Repurposing – Page 2 – Sheila Zeller Interiors

October 1, 2012October 2, 2012

IDSwest 2012: Reclaimed Wood Creations by Matthieu LeBlanc

With a design show as fantastic as this one, it’s hard to capture it all. Soaking it in is yet another story! In fact, I’m still soaking in the whole weekend of the Interior Design Show West held at the Vancouver Convention Centre.

There were so many amazing displays of quality, craftsmanship, and pure creative genius, I don’t even know where to begin. But, since Matthieu LeBlanc’s reclaimed wood creations was definitely one of my favorites, why not start here?

Want to take a peek?

These sculptural arc lamps are made of apple wood.

And their base from a piece of beach combed mahogany washed up on shore!

Isn’t it stunning?

And how about this gorgeous table?

Matthieu calls this the ‘Footprint’ table. Can you see it?

And what’s a design show without amazing seating?

This signature bar stool is made from Douglas fir.

Here’s another look, you know, a little more up close and personal!

Love the grain in it!

Yes, these pieces are all made from reclaimed wood. Either donated, salvaged, or beach combed. Beautiful wood with its own history, a fresh start and the beginning of a new story… and the storyteller, the master behind the artistry, Matthieu LeBlanc.

Just a little taste of so much more!

What do you think? Can you see one of these pieces in your home? Which one would you choose?

Thanks for stopping by!

Photography: Sheila Zeller

September 24, 2012September 25, 2012

A Little Lamp Update

Remember when I posted about this lamp?

And showed you the replacement shade I picked up for it at ReStore?

Then left you with a cliff hanger and only showed you this much?

Well, here’s a little glimpse at how this revitalized lamp looks when it’s placed with a few friends.

Abstract Painting by Sea to Canvas

Not so bad for a $2.00 shade, right?

Click here to see the mystery project that goes with this lamp!

Do you recognize a few pieces in the mix?

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

Photography: Sheila Zeller

September 21, 2012July 8, 2014

Treasure Seeking in a Thrifty Kind of Way!

Last week my treasure hunting created a mystery with the large vintage shortening bin I picked up at a garage sale. And Andrea was super sweet in featuring it this week! Thank you so much for the feature, Andrea!

Well my mystery is no closer to being solved, but this week you might think I was becoming a tin collector!

Here’s what came home with me from a little treasure hunting excursion 🙂

That’s right. A vintage Empress jam can, c. 1940s-50s! That’s the tin collecting part, but I’m not actually ‘collecting’ tins… yet! 😉

I came home with this great little vintage piece. Love the old cardboard luggage, though this one might have been a briefcase!

This old glass bottle was also part of the mix. The glass at the bottom is super thick, and poured on an angle.

I don’t know what it was used for, but I thought it was kind of cool. I also liked this wine carafe because of its shape. Most the ones you find are round from bottom to top.

So these are my treasure finds this week! A little vintage and a lot of loooove!

When I bought the jam tin, the cashier asked me what I planned to do with it. I told her it might hold pens and pencils on my desk! What would you do with it?

Today I’m heading back over to the Junkin Joe Linky Party, ’cause the last one was just way too much fun! I hope you pop over and check out all the other vintage treasures, projects and thrifty finds!

And here’s a special shout out toAndrea at The Cottage Market for hosting! Thank you, Andrea!!!

Thank you for stopping by!

Photographs by Sheila Zeller; please link and credit if you choose to use!

September 12, 2012September 25, 2012

A New Touch for a Touch Lamp

I have been working on a redesign project, and this is one of the lamps that was in the mix…

Exactly as is. Apparently the original fluted ruffled glass shade got broken, and was just never replaced. Since redesign is working with what you already have, we knew we’d need a shade for this lamp.

I popped into the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Langford and found a one-off that would be perfect, but… forgot to bring the lamp to make sure! Handy, right? When I got home, I was pretty sure the shade would fit. For a whole $2.00, I’m not sure why I didn’t just buy it on the spot! Honestly.

It just so happens hubs was in the area the next day, so based on my description he stopped in and made the purchase. And then decided to make sure it was right before leaving!

