Category Archives: thrifting

junkyard dogs – art from trash

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Every year the City of Hobart Council has an exhibition called Art From Trash. Its one of my favourite events of the year. This year I entered my Junkyard Dogs – partly inspired by the little dog I made during my art course last year. Remember Hair of the Dog? 
Well, here he is again, with one of his new mates:

Let me introduce you to them properly.
First there was Tiny Terrier, the first art from trash dog. He’s made of a wire frame and felted dog hair… plus some dryer lint and possum fur I found in the woodshed.
Then there’s Wire Terrier:

He’s made of electrical, phone and computer cables. See, while cleaning up the house a while ago I found all these cables which belonged to printers, phones, computers and stereos I haven’t had in years. A whole box of them. I actually put them on the porch to take to the rubbish. Then I had second thoughts. I could make something from them!
So I made another dog. He’s made of a cardboard frame with all kinds of cables and a few legos.

Then there’s Toy Terrier.

He’s made of toys and a bit of wire on a cardboard frame. A whole lot of small toys and toy parts a friend collected from her daughter’s bedroom floor. She was going to throw them away but of course, I could do something with them!

Lastly there’s Bubble and Squeak (the name kinda says it all). He’s a mix and match of all the materials I used on the other three dogs. Befitting a junkyard dog.
He’s made of a wire frame, a hollow bowl shape which holds all kinds of thing… toys, a broken mobile phone, chargers, old ink cartridges, electric plugs. His tail is made of cables and an old metal spring. His legs are all hollow wire frames, but front legs end in felted dog hair paws. His head is full of felted poodle hair and dryer lint, which flows down to cover half his back.
These guys will be in the Long Gallery in the Salamanca Art Centre till June 4th. I already know Tiny Terrier won’t be coming home and I must admit I felt a bit sad saying goodbye to him. I believe Toy Terrier is also going to a new home. 
Seriously, I don’t have space to keep everything I create, but sometimes its hard to say goodbye!
z

roadside salvage drawer to phone station

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One of the problems in our kitchen is that the telephone jack and a power point (where we plug in the phone and one phone charger) were kind of ‘in your face’ in that they were to the right of the ‘servery’ into the living room, but not lined up vertically or horizontally. Hard to hide in other words.

Here’s a photo of the ‘pre’ kitchen and you can see how I dealt with it before. An old drawer, with a hole cut out to expose the phone jack, held the phone, a framed print of a rabbit (cause why not?) and some of my 50’s collectibles.

Of course the powerpoint was lower and to the left, so that remained exposed along with the accompanying ugly cords.

When we were doing the kitchen and Handyman was lining walls with pine, I asked him to move the power point and phone jack so that they were closer and neater.

I wanted to create a ‘charging station’. A place to keep and charge our mobile phones and landline. And hide the mess of cords and plugs.

I have a ton of stuff in my workshop and the shed, including a stack of drawers I picked up off the roadside one day. I evaluated them and thought one of the drawers would be perfect. It had an unusual shape – it was long, one section had 4 holes, and a dip in the sides. No idea what a drawer like that would be for.

Here it is after a coat of milk paint.

I took off the handle on top, filled the holes. then did a few coats Lichen milk paint to stop the paint flaking off too much in some spots.

I had to somehow hide the holes in the back… We buy our timber from a local guy who mills his own wood and cuts his own boards. Last time I was at his place I picked up a few of the trimmings he’d cut off the ends of his boards when dressing them. They were the same width but irregular thicknesses so I sorted through and picked the bits which were more of less closest in thickness.

I cut them to size, sanded the weathered layer off and glued them to the back of the drawer.

I really need to go back and get more of them. They’re great!

This was the plan: the top shelf would hold the landline phone station. The bottom section would have a shelf added up the top to hold our mobiles. Below would be a door to hide the power points, cables and chargers.

I made the shelf out of an offcut of pine since I planned to paint it and it didn’t have to match. I put a ‘lip’ on the shelf in tassie oak, matching it to lining and so mobiles won’t fall off. I drilled 3 holes in the bottom shelf (one for the landline cables, one for each of our mobiles) and one hole in the original shelf for the landline cables.

Now I needed a powerboard, giving us enough power points for 2 mobiles and a cordless phone.

Since the idea was to hide the mess behind a door, I cut a hole in the drawer… badly. Necessitating the addition of trim to neaten it up. eh. That part will be hidden most of the time. 

