the rung! Maybe it cost a bit more than I should have spent, but it was too good an idea to pass up, and it was such an easy way to get exactly what I was looking for! Isn't the interwebs great?

The ladder was hung with ceiling hooks and chain, very easy-peasy, and I like the mix of wood and metal, just wish I could have found white or silver hooks. 

I wanted to add some more color, and even though in these pictures all the accents look black, they are actually a pretty navy blue. The baskets I found at Stein's Garden and Gifts for a couple of bucks a piece, and I glued a navy ribbon around each to make them match the window swag. I hung the baskets on a bit of chain wrapped around the rungs of the ladder.

 I also attempted to make some candles, with the thought that the would make a really cool atmosphere for nice dinners. The mason jars were great, but since they are so big, I thought I would fill them partway with coffee beans so I wouldn't need so much wax. I didn't count on half the beans floating. I also ran out of wax, so I couldn't do multiple pours as the wax shrunk, so I wound up with essentially hollow candles. The coffee beans also smoke a lot when they catch fire, so I think I'll need to remake these before using them for a romantic dinner! At least they look cool unlit, right?

Over all I'm super happy with how this turned out, and I love looking at it in my much prettier kitchen! Plants shown by the way are Vanilla, Peperomia (Rugby Football Plant), Kaffir Lilly, Rose Geranium, and Tillandsia.