Salvation: How to Decorate with Found Objects
(Page 3 of 4)
July/August 2001
By Kelly Smith
- Find an object that you like.
- Clean it with soap and water, but don’t completely refinish or repaint it. Seal it with a plant-based sealer.
- Walk around your house, holding the object out in front of you in different places until it looks good. Everybody has a built-in sense of harmony or good taste, which are really the same things. Walk around with an object until you can say, “That’s cool...that’s where this belongs.” If it looks good, it’s in harmony, even if you don’t have knowledge of elements and principles and how they work together. Trust yourself.
- Maybe you want to use a funky old headlight as a light fixture. You can put a battery in it and use it that way. You can cut a hole in the wall and wire electricity to it. If you put it in the wall, make it look as if it fits there. If it’s an odd shape, make it fit perfectly, using caulk to finish it.
- Say you find an old metal bucket. It can be sealed to make it look hospitable, and then you can turn it into a wastebasket. Or turn it upside down, hang a light bulb in it, and make it a hanging lamp.
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Likely Sources for Used Building Materials
Your basement. Your aunt’s basement. Your uncle’s workshop. Your neighbor’s shed. Let people know what you are interested in, and you’ll be surprised what will appear out of the dark corners of storage areas.
Flea markets and yard sales. This is stuff from the basements of people whom you don’t know well enough to approach directly. You will need to be prepared to accept an item and trust that you can use it. Carry a list of necessary dimensions and a tape measure with you at all times. Rarely will you have the opportunity to return an item if it doesn’t fit.
Used building material stores or salvage yards. Many people are making a business out of selling recovered material. Used building material stores are becoming the Home Depot of the salvage world, and they’re full of endless possibilities. Be prepared to pay sales tax, and be sure to inquire about refund policies. Many of these stores have websites on which you can view digital images and order items without ever having to leave your home. (But this isn’t nearly as much fun as combing through all the things in the store!)