Category Archives: Upcycling

Upcycling: Baluster Fireplace Mantel

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As I mentioned late last year, my wife, son and I moved to a new house here in Bellingham.

Nearly four months later, we’re still chipping away at actually moving in, that process whereby all of the boxes are emptied, blank walls are adorned with decorations, routines and rhythms are formed, etc., and one item we recently checked off our list involved what became a perfect subject for my Upcycling series. (Note: 95% of the vision for this project came from my wife, who has a wonderful ability to see the artistic possibilities in objects that a mere mortal would be oblivious to.)

We have a gas fireplace in the living room, above which the builder did not include a mantel. And, since we celebrate Chanukah AND Christmas in our home, it was inconceivable that we would have no where to hang our stockings.

Well, we had all sorts of ideas for a mantel design, but the project kept slipping down the priority list, superseded by things like getting our clothes into dressers and closets, finding a dining table in time for Thanksgiving, and searching for that one box that held things like dental floss and toothpaste.

At last, after the holidays, we settled on the idea of a big, beefy beam of wood, preferably salvaged, preferably weathered and distressed in order to contrast with the pristine white walls and overall modern design of the room.

Finding such a piece of wood proved more difficult than I ever imagined. Driving around to various lumber outlets included a visit Bellingham’s own Targo Woods, whose tag line is, “Hardwoods to Get,” which seemed like a perfect choice, only hardwoods to get come with a hard price tag to swallow, and we were constrained by a meager budget. It would have been impossible to get anything there that met our specifications for less than $200.

Our next idea was a used railroad tie, widely available as they are popularly used for landscaping. However, a little research on the internets revealed that it’s not the brightest idea in the world to hang a hunk of wood in your home that has been soaked in toxic creosote. Additionally, creosote has a distinct stink to it, which, especially when the fireplace is blazing, wouldn’t exactly be pleasant to the nose.

Finally, one day, the Mrs. was browsing at our wonderful local outlet for all things salvaged, The RE Store, when she came across two massive, solid wood balusters that had been removed from some house somewhere, and instead of seeing two pieces of ugly lumber with chipping paint, lumber meant to be in a vertical position rather than horizontal, she suggested that we’d found our mantel.

Because each baluster was only 4-1/2 inches wide, we bought both, planning on mounting the two of them together in order to create 9 inches of depth, to accommodate knick-knacks, and to create a more substantial presence. Thankfully, the Re Store offered to trim the ends so that they were to the length we needed and symmetrical.

Here’s the mantel with temporary mounting brackets:

And, here it is with galvanized brackets to add an industrial aesthetic:

We’re VERY happy with the outcome!

Upcycling: New Uses For Old Chairs

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Admit it. You either have some old rickety wooden chairs sitting around collecting dust, chairs that have seen too many years and borne too many pounds, or you are sick and tired of seeing them at every yard sale or thrift shop.

If you’re like me, you’ve considered doing something to these chairs, to make them attractive once again, but if you’re honest with yourself, you know that they will never really be comfortable to sit in again.

For instance, my wife and I have been shopping for dining chairs for months, when a friend suggested that we collect an assortment of old wooden chairs, each chair different from the other, and then paint them all the same color, high gloss of course.

Sounds like a great idea, huh?

Well, from a strictly aesthetic perspective it is a great idea. But, I just couldn’t bring myself to do it, knowing that I want people sitting around my dining table to be so comfortable that they will want to remain there for hours, enjoying food and drink and each other’s company, and I’m certain that people would be squirming around in those hard wooden chairs wishing they were just about anywhere else before the entree is served.

This installment of my Upcycling series, then, takes a look at some very cool ideas for repurposing old chairs, with all but one taking seating out of the equation entirely.

Via Do The Green Thing, here are my faves:

Upcycling: Suitcase tables!

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LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these!

This Upcycling installment comes via T.O.M.T. (aka The Other Man’s Treasures), and I can’t recommend highly enough taking the time to browse through their website for some fantastic furniture and lighting ideas.

