I know I'm repeating myself (and no, it's not from the wonderful Indian food Joe made this weekend), but I love to take old pieces, tweak them a bit and give them new purpose. I visited my friends Don and Jane in New Hampshire recently and was blown away by some of the cool things they've done to make their home unique and extra special. Don, for example, took an old door and turned it into a cool desk and used reclaimed wood to make incredible frames for artwork. To add fun shades to drab outdoor string lights, Jane took small plastic dixie cups and covered them in fabric (by cutting a hole in the bottom of the cup just big enough to slip the light through and hanging the cups upside down). Usually other peoples creativity gets my juices flowing, so I try to use as many as I can in clients homes. Take the top photo from a few years ago (believe I've shared this one already, but hey, we all repeat sometimes). A client with zero budget for redesigning their space asked me to reuse several pieces to create an office area, so I found two abandoned bookshelves and an old door in her attic and went to town...literally to town to find paint. After sanding and painting the shelves and doors in slightly different shades of the same hue, I mounted the door on top of the shelves to create, what I thought, was a one-of-a-kind desk. I visited the client and she's still using the same desk, so I guess she liked it too! More recently I found wood that had been removed from an old barn in a clients backyard, so I grabbed several pieces and (with bronze wall brackets purchased at the hardware store) mounted them on either side of a guest bed for an interesting focal point and cool bedside tables. From Jane and Don's imaginative creations to my cool finds, good design doesn't have to cost a fortune!