The worse problem was that when it was finished, I screwed it to wal, plugged everything in, then discovered that the mobile chargers were too fat for the door to close properly!

Sigh…

I had to cut out the entire bottom back of the drawer to give them a bit more room.

Goodbye trim.

I’m such a professional!

Anyway… next came the exciting part. The door.

A barn door with Zs at the back.

I always wanted to make a door with Zs at the back.

I bought the smallest T hinges I could find and a silver handle I kinda liked. But I didn’t want them looking new, so I painted them. Tons. So they’d look like they’d been used for years on many different cabinets.

I also got a magnetic catch as a closer since I planned to swing the door downwards, like an oven door.

Here’s what it looked like when it was finished.

And here it is in the kitchen, ugly cords hidden, Mickey, Mini, Wilma and Barney back in their spots. Plus a rusty wire flower Wayne made me.

Here are some details…

(Btw, I used bread bag clips to keep the charger cables from falling down behind the door.)

Lastly, inside I decided to try one of the cord organising tips from Pinterest… I got a hand paper towel roll, decorated it and discovered the plug wouldn’t go through the middle. I had to slice it open to slot the cord into it, hence the jute string holding it together.

The only things I had to buy were the hinges and power board. Overall its a success I think!

z

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at last…. kitchen reveal part 1

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Welcome to my new kitchen.

Its finally finished and usable. I cooked dinner yesterday for the first time in 6 months… amazing!

So how about a quick tour?

First, the new, improved, bigger window centered in the middle of the wall. With the sink below it. I can now see out of the kitchen without cricking my neck and banging my head on cupboard corners.

I ended up going with an outdoor blind for the window covering, mainly cause I couldn’t make up my mind with so many choices, and cause I just liked the grey and white stripes.

I will be putting shelves up to hold everyday items and display items and cause I just love open shelves. Till then, I’ve put the kettle and hot drink stuff in one of my old made over wooden trays to stop them from spreading all over the benchtop.

This close up also shows the tassie oak benchtop we had made especially.

I love it!! I spent a couple of days sanding and varnishing it to get it just perfect and it was worth it.

The opposite wall from the window has had the pantry cupboard removed and now holds one of my antique kitchen dressers. This one had to have some minor work done to it as it was sagging in the middle (had to put a support in the middle under the top and add a couple of legs in the middle underneath).

A 60s step stool just fits in that corner and comes in handy for reaching things in the pantry and the colour just happens to work well with the colour I chose to paint the doors.

Some old tins act as display and storage for small stuff.

The door to the right leads to the entry area where the fridge, microwave and pantry live. The door on the left leads to the hallway and the rest of the house. These doors are almost always open, but I wanted to bring a bit of colour into the room.

The kitchen is all white – Dulux Antique White USA on the woodwork and on the cabinets. Dulux China White 3/4 strength on the walls… a slightly creamier white. The minty green I used on the doors is a colour I mixed up myself and had the guys at the paint store match for me.

I had mentioned experimenting with milk paint (the jury is still out on that) and my favourite colour in that was one called Lichen. My minty green is very similar to that but a bit greener. I wanted to match that antique green you see so often on old things.

I’m actually very pleased with the colour. First I tried the caramel colour I got a sample of thinking I’d match the stove but in a darker tone.

Yuck.

That failed.

Which is when I went to green. I love it. The result is a kitchen thats fresh and clean looking.

As a backsplash for the stove I got an old glass door from the tip shop and mounted it to the wall with clips. That was my economical contribution to the kitchen. Backsplash – $5. Clips – $14.95.

Ok. Ok. You have to excuse the un-colour-coordinated towel. I was in such a hurry to get things in working order! Why not notice the good stuff, like the old billy (which id used to make tea over an open fire) holds my wooden spoons…
and an old galvanised box holds oils and vinegar close to hand. With felt bits underneath so it doesn’t scratch the bench.
Actually, these were meant to live in my planned mobile kitchen cart but I don’t think I have room for it.
On the right of the kitchen is this big window into the living room… a handy thing really, as you’re not disconnected from the rest of the house when you’re cooking, you can watch tv and it allows heat from the woodheater to circulate through to the kitchen.
The ledge comes in handy to display bowls which also hold fruit. Now if we can stop ourselves from piling crap up there we’ll be right!

To the right of the ‘window’ are the phone jack and a power point. I’ve always had a drawer as shelf thing there to hold the phone but this time I went all out and made a proper cabinet out of an old drawer for our phones. I’ll be sharing this in another post later on. Stay tuned.

