Trash to Treasure: Brass Bench, Table Base and More Decorating Cents : Episode DCT-604 -- More Projects »
Robb Whittlef shares some great ideas for transforming discarded and secondhand items into wonderful decorative pieces for the home.
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Make a unique bench using an old brass headboard and footboard.
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Brass Bench
To create the unique bench, use an old brass headboard and footboard that feature wheels on the ends of the legs. The headboard serves as the back of the bench, while the footboard forms the front. Here, the decorative top portion of the foot board is missing from the piece, which makes it ideal for this project - the legs and the horizontal bar connecting them are all that's required to form the front support for the seat. (However, a footboard with its upper portion still intact can be easily cut down to a suitable height.) To form the bench seat, cut a piece of 3/4" plywood to size and covered it with foam and fabric, which is secured on the underside of the plywood with a staple gun. The finished seat is bolted to the horizontal bars of the headboard and footboard (back and front) with screws.
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A metal lamp base is given new life as a decorative table base.
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Lamp Turned Table Base
Upon finding a discarded metal lamp base, Whittlef wasted no time in giving it a new life as a decorative table base. Since the piece was severely tarnished, he first spray painted it black, then purchased an inexpensive wood round to serve as a tabletop . To secure the top to the base, he screwed a flat metal disk with hole in the center into the underside of the wood round. The hole in the hardware allowed the wood round to be fastened onto the protruding screw on the top of the lamp base. Then Whittlef covered the surface of the wood round with broken pieces of a mirror, using tile adhesive to attach them. Finally, he filled the spaces between the glass pieces with colored grout. (tile grout is available in a variety of colors that coordinate with almost any decor.)
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An old window frame becomes a distinctive bulletin board.
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Bulletin Board
Using an old window frame, corkboard, basic matting and a few small prints, Whittlef created a distinctive bulletin board / picture display. First, he removed the window 's remaining glass panes (several of the six were already missing), then painted the entire frame dark green. Next, he fitted three of the openings with corkboard, which he attached with hot glue. In the other three openings, he displayed the small prints , which were matted to fit the spaces then secured in place from the back. Whittlef explains that the prints (or photos) can be changed periodically.
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To create a charming model plane, cut an old baseball bat down to a little less than half its original length.
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Model Airplane
To create a charming model plane, cut an old baseball bat down to a little less than half its original length. Next, use the top portion of the bat to form the body of the plane and attach cut pieces of playing cards to the back end to form tail fins. Then cut the wings from an old piece of wall paneling, attach them to the body and paint the entire plane bright red. Finally, add a small, flat faucet fixture to the nose of the plane as its propeller, and cut two equal lengths of a wire hanger to form the connectors for the small wood wheels (paint black). Fasten connectors to the underside of the plane, then fit it with wheels to complete the project.
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