Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Second Hand Catch All

I've been all fired up with using wood tones and reclaimed wood and rustic pieces lately. Is it a trend? Maybe. Is it me getting older and trying to be more mature? Ummm could be and it's cheaper and not as dorky as a yellow convertible Corvette. Is it a true appreciation for repurposing and breathing new life into materials and pieces? I think that's most of it.

The basement has been a second hand room for as long as I can remember. Meaning we get new stuff up stairs and the basement gets the leftovers. However lately I have learned how to make these second hand and repurposed pieces work together. I was going for a modern lodge feel with wood tones and lighter colors. Sometimes it feels beachy and sometimes it feels lodgy(sp?). This coming weekend I am picking up a deer skull with antlers attached that will definitely drive home that lodge feel.

This a Restore find that my mom found for $20. It must have been from a hotel liquidation because you can tell it was a totally mass produced piece. I sprayed it a gloss steel gray color and it serves it's purpose well. You can't tell in the picture but it has a cool brass raised bar on the back of it, it's just hidden by the TV. I also made that little cabinet underneath to hold DVDs and whatever else. I put in on those furniture sliders because I couldn't find casters small enough to clear the bottom of the cabinet.



I know these aren't true mid century butterfly chairs but those are hard to come by and super expensive. I bought new canvas cream colored covers for them and painted the frames black.



Just a random view of the room. You've seen the wood wall on previous posts.



This is my weathered american flag find. It looks cool against the reclaimed wood on the wall.



The two pictures on the wall were from my parents. I remember these being around forever. My dad always had them in any of his designated rooms - office, instrument room, wood shop, etc. The other two are silhouettes of a moose. It's gloss black on flat black and I just outlined them with a gray colored pencil.



This chest was in out master bedroom for years. It works as a keepsake chest. Marriage stuff, Ki's stuff, just important memories stuff. Works so much better in the room though.



Kind of tough to see this picture to show this table. I made it from leftover 4x4 fence posts. I would love to make a dining table like this one day, though I would have to rent a small crane to move it.



This is some sort of army back pack. Not sure what it was used for, but now it used to hold blankets. One of those is my baby quilt and one of them is a quilt that the Hope Lodge made my dad while he was at Barnes in St Louis. The other is just a cool southwestern style blanket.



Flag again. I just really like this for some reason.



Here is a coffee table that my was given to me. I think it was used as a chicken coop back in the day. It has a glass top on it so none of it hidden and you can see the hinges door on top. I put some small steel casters on the bottom to get it off the floor.


Hopefully the next picture will be the deer head. Can't wait to get that nasty thing on the wall.

Monday, August 29, 2011

All Hands On Deck

This summer has been full of projects around the house. It seems that each one has revolved around the deck remodel though. After our big hail storm in April I figured it was time to redo the deck the way we always wanted to. We get afternoon sun that just beats on the back of the house and makes it uncomfortable to enjoy the deck until the sun goes down. We tried an outdoor steel/canvas canopy from Target that was nice but didn't quite cover the whole deck, however it did provide some relieve from the heat. I've been envious of pergola's and shade structures for a long time so decided it was time take back our deck from the big ball of fire. I researched different shade fabrics, sails, and solid top structures. I figured we wanted the versatility of shade, but aesthetically pleasing at the same time. I used all reclaimed wood from a friend of mine that was remodeling his deck and then just started building. I had an idea of a flat straight lined Manhattan terrace that you would see in a Manhattan penthouse loft. However this Kansas and this is what I came up with. Thanks to my father in law for the labor of the structure and two of my good friends for the wood donation.

This is an outdoor rug that I free handed a zebra pattern onto. I seamed two 6x9 rugs together to create a larger rug.



I used canvas drop cloths for the outdoor curtains hemmed about 6 inches on the top and bottom for a more finished look. The rods are galvanized conduit and the rings are just normal clip rings to hold the curtain. I plan on doing a chevron stripe on these soon.



That chandelier was made from a bradford pear that I trimmed up this summer. I chopped up some of the larger branches and stapled them together with my air nailer. The string light is just randomly wrapped around the branches and wired into the light outlet so it can be controlled from an inside switch.



I always liked the louvered look of steel awnings and wanted to somehow incorporate this into the design. I think this finishes off the slight overhang of the shade structure too.



I did the floor in a gray color to match the shade fabric and to break up the black.



I wanted some natural wood tones also. Reclaimed cedar pickets from a fence is what I used to wrapped the lower half. It provides shade and hides my sons toys and my lumber for other projects.



Another floor view with the rug.



A view of the shade structure and fabric. It cuts out about 80 to 90% of the sun and still allows good ventilation.


Now that the extreme heat is over it is time to enjoy this bad boy. No invitation needed, just stop by and relax.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Swings On The Playground

Last week Ki started kindergarten. It has been an emotional few days around our house. Lots of changes happening - early bed times, little bits of homework, bus rides. All in all he did great on his first week and is more relaxed and excited for his second week. Hang in there buddy, only 12+ more years.

New beginnings



Me and Ki - another new beginning



Ki's new beginning as an "otter"

Friday, August 19, 2011

Pipes, Pine, & Paint

Got a nice little project in the works with these 3 elements. Should finish it up this weekend.







Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Can't Wait For These

I hope to see these in poduction sometime soon. Great idea and it looks awesome rolling too.


Project Aura: Bicycle Safety Lighting System from Project AURA on Vimeo.