I have since placed a greek rag rug given to me by an aunt in Greece in front of the sink to add some warmth. Coincidentally it has some of the bluey green in it! (Your mom Mina, tell her I love it!)

My old mixer and blender are back in their spot on the tiny shelf between the doors and my old clock is back on the wall. This was an electric clock I bought on ebay many years ago and which came from Tasmania. Its back again, now battery operated!

So there you have it.
I really need some sleep. I’ve been working 14 hour days lately just to get the house back in order, back to being clean and tidy.
Later!
z

i made a door – and kitchen update

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I’ve always wanted to make a door…

I finally made one.

Isn’t it beautiful?

Ok… so its only 11in high.

Its still a beautiful door!

Its part of something I’ve been working on for the new kitchen… Hopefully it’ll be ready to share soon.

Meanwhile… the kitchen progresses.

Today the cornices were all finished. Some of the corner trims went up. The hole for the sink was cut. The bench edges were rounded. The bench was glued together.

Tomorrow Handyman says he’ll finish.

I really really really hope so.

Cause even after he finishes the kitchen won’t be ready to use.

I figure it’ll be next weekend before we can actually use the kitchen.

What with getting home late Mon-Wed, I won’t have time to get much done till Thursday. Not that I won’t plan to.

I always have the best intentions. I plan to get my entire To Do list done in 2 days. I plan to.

I never actually do.

Things always take longer than I plan they will and I’m tireder than I plan to be.

What is it about plans, mice and men…?

Well, either way, its getting closer… I can almost taste my own home cooking… I really miss pasta. And home made soup!

Soon!

z

kitchen decisions

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I’ve been thinking about new kitchen chairs.

And dishes.

And light fittings.

But the chairs pushed themselves to the top of the list when Wayne broke the leg on one of my old kitchen chairs last week.

I always suspected the day would come when I’d need to rethink the rickety, pretty but badly restored chairs I have in the kitchen. I love my mismatched timber tip shop chairs, but truth is there’s only so much strengthening I can do with my limited expertise.

(ie no expertise…)

So, I started looking for new chairs for the new kitchen and found this website:

http://retrojan.com.au/

I love it! I love everything they have. Not that its all right for this house… I would have loved all their furniture in my house in Melbourne which was a 1950’s house both in architecture and my decor.

Anyway, this is the style of chair I thought I’d love in the kitchen. They’ve been all over the  various TV renovation shows and magazines lately. I love the mix of industrial and vintage in a country style kitchen. Plus I think they’d be strong…

I was able to test these ones out at Freedom locally and they’re really nice. Though Wayne is right… they may be too cold!

I like the school-like simplicity of these chairs from Retro Jan. Not as trendy but really cute.

However I’ve decided that Wayne is right. Timber chairs would be better, not to mention warmer!
Finding timber chairs sold separately, that didn’t cost squillions of $$$ is another matter. I managed to find these which should be available locally. I’ll go look at them soon and see.
I think I like the first one best, the last is too chunky. 

Not sure I want them ‘natural’ either but I won’t make any decisions till the kitchen is finished.

I think I need to see it finished and live in it a while before I make final decisions or purchase anything new. Right now I don’t even know how my table will fit in the kitchen with the new layout.

So, where are we on this whole kitchen thing?

Well… this last week has seen the pine panelling on the walls finished. Except for the corner trims… the gaps filled, and the painting.

I’ve undercoated the kitchen door, the window moulding and the trims for the bench and corners.

Handyman has put up the rangehood but not put in the vent cause… of course… we’ve hit a snag. A roof support snag.

Right in the way of the vent.

Naturally.

So we need a bit of flexi pipe or a rigid 90 degree bend to finish it.

Wayne is now asking when, realistically, we can expect the kitchen to be finished.

I want to know too.

Well, Handyman says he will probably be able to put the benchtop in next weekend.

Probably.

I won’t hold my breath. At this stage having no kitchen feels almost normal.

Its been so long!

z

fry basket pendant light

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Its about time I shared the other pendant light I told you about. I really did mean to post this sooner but you know what plans are like.

So… this is the newly enclosed end of the porch with its  plain little light and unfinished walls. Pretty boring.

This is what it looks like now. Still unfinished but so much more interesting.

First I got the biggest of the fry baskets I had waiting to be made into something. Its a great size for a nice big pendant light. Using my trusty grinder I cut off the handle. I then cut out a section on the bottom to fit the light through. These light extension things are ready to use ones I bought from a hardware store years ago and had in the shed. This one is longer than the one I used on the entry light.