This is the phone shot he sent 🙂

Can you see the very light orange tint to the glass? That’s what sold me on it. I’m repurposing a piece for this project, and the new paint colour will work perfectly with the tint in this glass.

This is what the lamp looked like with the energy efficient bulb turned on.

I’m not a fan of these compact fluorescents… in fact, you can read about why here. But what you don’t know is this lamp is a touch tri light. So even if I was a fan, I would still opt not to go with this bulb.

Here’s a peek at the new shade on the lamp along with a small 60 watt incandescent bulb.

So pretty. It sure makes the lamp look different, doesn’t it? Oh, you’re dying to see all of it?

Click here and you’ll get to see both!

So what have you been fixing up lately? Any parts and pieces given a new life, or did you have to buy new to get the job done?

Thank you for stopping by. I’m so glad that you did!

September 4, 2012September 25, 2012

Artist Easel to TV Stand ‘Before & After’

Featured by…

Thank you so much!

You might remember waaaaay back about this time last year I posted in excitement about wanting to turn an artist easel into a TV stand. This was inspired by Vicente Wolf’s very creative idea, and if you missed my post you can catch up on it here. And then in House & Home’s June issue this year, an art easel turned TV stand was a featured DIY project!

This was exactly the push I needed to get back on track and tackle my year-in-waiting project!

Here’s what the easel looked like in its ‘before’ state.

Art Easel

Notice there is just one shelf.

There was a concern that the TV would be too top-heavy for the stand once it was mounted, making it tip forward. A test-run proved this stand to be a lot sturdier than you would think, and with the added weight of the audio equipment on the bottom, it wasn’t going anywhere.

Here’s the TV console we were replacing along with all the audio equipment that would have to make the move. I forgot to take a true ‘before’ of it, so you’ll notice the TV is missing!

Without getting too lost in the details of this project, one of the things we did was add two more shelves to accommodate our equipment.

I had my heart set on painting the stand black, because I wanted the equipment to blend in. I opted to brush rather than spray the stand, and oh boy, what a chore that was! Just the sanding and taping was more than I bargained for! You see, I had to sand off a clear coat finish, and then tape all the knobs and exposed hardware. And this stand has a lot of grooves, not to mention a bunch of knobs, back and front, as well as ample hardware!

I used CIL’s low VOC, low odour DUO paint (Dark Secret, DL51 in semi-gloss), so was spared the priming. I haven’t used CIL’s 2-in-1 paint before, and was curious about its coverage. In the end the stand got two coats, and needed some touch-ups just where the frame was adjusted once the TV was mounted. The frame was tedious to adjust, which is why I didn’t mess with it when I was painting.

Next hubs drilled the frame so he could mount our center speaker for the surround sound right in the center of the stand. Makes sense, right?

The TV, by the way, was mounted with steel strapping.

We used the TV’s pre-existing screw holes meant for a wall-mount bracket to attach the strapping, and wrapped it snugly over the back rest of the easel.

At first, I wasn’t too sure if I liked the outcome.

But then when I went back to the living room ‘before’ photo with the TV console…

And looked around the room with the new TV easel finished and in place…

Well, I decided there was no comparison. I love the sculptural feel and uniqueness of the stand, and how compact the equipment is sitting on the stand. I like how the stand works with the clock, and the decor. But most of all, I like that the stand tucked perfectly into the corner… it’s such an awkward corner. Did you notice that?

This was a case of, if you can’t disguise the TV, then go all out with it instead!

I’m curious to hear what you think! And, I’d love your thoughts on the wall behind the TV, too. Would you put anything there, or leave that spot empty as is?

Today I’m linking up over at Primitive & Proper…

You might want to pop by to check out the other projects. Thanks for hosting, Cassie!

And thank you, my friends, for stopping by today 🙂

PS – don’t forget to enter our special GIVEAWAY here… Giveaway ends Friday, September 7, 2012 midnight PST!

August 31, 2012August 31, 2012

Guest Posting Over At Home Bunch

Wow, can you believe it’s Friday… and August 31st, too? Where did the summer go? I don’t know about you, but I’m not quite ready for our summer to end. My sunflowers just started to bloom!

