It all started out as a desire for some space to grow fruits and vegetables on our back deck at home where we rent. After installing a small privacy wall with some treated wood from a local hardware store, along with one piece of lattice (total cost of materials was $50), I felt it needed something to compliment it. Sure enough, we had an old picnic table that was falling apart and taking up too much space. I decided the table had to go, much to my fiancée Jen’s chagrin. After dismantling the table, it only seemed appropriate to salvage any wood that I could. Very little was reusable, as rot had run its course. However, I was able to save a few pieces to make a nice flower planter for my vines to climb up the lattice and fill out the privacy wall.
Soon after, I decided some sort of shelf was needed for the outdoor fruits and vegetables we wanted to grow in pots on the back deck. A simple search on Pintrest led me to this cute shelf. I decided to copy the general idea and make it from whatever I could find in my garage. It became a challenge of sorts. I wanted to clear the garage of so called ‘junk’ but not waste it. So what better way to do so, by creating useful items out of your ‘junk’. As it turned out, I had everything I needed to make the shelf.
I used one 2×4 and ripped it down on my table saw to equal widths. Then, I made one equal piece from old scrap wood, both of which I had stored in the garage. Next, I used bed slots I had saved because the wood was so nice. I simply nailed the four strips of wood together, then reinforced with wood from the bed slots. Followed by adding the bottom platform, screwing each piece in. Then, cutting smaller pieces for the next stage and so forth. Later, I decided I loved it so much I painted it white to help preserve it.
I found these nice old dresser drawers in the garage and decided they could be cute planters. First, I cut treated wood (recycled from fallen fence) and lined the inside to strengthen the drawers. Followed by drilling holes then attaching 6 mil plastic wrap with staples. After, I covered it with burlap to make it look more appealing. Later, I moved them to the back window, and made a climbing vine wall to reduce the heat intake from the sun. Additionally, I found the window very ugly and wanted to bring more nature into the space. As you can see now, the vine has grown tremendously in one summer. I have started to train parts of it to surround the back deck, giving it a much nicer atmosphere!
Imagine how excited I got when I discovered more rolls of bed slots in my garage. I had recently removed the ugly antenna that was not in use and replaced it with a bird feeder I had bought and painted, while adding some original features. Our roof seems to leak right where I had installed the bird house. Thus, I decided to make this birdhouse cover, making sure to clear coat it to help preserve the wood.
All in all, this cost me next to nothing but time and effort. Meanwhile, I cleared out my garage and made unique crafts from each item. This is a small example of how you can turn your trash into small treasures. Please take the time to check out my new website at https://reclaimedtreasuresca.wordpress.com/, reclaimedtreasuresto on Instagram, John Aaron LeHeup on Linkden, and https://lnkd.in/gcyRUej on Facebook.
reclaimedtreasures.ca 