Next I moved the position of the light fitting. I was really limited in that cause I could only move it as far as the wire would allow me. Then I could only hang the light fitting as far towards the centre of the space as the cord on the light extension would allow me.

I then had to find a way to actually hang the light in that spot. I was going to use a hook but I couldn’t find one that suited the job. Do you remember the clamp things I found at the garage sale a few weeks ago? I used one of them to hold the light cord in place.

I love the way that looks. The rust in the basket gives the light an almost golden glow and I love the patterns it throws on the walls when the light is on.

Now, if I get around to buying cloth cord and the bits to make my own pendant light extension cords, I can make the cord longer and hang the light in the middle of the space. I will be doing that sooner or later so I can make the lights for the kitchen.

For now it’ll do.

z

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steamer pendant light

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I’ve been swamped by things that need doing lately. So much so that creativity seems to have been left far, far behind.
This morning I opened up the door to the silver shed (where we keep mowing stuff, chicken feed in a large plastic bin, and where I store projects that have been finished to take to markets and projects waiting to be started…) and I was assailed by the putrid smell of mouse pee.
I had seen evidence of mice in there, what do you expect when you store grain, even in a bin with a lid? But today the smell was really strong. Sigh.
I have to start working on projects again soon, before the mice eat everything!
Anyway, I had promised I’d share the two pendant lights I’d made a couple of weeks ago when the creative urge got too strong to suppress.
This is the first one. I’ve hung this in the back entry/pantry. Actually its the only way anyone uses to enter the house. It is rather wierd, to enter through a pantry, but hey, in country homes no one ever uses the front door.
Especially if it means walking all the way around the house to access it.
I have friends who never even knew we had a front door!
But I digress. This light is made from a tip shop steamer and one of those ready to use light extension cords you can get at the hardware store. I had two of them and when I found them in the casita I thought “what the heck” and put them to use.

Since the holes are only at the bottom of the steamer there are no pretty patterns on the wall around this light. It directs light downwards. Its not ideal for the pantry area, but it’ll do for now. It would be better over a table or a desk.

Obviously we use those low energy light globes everywhere.

I hate them.

They take ages to warm up to full strength and they’re ugly. But what can you do? You can get other styles in low energy globes now so when it comes time to replace them I’ll be looking for prettier alternatives.

Very rustic, huh?

The other light is prettier. Stay tuned.

z

a quick shot of power tools

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I mentioned that the other day I got distracted from pulling nails out of the kitchen floor by the fact that I could finally reach my power tools.

Hello circular saw! Hey there jigsaw! Nice to see you again grinder! I sure have missed you guys!

So, while I was there admiring them, patting them, etc, I remembered that I’d promised Wayne I’d put a lid on the box he stores chaff in for the horses. Its a raised garden bed box made of pallet wood that we got (in pieces) from the Men’s Shed in New Norfolk. That’s a community based place where men can go and bond over power tools, as well as learn new skills.

Anyway, Wayne had put this together, lining it better so it would hold the chaff, but he’d never put a lid on it. Up till recently we’d been using pieces of leftover flooring as a lid and moving them out of the way to reach in.

I’d been hit on the head by a falling ‘lid’ a few times…

It was time for a proper lid.

I’d gotten some pieces of laminate flooring from a friend and one piece was almost the right size. Using that and a piece of old timber I’d found, I created a proper lid. I attached the bit of timber to the end to give the lid something to hinge off, then trimmed the lid to the right size.

Since the flooring is that click together stuff, I had to reinforce it with bits of pine that came out of the kitchen. I glued and screwed those into the back to give the lid strength.

Then I used some gorgeous big old hinges I’d picked up from a tip shop. (I tell you, my tip shop finds always come in handy!).

The flooring and the timber slat were different thicknesses, so to make the hinges fit properly I had to pack it up a bit. For this I used some of the masonite we’ve been pulling off the kitchen floor.

Waste not, want not!

Lastly, I found an old handle among my collection of junk, and voila! A working lid. Not perfectly finished, but hay (pun intended!), the horses don’t mind.

