What can you do with old shutters, picnic baskets and rakes? Furniture-and-accessories-store owner Robb Whittlef shows how to turn garage-sale finds into fun, inventive items for the home. Window-Shutter Room Screen Three old shutters hinged together make a rustic room screen. Simply replace the original hardware with new hinges. Old shutters often have neat architectural detailing, and some come with cutouts such as pine trees or candles. Casters can be added to the bottom for easy mobility. For a sleek look, buy new shutters, and hinge them together. Paint them or leave the wood natural. Picnic-Basket Table Stack a pile of old picnic baskets to make a charming side table. Relatively inexpensive and easy to find at tag sales and flea markets, baskets do double duty by providing storage space for picnic supplies. Old Rake Hang-Up Hang old rakes at a back entryway to provide a functional and interesting rack for hanging coats and keys. The lovely form of an authentic wooden farm rake pairs nicely with the curved tines of an old metal rake. DIY Decorating and Design host Nancy Golden shows how to make a storage footstool out of an old dresser drawer and a hanging pot rack out of an old iron gate. Drawer Footstool Materials:
Old dresser drawer (must have flush sides)
Plywood (cut a bit larger than the drawer)
Thick foam to fit plywood
Batting
Decorator fabric
Staple gun and staples
Four decorative finials
Two small hinges
- Place the foam on top of the plywood, cover it with the batting and staple the batting on the back of the wood.
- Lay the fabric on the padded surface and staple it in place on the back, working in the following order: Put a single staple in one side, then pull the fabric taut and place a staple in the opposite side. Repeat around the perimeter of the wood. Leave the corners for last and smooth them to round them as you staple the fabric in place.
- Cut a piece of fabric to fit the wrong side of the lid, and staple it in place to cover the raw edges and the bare wood.
- Turn the drawer upside down and attach the four finials, one at each corner, to serve as legs.
- Attach the lid to the body, using the two hinges. Remember to attach one side of each hinge to the outside of the drawer and the other side to the wrong side of the lid.
Pot Rack Materials:
Iron gate
Heavy-duty screw eyes
S hooks (enough to hand the rack and also to hang pots from the rack)
Chain (available at home-improvement stores; can be cut to desired length)
- Screwing into the ceiling joists to anchor the rack, place a screw eye in the ceiling at each corner.
- Use S hooks to attach the lengths of chain to the ceiling and the gate to the chain at each corner. (If there is no clear place to attach the hardware on the corners of the gate, have O rings professionally welded to the corners and hang the S hooks from them.)
- Attach pots to the rack with additional S hooks.
RESOURCES :
Robb Whittlef
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