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I just watered my orchids. I only have four now, but many years ago, when I lived in a sunnier place, I had a room full of orchids! I was newly divorced and had just started living on my own. For the first time I was able to afford a two bedroom apartment, so I got one that faced the mountains. It was an east facing room and got amazing sunlight so I turned it into my art room.

And then I bought an orchid since I absolutely love them and thought it would be nice. (Did you know that orchids are one of the two largest plant families?) That one orchid looked lonely all by itself in the window so I got a couple more. Pretty soon I had a three foot tall orchid in a huge pot as the main attraction in that room. I loved those orchids. And they thrived.

But now I’ve moved to a less sunny place and my orchids are not doing as well. I’ve had these orchids for about 5 years. They bloom occasionally but not consistently. Without that east facing and near constant sun they survive but they struggle. As of today I have one solitary, slightly sad looking bloom on my white Beallara orchid.

Close-up of a single white and purple Beallara orchid bloom on a thin stem, with green leaves. The orchid is in a white, ceramic orchid pot with holes in it and is sitting on the counter with pots and pans in the background.

I probably need to fertilize them, so that’s on me, but I have high hopes that the answer to all of my orchid woes are in a cabinet. While at the mercy of reddit a couple of months ago, I stumbled on r/ikeagreenhouseclub where people share pictures of their indoor greenhouse cabinets. Most are some form of ikea glass cabinet. But some, like this one, are stunning. She took an old chandelier and took out a pane of glass to make a greenhouse!

Repurposed chandelier that’s now a glass orchid cabinet with LED grow lights mounted at the top and several orchids planted in soil along the bottom.

But here I am, writing this and not actively looking for a cabinet. And I think it’s really funny what tasks feel insurmountable. I really want to get a cabinet (preferably that’s already put together), rig it up with some uv spectrum lights and be done with it. But something about the search for it always feels so overwhelming I stop. I need to set a day for myself where my only goal is to by a stupid cabinet. It feels so doable, and yet so impossible. Maybe that’s one of my tasks for the Christmas break. Purchase and set up a new orchid cabinet. That sounds like a really relaxing project and then I can finally see these orchids bloom. I have one that I got a few years ago that was a brand new little baby orchid. I’ve managed to keep it alive, but it’s never bloomed. The first year it would’ve been able to product blooms was in 2024. So maybe 2026 is the year I get it together and actually see what these little flowers look like!

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