I know I’ll be keeping an eye out for a vintage suitcase and some screw-on legs, as I browse the thrift stores that are increasingly becoming a resource for great upcycling ideas.

Upcycling: Pallet Coat Rack Update

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Last week I posted the first installment of my new Recurring Series, Upcycling, featuring the coat rack you see here to the right. Made from a reclaimed wooden shipping pallet, I found it via Shelterness.

Well, I managed to move from inspiration to implementation in what was almost certainly a new personal record for any endeavor other than blogging. In just five days, I took this idea, ran with it, scavenged a pallet, removed the bottom boards, cleaned it, primed it, painted it with dregs of varying age from our embarrassingly large store of paints from project past, mounted the hooks (from Ikea, the only non-recycled items in the project), and, finally, mounted my new coat rack in the mudroom. (It should be noted that I was generously assisted in the painting and mounting phases by my wife, who was probably wondering what had gotten into me, but who also knew that she shouldn’t question the newfound productivity, else it might disappear as quickly as it arrived.)

Since I know you’re dying to see my finished product, here are two photos, and then I’ll finish up with some notes on the project that I think could be helpful to anyone else who might attempt this project:

As promised, if you choose to attempt this at home…

  • Before you go pallet hunting, have an idea of what you want your pallet to look like and how big the space you plan to put it in is, since pallets come in many shapes and sizes, with the configuration of the boards varying greatly. Some have wider slats than others, some have beefier bottom boards, some have slats close together without any gap, others are wider apart, like the one I used.
  • Be prepared for the fact that the hardest part, by far, is the removal of boards from the bottom. Nails can be many in number and in varying stages of rusting away. Also, for me it proved utterly impossible to not split and break the boards as they came off.
  • Apropos the first bullet, because of the variations in pallet construction, be warned that the method of mounting can be tricky depending on the type of pallet. In the project I tried to copy, the construction of the pallet makes it easy. The horizontal boards look to be 1″ x 3″, with the 3″ side flush to the wall, and so screwing them into studs was probably easy. In my project however, those boards are 2″ x 4″, with the 2″ side flush to the wall. So, since I didn’t want to have to countersink screws deep into the 2×4 and then into the studs, as you can see in the photos, my wife painted a spare 2×4 that we had, we mounted it flush to the wall, hung the pallet on it, and then I drove some screws down through the 2×4 of the pallet into the 2×4 on the wall.
  • Finally, unless you have a powerful belt sander and a good supply of sandpaper, don’t bother with sanding, as the instructions at Shelterness suggest. You will never get a fully clean, smooth, like-new surface, the paint hides a LOT, and the ragged edges here and there just add to the shabby chic charm of the piece.

Upcycling: Wine Bottle Tiki Torches

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I am SO making some of these for my deck!

Via Geardot:

I love the simplicity of the design, the uncluttered lines, and I often LOVE the artwork on wine bottle labels I’ve emptied and mourn the fact that they go away so quickly, discarded in the recycle bin.

Unlike the designer, who appears to have gone to the hardware store to buy the mounting pieces, I’ll head to Bellingham’s own RE Store, an amazing outlet for reclaimed building materials, where I’m pretty sure I can find everything except the wick and torch fuel.

How cool will it be on a warm summer night, hanging on the deck, drinking wine and making music with friends, to the glow of these awesome torches?

Very.

Upcycling: Pallet Coat Rack

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In line with my keen interest in sustainability, I’ve posted a number of entries over the past year containing cool examples of upcycling: used or waste materials that have been transformed into something new, something with much more value.

Three recent examples:

Well, today I’m launching a new Recurring Series of posts highlighting examples of upcycling that I stumble upon during my web browsing, and they’ll be accessible via the Recurring Series drop-down menu at the top of the blog.

For today’s inaugural post, here’s just about the most awesome-est coat rack ever (via Shelterness), made from a shipping pallet:

I’ve actually just started work on a coat rack for our mudroom, using a 1.5′ x 4′ board, I was planning on painting multi-colored stripes on it, but now I’ll be scrounging around for an abandoned pallet!