Try This: Recycled goods gone chic
Stylish, functional, simple, environmentally friendly projects for your natural home and garden.
July/August 2005
By Natural Home Staff
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To get this antiqued leather effect for your walls, paste torn pieces of crumpled grocery bags onto primed wallboard with a mixture of Elmer’s glue and water.
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IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK, they’d tell you an eco-secret: Recycled paper bags collaged on a bare wall have a texture and look not unlike antique leather or stucco. The character they add to a hum-drum space is priceless—literally. This stunning wallpaper treatment will cost you nothing but a bit of patience and a little elbow grease.
Collage Wall Treatments
The walls shown here are unfinished. The nice thing about this technique is if you ever have a stain or tear, you can just go over it again with a quick patch. If you want to give the wall a layer of protection, a nontoxic clear finish or beeswax would be just the thing. Test it first on a small area to see if you like the effect.
Got your number
RECYCLE YOUR PHONEBOOK. Here’s a variation on the theme: Collage the Yellow Pages onto the walls and soften with a layer or two of tissue paper. It’s tactile and interesting, and it answers the age-old question of what to do with outdated phone books. The phone numbers show through just enough to give the wall a fun, graphic edge, and the muted yellows and grays are surprisingly sophisticated. Maybe this is just the thing to bring back the wall phone.
Totally stumped
LOG ON. Even venerable old trees can’t live forever. When a tree in your yard or neighborhood has to be removed, honor it by inviting it inside. Ask the tree cutter to slice off some thick slabs to make this strong, rustic, elemental side table. It doesn’t take much—a little sanding and maybe a dowel or two—to put together a piece of furniture with the kind of character that does grow on trees.
Downside up
TURN A BORING LAMPSHADE ON ITS HEAD. Find two old matching lampshades at a junk store and put them together end to end to make a lamp with a sophisticated geometric feel. You can use a variety of sizes and styles of shades; each imparts a slightly different character to the finished product. These shades work great as pendants, hanging in groups of one, two, or more. We made ours into a cluster of table lamps to add a cosmopolitan glow to a dark corner. As always, use compact flourescent bulbs for safety and efficiency.
Making the Lamps