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Old Tools Come in Handy as Decor
Repurpose vintage wrenches, wooden pitchforks and even toolboxes as conversation-starting pieces for your home
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
Houzz Contributor. Hi There! I currently live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta... More »
The other day I knocked over an old tool, an antique wooden rake that I have propped up in my kitchen, for the umpteenth time. Briefly I considered chucking it into the storage area. When it came down to it, though, I couldn't. It's such an interesting piece, recalling the quiet times before the leaf blower was invented. Other homeowners and designers on Houzz share my love of using tools as decor, whether they're farm implements, vintage garden tools, gears or even antique toolboxes. Here's a peek at nine ways to give old tools a new life around the home.
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1. Use them as sculptural found art. In this farmhouse renovation, a farm implement becomes a sculpture. Beyond it, the owner's sailboat mast from childhood serves as the railing, and an antique snowshoe rounds out the found object vignette.
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2. Find tools used in new forms. This darling chair makes you do a double take; look closer and you'll realize its back is a pitchfork and its legs are ax handles. It also comes in a stool version.
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by Louise Lakier
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| 3. Create artistic handles. At the creative home of two Seattle artists, old tools and gears form the gate hardware. |
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These door handles are not only great for a nursery or garden shop, but could also work well on a potting shed, barn or other outbuilding.
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4. Find artful ways to display tools you use on a regular basis. In blogger Brooklyn Limestone's office, crafts are celebrated with a functional, nicely framed pegboard for tools, paired with an oversize set of shears.
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by Rikki Snyder
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| This workshop takes its tool hanging to a new level: The wall looks as if Marcel Duchamp composed it. |
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| 5. Add country charm to a room. In this gardener's kitchen, antique tools bring a touch of rustic style to this polished white kitchen. |
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6. Enhance the look of age. Hang one large antique tool with a lot of space around it. In this patina-style room, the antique pitchfork stands out against the ivory walls, and the wood plays off the aged wood on the armoire.
by French Larkspur
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7. Use a vintage toolbox as a portable display piece. Toolboxes have a charm all of their own, and you can use them as in-boxes, garden trugs, craft supply corrals, planters and more.
by Kasey Buick
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These toolboxes look great in rooms with a vintage-modern-style like this one.
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8. Use garden tools as outdoor decor. Some may be purely decorative; others you can pull down and use while gardening.
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9. Use your imagination. I shared this favorite garden gate from the Atlanta Botanical Gardens a few weeks ago, and it inspired this ideabook.
More:
Decorating on a Budget: 10 Repurposing Ideas
11 Ways to Repurpose Shutters
Vintage Modern Featuring Heirlooms and Found Objects
More:
Decorating on a Budget: 10 Repurposing Ideas
11 Ways to Repurpose Shutters
Vintage Modern Featuring Heirlooms and Found Objects
Ideabook published on April 8, 2012.
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The chair was a great idea!!!
As we are all about trying to re-use salvaged materials, we'll take the liberty and share some of our pieces! :-)
http://www.rotsenfurniture.com