Although, I have to admit, it is nice to get back into the swing of a regular routine with the beginning of school closing in.

And what better way to end off the summer, and start into the fall than to be guest posting over at Home Bunch? Today you’ll find me stepping in for Luciane with a little Cool or Fool Friday fun…

Luciane is one of my very dear blogging friends who has been with me since the beginning. And right now she’s knee-deep in a big design project, along with being incredibly busy raising her family, blogging five days a week, and just being the amazing woman that she is.

I hope you’ll pop over for a visit, and weigh in with your thoughts… is it cool or fool?

August 29, 2012August 28, 2012

And The New Black Is…

We’ve all heard this before…

[Blank] is the new black.

And I bet you can fill in the blank.

Well, here’s the thing. The other day a mystery envelope was left on our porch. I recognized the sender’s name (thank you so much, Alicia), but had no clue what might be inside.

I was so curious.

When I opened it, these fell out!

How cool are they? Don’t they just make you smile?

My hubs is a social media guy, so the top pencil was for him. Skill testing question: Which SM platform does this apply to?

The other two were pour moi! 🙂 By now I’m pretty sure you know this about me: I’m good with old black, new black… any kind of black, but to see D.I.Y. and Upcycling coined the ‘New Black’, well what’s not to love about that?

Can I just say,

Hello Audrey…

Bead Designs by K

Hello Jackie…

Oh No They Didn’t Live Journal

Mind if we join you?

Do you know what the difference is between D.I.Y.ing and Upcycling?

D.I.Y. stands for ‘Do It Yourself’, and it literally means to build, modify or repair something without the help of experts or professionals. Did you know the phrase,”do it yourself” became common in the 1950s? I know, right! I thought it was newer than that! See, what’s old is new again 😉

Upcycling is all about finding a new purpose for things instead of throwing them out. And usually this means you will be D.I.Y.ing whatever it is you’re upcycling, but not always. You can also hire someone to do the upcycling for you!

But did you know that upcycling, though a form of recycling, is in fact a greener way of recycling? That’s right, they are actually different, because recycling requires energy and resources to collect, sort and process unwanted items and waste in order to turn them into something useable in the future. Upcycling does not.

The ottoman below is an example of an upcycled project that was D.I.Y.ed. What do you think it was made from?

That Was A What Blog

Would you believe me if I told you there’s a tire inside that forms the shape? And the feet are repurposed from another piece of furniture?

Just in case you’re wondering about the value of D.I.Y. projects, especially ones that are upcycled… well, when I pinned this ottoman to my Pinterest board just 5 days ago, I was able to read all the ‘how to’ steps, you know, in case I want to make my own. Today when I put this article together I discovered this ottoman has been trademarked the ‘Ottire’, and will be hitting the market soon! And I bet you’ve already guessed, the ‘how to’ steps have been removed! This is such a great story, and the perfect example of finding value in upcycling through the power of D.I.Y.ing.

To see some examples of how recycled tires have been put to use, I featured a few things here.

So, you heard it here, D.I.Y. and Upcycling are the new black!

Did I mention how much I love black? And how about you? Do you love black, too???

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY!

PS – did you get the answer to the skill testing question? If you said, Twitter, you’re right!

Photos by Sheila Zeller unless otherwise indicated.

July 31, 2012August 27, 2012

DIY: Zipping Up A Lamp Shade, Painting It With Colour!

I picked up a little glazed ceramic lamp base at the thrift store not too long ago, but had no idea what to do for a shade. Knew I wanted to DIY something, but not sure what.

And then I came across a tutorial by Courtney over at A Little Glass Box. A very cool idea that I hadn’t seen before.

First, I had to buy a cheapo shade, because I needed the frame to work with.

And I knew from my DIY skeleton lamp shade that finding a thrifted shade to fit a small lamp was harder than you’d think. So I didn’t take the time to try and thrift one, but popped into Wal-Mart instead.

Even though the shade looks a little top heavy, I knew it wouldn’t be once it was taken apart.

