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Showing posts with label industrial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label industrial. Show all posts

9.10.2021

make a 'harvest time' sign from a clock!

fall,wall art,painting,re-purposed,salvaged,up-cycling,art class,DIY,diy decorating,farmhouse style,industrial,rustic style,seasonal,thrifted,trash to treasure,wreaths,fall home decor, fall door decor,fall door wreath, fall wreath,handpainted signs,harvest time sign,wall art signs
here's a timely project for you: turn a wall clock into a sign!

with a 'harvest time' message, it's perfect for fall decorating
inside your home or on your front door...
and a great way to re-purpose a pretty but broken clock.

continue reading for the easy-peasy details...

2.19.2021

painting the globe...

winter,white,up-cycling,trash to treasure,salvaged,painting,neutrals,junk makeover,DIY,diy decorating,Disney,Disneyland,crafting,color palettes,chalkboards,boho,industrial,Pantone 2021,Pantone color of the year,Pantone Ultimate Gray,Ultimate Gray,gray,painted globe,old globe makeover,It's A Small World,embellished globe,winter home decor,winter decor.
today i'm sharing a project that uses the OTHER 'color of the year',
Ultimate Gray.
(since most of my recent projects have been all contained Illuminating Yellow,
i thought it was time to give the second color some attention!)

i finally came up with a way to restyle an item that i've had tucked away for years...
it was a banged-up, scratched, faded (but not in a good way) paper world globe,
and using gray and white paint to transform it was the perfect solution to update the look.
note: this is a globe from the 1990's. not vintage or antique. not valuable.

now it fits into my decor, and is a sweet reminder of special people each time i look at it.
isn't that better than keeping something stashed in a closet
because although it means something to you, you don't know where to PUT it?

continue reading to see the before, during, after... and AFTER!

10.25.2020

diy wood slat shade / privacy screen

fall, fall decor, fall home decor, outdoor decor, outdoor furnishings, fall patio decor, porch swing, wood slat privacy screen, wood slat shade screen, neutral fall decor, pumpkins, pumpkin decor, diy, diy projects, diy home decor, repurposed, woodcrafts, boho style, boho decor, farmhouse style, farmhouse decor, rustic decor, rustic style,
living here in the semi-desert of Southern California means we get a lot of sun.
for four years, i've been struggling with - and have tried - many ways to block that sun
so that we can enjoy our patio and backyard in the late afternoon.
but along with the sun is wind. Santa Ana winds and strong daily afternoon winds.
those winds have torn down every umbrella and shade cloth and curtain i've hung.

finally a bright idea dawned on me - make it wood!
the simple solution was to repeat another element of our landscaping
and create a wood screen to withstand wind and block the afternoon sun.

the best part of this project? it makes use of a pre-made element available at Lowes.
paired with an item i already had, it became the perfect shade screen for us - 
and would work as a privacy screen, as well!

continue reading to see how simple this outdoor diy project is...

10.19.2020

salvaged fan becomes a backyard table!

fall, outdoor decor, outdoor fall decor, salvaged, upcycled, repurposed, junk makeover, industrial style, trash to treasure, orange accent color, firepit area decor, backyard decor,  use what you have decorating, farmhouse style, DIY, DIY decorating, DIY project, salvaged metal industrial fan becomes outdoor table
this big old orange thing might just look a bit familiar to you...
it's the industrial fan housing that i grabbed right outta' my neighbors' trash can
and turned into a pumpkin in a previous post.

honestly? the pumpkin project was an afterthought.
THIS was the reason i grabbed it before the trash truck arrived...
to make an accent table for our backyard fire pit area!
it was a simple assembly, using things i had on hand already
and it makes a world of difference in this area of our yard.


continue reading to see how just three simple elements created this table...

8.06.2020

faux succulent wreath & wall decor

art, boho style, DIY, diy decorating, fall, farmhouse style, faux plants, industrial, junk makeover, junking, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, summer, sweaters, Sweet Sweater Succulents, up-cycling, trash to treasure, wall art, weekend makeover, faux succulents, sweater crafts, sweet sweater succulents
 when it came to wall art in our newly 'refreshed' guest room, 
i re-thought the currently hot trend of 'basket groupings' on walls
and went with a grouping of repurposed rusty metal items instead.
resembling woven baskets, they give the room a 'boho' feel - in a unique way.

my take on 'modern boho style' is less earth-child hippie and a bit more mid-century in feel.
and there's a reason for that:

during my sophomore summer, one of my jobs was selling imported baskets at the swap meet -
it was a hot, sweaty, physical job that a friend and i did every weekend all summer long.
we had to drive a junky old 'three on the tree' van to the drive in, unload it,
set up displays of the baskets, and then sit there all day convincing people to buy them.
then we had to load up anything that didn't sell. it was exhausting.
the only redeeming quality of it was the paycheck and spending time with my friend.

so now i have an aversion to baskets being used as they were back then! (the late 70's)
i like this solution... and just wait until you get a closer look at those succulents!

continue reading to see all of the details and 'how-to's'...

