Recycled Candle Centre Pieces, Coat Hooks and Book Ends

Now here are a few original recycling ideas by artisan designer Terina Smith.

These pieces have been rescued from landfill or farmers paddocks then cleaned, polished and given a new lease of life. 

I love these coat hooks made from recycled locks 

These candle centre pieces, book ends and coat & hat racks have been created from 100 year old electricity cross beams and old insulators found in the Scenic Rim region. 

Recycled candle centre pieces

Recycled coat & hat racks

Recycled bookends.
All images courtesy of Terina Smith

Can you imagine that these pieces would have been passed by bullock trains and horse & cart, seen the advent of motor vehicles and dirt tracks turn into bitumen roads and been around to see the telegraph replaced by telephones and now optical fibre cabling. 

What an amazing piece of history in a recycled object. 

If anyone would like to buy these feel free to drop me an email here.

Have fun.

Why I blog and decor8 Blogging Your Way

When I started my blog a couple of years ago I was scared of writing, hopeless with spelling and feeling a little bit shy but with limited online knowledge and the support of a dear friend Michelle from Paper Tree Designs, I wrote my first post. The years have flown by and until recently I had not stopped to ask myself why I blog until I started Holly Becker'sgging Your Way e-course.

It's been an amazing course and I will be honest and say that it's been hard for me to find the time around my work and other commitments but I am so glad I kept going. I may have missed the odd homework assignment, sorry Holly, but wow what an interesting course. 

It has made me step outside of my comfort zone, given me loads of advice and made me rethink and change a few key things in my life and my blog. It has also taught me the importance to be yourself, live your dreams and passions and blog from the heart.

So, back to the big question.....why do I blog?

I am a greeny at heart but also an Interior Designer which can be seen as polar opposites. I love great design but also feel it is important to raise awareness that there are sustainable alternatives to the mass produced furniture, kitchens and bathrooms we see all too often in our high street stores.

In the past my blog has concentrated on my client's projects and great design ideas that I have wanted to share. However, I also have my own home and it's ever increasing "to do list" of ideas to reduce its running costs whilst still having a beautiful home and until now I have never shared these more personal aspirations on my blog. 


Due to the cost of buying a new home (one that we would inevitably redesign) and the challenge of finding a home that has strong passive design principles (a rare breed of house) we are thinking about raising and extending our humble postwar home in Brisbane. My husband is a project manager in the building industry and given a design or some drawings, he can get things built very quickly. One would think we would be the perfect couple to renovate, decorate and own the perfect  home but like most people it all comes down to money and time. Maybe now is the time to step up and do it ourselves?

So thanks to Holly's course I am adding a new dimension to my blog and looking forward to sharing with you our future home, all our sustainable initiatives and our design decisions that we make along the way. 

Hopefully in the few years our journey will inspire others to avoid the mass produced and resource intensive and seek alternative solutions and products for a more sustainable but still beautiful home.

So, a huge thanks to Holly and her team at BWY for change is on the way in my life, my home and on my blog...

Have a great week.

Lisa

Recycled Timber Wallpaper

I was looking for some recycled timber wall images when I stumbled across these by designer Piet Hein Eek.

all images via designer Piet Hein Eek

No kidding, these are actually wallpapers!  Having worked with recycled timber quite a bit it I understand how hard it is to achieve this look and still have a smooth practical wall. This is a fantastic option to achieve this look in a wallpaper!

If you are still after the recycled look but with a smooth practical surface another option is to strip the timber and apply a new surface.


I used recycled timber for a feature wall in a store named Three Little Girls &  A Boy Named Ted (link to the story and photos of the project). I have also added a couple of before and afters below.


The recycled timber was sourced from an old Queenslander style house in Brisbane. In its original form it had a lovely look to it but in this case it was a bit too damaged and gnarled to have delicate clothes hung next to the surface. So instead of keeping the raw look, the timber was then striped clean, painted with a natural paint and finished with a wax top coat. 

The early stages: From recycled timber complete with nails and weathered surface to new feature finish after being painted and waxed.

The final look kept the quality and age of the recycled timber but with a beautiful texture and smooth feel to it.

If this look's like too much work you can purchase the wallpapers in Australia from Safari Living.

Have fun.