Repurpose, Reuse, Recycle…. a new Life for reclaimed objects

While thinking about the New Year that lies ahead and considering what some of the objectives will be, I also ponder what from the past worked well that might be used again.  There seems to be some things in life that work just as they were, and others enhance when given a new role.

Vintage objects used in diverse ways create interesting ideas that breathes new life for a fresh inventive look.

This stunning butler's Flatware display is by artist Adam Smith.  Made from antique, solid sterling flatware, handmade bronze frame, and antique tintypes, presented in a wood case with magnets on back of pieces. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage drawer pulls  from dressers attached to the wall make  perfect ornate hooks for keys and reading glasses. Adding curtain clips works great to attach papers or business cards. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old ornate metal heating vents are too pretty not to be repurposed. Hang one on the wall for a great way to display your favorite magazines.

 

 

There were so many great recycled items at the Greenhouse Charity Works House in Mclean Virginia. One of those were the lovely recycled glass bottle pendants that were used in the mudroom.   Custom Design Concepts Architecture + Interiors

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An old knife caddy is transformed into a pretty stash for bathroom supplies Better Homes and Gardens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Photographer Jim Westphalen for Country Gardens.
Karin over at Your Cozy Home  fascinated by oil lamps at the flea market found a creative way to use them without having to bother with the oil and lighting them. 

 

 

Turn of the century spool or tool chests are great ways to store silverware, placemats, coasters, or retrofitted for jewelry. 

We all have seen them (maybe even owned them), those hideous light fixtures from the 80’s & 90’sthat once hung not so proudly in homes.  Breathe new life into them but transforming them into terrariums.  

May we all find the resources we need to make 2010 a blissful year.

Eco Logical, functional & beautiful

Perusing through a recent issue of Metropolitan Home (May 2009) I came across an Eco Friendly house in Colorado with a few design elements worth sharing. A style that I am not normally attracted to, but there is something about the simplicity of this house has me drawn to it.

The eco friendly house designed by architect Jim Logan from Boulder, is set on a pristine acre just beyond Boulder’s city limits was designed for a pair uprooted New Yorkers.

The view from the back: A quartet of identical archetypal attached dwellings are aimed toward the creek with light coming in through the roof. The repeating rooftops also conceal solar thermal panels. Each of the four pods are all the same size and each house a separate function.

Then…..here is one of my favorite elements: This is one of those things that I fell in love with (I know it’s an odd thing to get excited about :) ). A very functional and attractive custom made steel drain spout (placed in between the adjoining structures).

On the exterior, the structural wing walls are clad in brick, the faces are covered with beautiful, lovely ipê, a Brazilian hardwood. The trellises, are recycled composite deck material made from sawdust and plastic garbage bags, they will one day be covered with trumpet vine, clematis and honeysuckle. How sweet, literally that will be to enjoy.

The living room hearth is made of local sandstone. “Using a local resource that is normally thrown away is about as sustainable as you can get,” Logan says.

And, last by not least, here is a dream come true for all of you avid readers, book loving people. I know I can’t be alone in this feeling. I giggle when I think back to when my sisters were gracious enough to help me pack, and telling me to “NEVER buy another book, I had enough!” Seriously, can you really have too many books?

At the homeowners’ request, the central hallway that links the living spaces is defined by wall-to-wall bookcases. “Despite our lawyer/Wall Street lifestyle, we were both English majors in college and we wanted something to commemorate that,” says Gallop. The sanded and black-stained shelves are concrete forms the architect salvaged from a downtown excavation project.

May the owners have many years of enjoyment in their beautiful, eco friendly, wonderful home.