7.14.2020

diy galvanized birdbath

DIY, diy decorating, farmhouse, farmhouse style, garden, garden art, industrial, junk makeover, outdoors, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, summer, tomato cage crafts, up-cycling, trash to treasure, galvanized metal, birdbath
while songbirds love to come and splash in our backyard salvaged galvanized bucket fountain,
i noticed that the tiny wrens and hummingbirds who visit us don't go near it.
perhaps the bubbling water frightens them, or the buckets are too deep for their use...
it seemed to me that a birdbath was called for.

i went looking around the yard and garage to see what we had that i could use to build one,
and found two items that combined perfectly for this project.

continue reading to see how to make a simple and easy birdbath for your garden!

5.14.2020

salvaged junk potting bench

creative spaces, DIY, diy decorating, farmhouse style, fast cheap and easy, garden, furniture, industrial, junk makeover, junking, outdoors, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, spring, up-cycling, vintage, potting bench, galvanized metal, in the yard
spring and summer bring out my green thumb,
and having a potting bench to plant, replant, and putter around on is a necessity.

me being me, though, i'm not about to spend money on one!
i'd rather create something that is 'one of a kind' that no one else has,
re-using the junk and salvaged stuff that's already around the house...
so when i spied an unused plywood table extension in the garage, 
my mind saw it as a component of a potting bench for our backyard.
so last year, i got to work on it - and because i wasn't blogging then, i never shared it here.
with gardens on everyone's mind right now, i thought it was time to remedy that!

continue reading to see what ELSE i dragged out there to build this useful diy piece...

3.12.2020

fois gras? no - faux grass!

decorating, DIY, diy decorating, flowers, garden, industrial, outdoors, on the porch, re-purposing, salvaged, seasonal, spring, summer, up-cycling, artificial turf, fake grass, candles, spring decor, spring decorating, spring fresh, grass
as a decorator / designer, my BIG thing is using things differently.
differently than everyone else, for sure - but also differently than they were ever intended to be used.
i love to let my imagination run wild and come up with 'alternative uses' for just about everything!

when Mom and i designed our backyard landscaping in 2016, we chose faux grass / artificial turf
because of the easy maintenance, long lifespan, and no need for watering.
after the expert installation, we had a lot of scraps left, so i kept them.
i knew that i would come up with ways to use those scraps - and i did!

you've seen our faux grass in some photos of our backyard here on the blog...
 decorating, DIY, diy decorating, flowers, garden, industrial, outdoors, on the porch, re-purposing, salvaged, seasonal, spring, summer, up-cycling, artificial turf, fake grass, candles, spring decor, spring decorating, spring fresh, backyard decordecorating, DIY, diy decorating, flowers, garden, industrial, outdoors, on the porch, re-purposing, salvaged, seasonal, spring, summer, up-cycling, artificial turf, fake grass, candles, spring decor, spring decorating, spring fresh, backyard decor
under the salvaged bucket fountain    .     as a heat shield for roses AND to hide the A/C unit

recently, i used some of the smallest scraps to enhance our spring decor INSIDE the house...
continue reading to see the details!

3.06.2020

greenhouse from salvaged windows

decorating, DIY, diy decorating, farmhouse style, garden, industrial, junk makeover, junking, original designs, outdoors, re-purposing, rustic style, salvaged, spring, up-cycling,
 going through an old journal, i stumbled across these photos... from 1995.
(that's so long ago that i used an old-school film-loaded camera and had them printed!)
they show a very sweet birthday surprise that my late husband created for me:
a small backyard greenhouse, made from vintage windows.

he covertly collected vintage windows and a door (free off of Craigslist!)
then built the frame and inserted the windows to make this charming little place for me...
it was one of the nicest birthday gifts he ever gave me.
(i just wish i had been a better photographer back then!)

continue reading for more photos, and details about how he built it...

2.24.2020

salvaged galvanized bucket fountain

salvaged, junk, junking, diy, garden, backyard decor, home decor, farmhouse style, rustic style, galvanized buckets, fountains, repurposed, diy, spring decorating, industrial style
when we moved into our newly constructed house almost four years ago, 
the entire backyard was nuthin' but dirt.
together, Mom and i came up with ideas for our own personal oasis,
i created a plan and sketches, and after a harrowing journey with the WRONG contractor,
we got the RIGHT guy - and our vision finally began to unfold.

when it came to the center of the yard design, we knew we wanted a fountain -
but we couldn't find anything commercially that we liked.
so i started looking at what we had and what i could do with it...
and what we HAD were some galvanized buckets and watering cans!

continue reading to see how i created an easy fountain with them...

1.13.2020

re-purposing new furniture

industrial style, rustic style, farmhouse style, diy decor, home decor, decorating, wood furniture, furniture, repurposed, repurposed furniture, bar
let's talk a bit about re-purposing furniture, shall we?
(and no, i'm not talking about using junk or chalk painting something...)
case in point: this bar in our home.

because the thing is, re-purposing furniture isn't JUST about repainting or rehabbing.
it's not always about making something old 'new'.
sometimes, it's about seeing the possibilities in a brand new piece - 
and using it in a brand new WAY.

this piece was never intended to be a bar. honestly? it wasn't even sold for use in a house.
it was sold at Costco as... you aren't gonna' believe this! keep reading!