What I Would Make If I Had Time

I was flipping through a Gardener's Supply catalog before tossing it into the blue bin thinking I might find something of interest if I was going to be starting seeds (which I'm not) but stumbled across two items that were interesting. Interesting to make but not interesting enough to buy (sorry Gardener's Supply). I think they've probably been carry these items forever, but this is the first time they actually caught my eye. The first is a Garden Gear Organizer. Like so:

This would come in very handy for me. We live in an attached house (think townhouse although nobody ever calls them that in San Francisco so I can't tell you if there is a subtle difference between a real town house and what we live in). So no side yards and an itty bitty (although it feels spacious to me by city standards- approx. 30'x30') back yard. All my gardening supplies are stored in the garage and I bring them into the backyard via a hallway. However, I'm always forgetting something and then go running back into the garage to pull out my gloves or trowel or pruning shears, etc. I could hang one of these in my hallway and have it just inside the back door. Currently, things have a way of making their way out of the garage and then hanging out just inside and outside the door, so something to stash the small things would be nice. Plus, and this is the best part, I'm pretty sure I could actually sew one o these things myself. When you could conceivably actually make something, it starts seeming a lot more handy :)

The other item is a "Living Wall":

Basically a planter that you can hang on a vertical surface. I would love to have something like this for some of my external walls, either in a central patio/courtyard or on the north side of my house (a.k.a. the backyard). A way to green up some space with an tiny footprint. Some of the house plants that survive here when grown outdoors might work well in that we know they do ok in pots and can take the low light conditions of indoors (so north facing walls are a similar situation). The only difference being that instead of 70 degrees, the more typical temperature is 50 to 60 degrees, although being next to the house it would get the protection of the coldest nights. And I almost think I could make one of these, despite having little woodworking experience.

But for now I think both of these are going to be filed under if I ever have the time. So I'll let you know how they work out in about twenty years :)