And that’s because the bottom ring was only attached to the fabric, not the actual frame. I was going for a drum shape, so losing the bottom ring was exactly what needed to happen.

Can you see a drum evolving from this frame?

No, not so much?

Next was cutting 1/4″ wire mesh to size for the new shade…

And attaching it to the frame with small plastic zip straps, to form the drum shape.

And now the fun begins. Have you guessed how this shade is being created yet?

Here’s a peak…

That’s right. Staggered layers of zip straps will be used to fill in the mesh and create the shade! Crazy, I know.

You actually want to attach straps in every mesh square of the bottom row, and the very top row. It’s all the rows in between that are staggered.

Check out the layer of white!

Looks kind of funky, don’t you think?

I really liked the layered colours of Courtney’s lamp in the tutorial, so I wanted to layer colours into my shade, too. But it meant spray painting zip straps!

So I figured out how many I would need in each colour, and counted them out. Yes, seriously, I did!

Did I mention, I bought a bag of 1000 small zip straps? And in total I used 575 of them, give or take a few!

I couldn’t figure out a fast and easy system to spray these puppies, so I just resorted to threading them – One. By. One. – 😐 onto fishing line, and then sprayed away, trying to cover both sides of the straps!

Tip:

Make sure you spray the straps ahead of time, because they definitely need to dry overnight, and the longer they dry, the better. Otherwise the paint will rub and flake off too much when you’re attaching the straps to the mesh.

Here’s the colour layering in action.

One thing to keep in mind is not to pull the straps too tight. The ones you see sticking out have deliberately been pulled tight to anchor the mesh to the frame, but they were only temporary until they could be replaced with the blue straps.

Are you feel’n it yet?

Here’s a look at the finished shade…

I know it looks a little ‘Dr. Seuss’, but hang on… you haven’t seen it turned on yet!

I used a small 60w clear bulb…

And was blown away by how different this little lamp looks when it’s on!

I love the shadows it casts…

And check out the reflection on the lamp base.

Doesn’t it remind you of a White Sea Anemone in an ocean of blue?

Here’s one more look back at the lamp and shade in its ‘Before’ state…

And the ‘After’ of the total shade makeover!

What do you think of my little Crazy for Colour project? Would you zip up 575+ straps to make one of these shades, too?

Today I’m joining in the party fun, and linking my project up here…

I want to thank these awesome ladies for being such great hosts!

Such a fun project! And so many more to do 🙂 Why not pop on over and check out all the other projects, too? Who knows, maybe you’ll be inspired to do up your own crazy colour project… or maybe it’s just a crazy project. Seriously, zip straps turned into a lamp shade? Who knew???

THANKS FOR STOPPING BY!

All Photos by Sheila Zeller

June 26, 2012July 18, 2015

Old 2×4 Reclaimed, Repurposed & Brought to Life

So I came across this weathered, rust stained scrap piece of 2×4, thoughtlessly discarded and left for… well, scrap.

See, it even comes complete with the dust and grime from where it was left to decay! But I saw beyond all this. To me there was a natural beauty here that was just being wasted away.

DIY inspired, I came to its rescue and cleaned up the 2×4, then gave it a quick coat of Annie Sloan’s Light Wax.

It’s hard to see the shine, but if you look back at the rescue photo, you can see a little more spit and polish here. Don’t you think it looks posh with black?

I was pretty proud of my rescued 2×4.

And then my brother popped over, and nearly laughed me right out of my own home! He was not on board (pun intended!) with my affection for this rusted, aged chunk of wood. He did not see it as a thing of beauty. Not. At. All!

So the challenge was on!

I went back and forth with ideas… like making a small shelf mounted on tiny corbels, or a base for a collection of bud vases, or cutting it down and creating book ends… and finally I decided on a tealight valet… sounds pretty uptown, right?

To do this all you need is a 1-1/2″ spade bit to make the holes.

This is the one we bought.

Looks kind of intimidating, especially with the ‘Dare Devil’ graphic. Evil almost!

I got my Mr. to do the heavy lifting on this part. Here he’s doing a test run on an actual scrap piece of 2×4… notice, it’s white?

