Decorating with Junk
Reinvent discarded woor orarchitectural elements into something new.
Jul 15, 2009
Whether you're just a junk browser, a regular at salvage yards, or a homeowner with a garage full of leftover renovation materials, here are simple ways to recycle these.
Don’t pass up beautiful old wooden scraps and elements, instead look for creative ways to give your castoffs and treasures a new life.
Architectural Salvage
- Mantel - A wooden mantel makes a terrific headboard. In a small room, the ledge is a perfect place for an alarm clock and lamp, eliminating the need for bedside tables.
- Molding - Turn a few feet of leftover molding into a mirror or picture frame. Finish with your choice of paint or stain, or try gold leaf for a more formal look. To add architectural interest to a bookcase, trim the top with leftover crown molding.
- Fencing - A row of old fence pickets hung in a front hall, kitchen, or bedroom makes unique wainscoting. Use the existing nail holes as a guide to screw the pickets to the wall. Create an interesting headboard in a bedroom by attaching pickets to the wall behind the bed, or install an old fence with a gate around the bed in a child’s room.
- Scrap wood planks - Add a few pictures and coat hooks by recycling an spare or unused pine board and hang it in the hall for a quick and unique coat rack.
Doors and Shutters
- French doors - Old, narrow French doors make wonderful room dividers. Instead of blocking light, they create an open, airy feeling. Hinge doors together to make a floor screen and use it to create a separate space in a room, such as a dressing area in a large master bedroom. A French door floor screen with mirrored panes offers a beautiful way to create a hidden storage area in the corner of a room.
- Plank doors - Replace an accordion-style closet door with a weathered plank door.
- Shutters - Use weathered wooden shutters as doors for bookcases or kitchen cupboards. Shutters can be hinged together and used as a room divider or hung from hooks on the porch to create an outdoor wall or privacy screen.
Tiles
- Ceramic tiles - Make a mosaic on a kitchen splash back, powder room floor, or an old table top using broken tiles.
- Cork tiles - Glue leftover cork to the back of a door to make a message centre in a bedroom, kitchen, or home office.
- Tin ceiling tile - Turn squares of embossed-tin ceiling tiles into picture frames that will add instant charm to a vintage frame or painting. Simply cut a centre opening to fit the image. Cover the top of a coffee table with a sheet of embossed tin for a textured, country look.
Windows
- Windows - Old windows can be fitted with mirrors to add a practical look in the hallway. Hang window with picture hooks or simply lean it against a wall.
- Casement windows – Casement windows can be transformed into a mini-gallery framing an ensemble of family photographs. Place thin pieces of cardboard behind each photograph and secure with masking tape to the back of each pane.
The copyright of the article Decorating with Junk in Reducing Waste is owned by Stefanie Gabrych Fraser. Permission to republish Decorating with Junk in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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