Looking For a Small, Simple Side Table? Try a Plant Stand
The room in my house where I spend most of my (awake) time is my den/living room, but it’s actually a converted garage. Space is limited and it’s a somewhat oddly sized room, so a side table on each side of the couch isn’t feasible. I wrote about my garage/den when I recommend my couch arm table, a solution that worked perfectly for years — until I got a blind dog.
Ruby has since passed (I’m still very upset about it and I might be forever), but she is the reason I got an auxiliary side table. She loved to come up on the couch and sit between me and the couch arm, but she was 1) Blind, and 2) Had never lived in a house before, let alone been on a couch. So she’d come up and jostle everything, often sending things right off the side of the couch. If I had a drink on my couch arm table? Forget it! I was constantly grabbing drinks right before catastrophe struck. I would do anything to make Ruby’s life easier, so it was clear I needed a second table, for drinks. But remember, I’m in a one car garage, space is limited, and there were very few options I liked in the narrow side table arena.
I hunted and hunted, everything was Too Much Table, too expensive, or the size of like, one coaster. Then I was in Home Goods and found the perfect fit: A plant stand. I have a passion using things in unintended ways, and let me tell you: A plant stand is a PERFECT little side table.
The tabletop diameter is 12”, the space between the couch and the wall is a tight 18”
That bowl is an old candle vessel, because “use things unintendedly” is my personal motto
A plant stand is essentially a side table that’s not marketed as a side table, so it’s cheaper. It’s like dresses vs wedding dresses. I’m so glad I have a “browse every aisle” approach to Home Goods, AND I’m the type of person who will move things around to see what’s at the back of the shelf, because otherwise I wouldn’t have found myself in the garden section and had this epiphany. My side table cost $25, and it’s exactly what I was looking for.
I thought $25 sounded too good to be true, but I checked and it IS true.
The only issue was the legs of the table. They’re metal, and there’s no flat foot on the end to easily put a little felt pad or caster on. But I am the queen of using things unintendedly, and I realised the weird little legs would fit right into a cord organizer. I had to buy a whole pack of them just to get one to use on my other couch table, so I had the rest of the package to spare. Three cord holders later, my table was now fit for indoor use.
Home Goods and her sister stores are a crapshoot, that’s part of the experience, so I can’t tell you that your store will have plant stands, or if they will be what you’re looking for. But if you don’t enjoy the hunt, or need something ASAP, here are some plant stands (AKA secret side tables) that you can buy right now.