Totally recommend that you try a few test holes first, because evil it nearly was.

This bit is bossy and tries to take over the show, grabbing and pulling where it wants to go!

Check out the chunks of wood it chews up! If you’re not careful, it will spin the drill right out of your hand!

But I have to say, Dare Devil does make a fairly clean hole.

I lightly sanded the inside and top edges of these holes to remove the rough wood the spade bit left behind.

And then gave each hole a clear coat of Varathane…

Just to give them a finishing touch… even though you won’t see them.

Looks pretty rough here, but do you see where I’m going?

This tea light candle holder is not a new idea, not an original of mine at all. In fact Pinterest has lots and lots of variations if you’re interested in a little inspiration for your own!

Once the Varathane was dry I did another coat of Annie Sloan Light Wax, and this one I actually applied a little heavier.

See how smooth and shiny it looks?

I wanted the rusty marks and the grain to really come alive, and the light from the candles to bounce off the surface…

From one end…

To the other.

I really like the way the rust marks stand out against the weathered wood.

Isn’t the grain pretty?

I originally planned to use tea lights set in clear cases instead of the metal ones. But, I discovered that the clear cases are slightly larger than the 1-1/2″ spade bit, and they’re a lot deeper than the metal cases. So if you’re planning to try this DIY, I thought you should know this before hand.

So what do you think? Is this an old scrap piece of wood to you, or do you see a thing of reclaimed beauty, too?

Thanks for stopping by!

Photographs by Sheila Zeller. Please link and credit if you choose to use!

May 10, 2012May 10, 2012

Cool Ways to Hang Up Your Art

Holy Hannah, where do the days go? You’ve seen a little less of me, but I’m still here! It’s just that Mr. Sun came out, so I took the opportunity to get outside and pull the thick, lush weeds that never stop growing !

Anyway, today’s post is all about très cool ways to showcase your artwork. Do you remember the shopping bag art I wrote about here?

Let’s start off with clothes hangers. Not a new idea, but just way too much fun to leave out of the mix.

Like this vintage mult-skirt hanger.

Source: Etsy (In With the Old Shop)

Just think of the collection of things you can display!

Or a grouping of pant hangers like these from Ikea.

Source: Style Files

Adds interest to a gallery wall, don’t you think?

I love this throw-back to the past that borrows a little Mid-Century Modern flair.

Source: More Ways to Waste Time Blog

And what could be more perfect than vintage pant hangers to feature each piece?

Vintage wooden skirt hangers would also work, too.

Source: SF Girl By Bay Blog

A little more whimsy and added cache for any space.

If hangers aren’t really your thing, you might like to try clipboards instead.

What a great way to add a little punch…

Source: Decor8 Blog

While keeping multi-project samples organized and in place.

If you’re into layered vignettes…

Source: Apartment Therapy

Clipboards are great, because they prop up well, and fit narrower ledges in a space.

And if you have a little Picaso or two…

Source: Second Hand Social

Why not multi-purpose a curtain rod with ring clips to hang these very special masterpieces?

Or you might like Ikea’s Dignitet System that you see here instead.

Source: Apartment Therapy

What a great way to create an interchangeable feature wall as the new pieces flood in!

Got any old bike rims hanging around? 😉

Source: My Tattered Angels

A quick coat of paint, and you’ve repurposed it into an artistic piece, all stylish and new!

If you’d rather leave the tire intact, you might like this idea instead.

Source: Montana Bride Blog

Clip your photos to the spokes with clothes pegs and you’re ready to roll!

If this look is for you…

Source: Second Hand Social

Why not double the impact, by displaying two!

Do any of these ideas catch your eye? Which one would you like to try?

I’ve been wanting to create a gallery wall for a while now, but just wasn’t sure which way to go. And then I found a few vintage Baribocraft pant hangers along with some other ones, too. And I knew, this was what I wanted to do! Now it’s a matter of sorting out which pieces I want to feature…

THANK YOU FOR STOPPING BY!

It’s about coming home… and home is a special place that tells your story!

If you would like a little help with your space contact me here.

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