No more head bashing cause now when you open it, the piece of timber on the end allows the lid to sit back against the wall with the right lean so it won’t slam back down.

z

look what i found

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I got a great email the other day from Laure,l from The North End Loft, telling me she had featured my tin crown in her Friday Finds post. Thank you Laurel!

http://www.thenorthendloft.com/2014/02/friday-finds.html

It got me thinking. Lots of bloggers do ‘finds’ type of posts once a week and its a great way to share things with your friends and followers. Maybe I should do it…

Then again I’m a ‘fair weather’ blogger. Sometimes I post a lot, other times I disappear for weeks and my friends have been known to phone E.T. to intercede on my behalf in case if I’ve been abducted.

Its all very well to have time to do everything I try to cram into my day, then I have to find time to blog. And most of the time I’m just too tired at the end of the day to answer emails, let alone be creative and blog.

I think I will join the ‘finds’ club, but make it a random thing… you know, more like a surprise than a reliable weekly thing.

So, in the spirit of sharing interesting things I’ve seen, been inspired by or found… here is the best idea for displaying art. I found it while browsing The North End Loft. Laurel made up boards with pegs and clips up different art according to the room and the mood. Isn’t it brilliant?

I think I’m going to make some of these for myself. There is only so much wall space in this house and there is just so much I’d like to display. Changeable displays are a wonderful idea.
Here are some great finds from a garage sale up the road a week ago. I love this old fashioned bike light…  it’ll make a great something one day. And those clamps. I have ideas for those already, but you’ll see how one has already come in handy in an upcoming post. 

I also found these two old scales to add to my collection. (Anything over 3 is a collection and I now have 4 of the hanging type and 5 of the table type scales). This first is wonderfully chippy with that lovely old fashioned green on the back.

The other has a lovely patina of rust and green. They’re both hanging on the side of the house for the time being, replacing the plants I had in hanging baskets.

Most of the plants I had in pots have gone into the ground now. The garden is looking wonderful. Most of the plants I put in have grown and the place is starting to look like someone loves it. If I continue in this vein my garden will soon look like a little old lady lives here.

– You know. The older the you get the more into gardening you are… the best cottage gardens usually belong to little old ladies who’ve been gardening for 30 years.

z

a bigger bathroom – work in progress

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As you know, things snowball around here.

First it was a broken oven, suddenly it was a kitchen remodel and a bathroom disruption.

I can’t actually call it a bathroom remodel as Wayne put his foot down. He was ok with moving the hot water cylinder. He was ok with removing the bathtub to get to the pipes and cause we never use it and it really needed to be gone.

He was not ok with me adding to the work (and cost) by redoing the bathroom “while we’re at it”.

In fact, he actually said “Once the bathtub is removed thats it. We live with the bathroom as it is.”

That doesn’t scare me. For one thing, just having the tub out makes a huge difference, and I love the shelves I put in. There’s tons I can do to make room more user-friendly and less gag-worthy.

And in a year… who knows…?

To recap… This is what the bathroom looked like before we removed the bathtub. A tiny square room with lamipanelled walls. Ick. You had to walk in between the shower and wall, then almost turn sideways to get past the corner of the shower and the vanity. Once in, you had a narrow space between the shower, bath and vanity in which to do your thing.

Once the bathtub was removed, we suddenly had space! The entry was still cramped, but then it opened up into a much bigger room than before. With the shelves on the wall for storage and an empty wall opposite I can move the towel rails and hangers from the left and right of the doorway, giving you a sense of more space.

Removing the bathtub left a huge hole in the wall where the laminpanel was broken to get to the pipes. Easy fixed. I got a piece of masonite from the casita (see? keeping things comes in handy), cut it to size and screwed it onto the wall. I then got out one of my many mixed up paint colours and found one that almost totally matches the colour of the walls.

I then looked around the house for a piece of furniture I could put in the space for storage and added bench space. I found an old wire drawer unit I’ve had for yonks. Its hand many roles over the years – bedside table when I was a student, linen storage, dog towel storage. For the last couple of years its been unsused space in the laundry.

A good wash and a top was all it needed to bring it into the bathroom. I had some laminate flooring pieces I got off a friend. I cut one to size and voila – new top!
Laminate flooring clicks together so I had to reinforce by screwing a couple of pieces of wood underneath. I love the extra space it gives me now.
And while we’re at it, I might add a small note on the toothbrush holder. Remember the toothbrush holder I was so happy with? 
Well, turns out test tubes are the worst thing you can use to hold toothbrushes. Water dripping off the ends gathers in the bottom and become stagnant and the stench is unbelievable.
I had to replace them with large gauge syringes. They still get gunky at the bottom and need cleaning now and then, but they let the water out and don’t stink!

I should be posting that in my failed projects!

z