Displaying Found Junk On A Patio Wall

You may remember in an earlier post the damage that was done to the roof of our garden shed when Dwight and I took down part of an aspen tree......well the weather has now improved so we decided to repair the damage that we caused.  We replaced a board and the roof shingles.  Fixing all of that meant that we needed to get to the inside walls of the shed, locating nails.  Needless to say, we found it necessary to empty the shed to get to those walls.

As we sorted through 30 years of stuff, I found some "junk" I had forgotten that I had.
It is all "family stuff" that I had hauled back from Oklahoma, knowing some day I would find a place for it.  Here is the saved stuff we uncovered in the shed.....


These are old cistern cups, used to bring water up out of a cistern or well. These were my Grandpa Ray's and had been used on the farm in Okla.

 

A rusty old saw blade and a gear.

                                     

These are a pair of rusty old hames, part of a harness which would have been used with horse drawn farm implements. These were Grandpa's too.

           

This is an old drawer front I found who knows where....... You can not see it but it has the letter "F" stamped on the front.
It will be great to hang BBQ stuff off of the handles, or not!!!

I hung all of this assorted "found junk" on the wall outside on the deck.  I already had the grapevine wreath hanging there, so I just incorporated it all for a unique display.

I bet I can truly say that no one else has a wall quite like ours!

           
I would love to add a pillow to the chair, but the squirrels have been known to destroy things on our deck.  I also need to re-stain the deck later when it gets a little warmer, but decorating this wall inspired me to look forward to spending time out here this summer. 

I want to try planting in the cistern cups, too......I think they would be great for succulent plants, like hens and chicks.  I have one more set of these that I'm saving for Karli.....she might want to do the same thing.  If nothing else, they are great conversation pieces!  Did you know what they were?

Happy Deck Time, Kandy

Exterior Trim Replacement and Paint Colors

While preparing to paint the exterior of our house, in addition to removing trees, we determined that most of the cedar trim was in total disrepair. Completely rotted and disintegrating. Awesome.

So we got a few estimates and the work to replace all the trim (including the four column posts on the front porch) begins tomorrow. I'm so excited. Almost as excited as I am for the day the painting will start.

We continue to apologize to neighbors as we see them. One was nice enough to say, "I like the new chairs you have on the front porch. Are you going to replace the shutters?" This makes me laugh a little bit. Thankfully it is almost over.

We decided on SW Pewter Tankard as the field color, SW Extra White as our trim color and we're purchasing black vinyl shutters from Home Depot (so we don't have to paint those). And the front door will likely be SW LeapFrog. You can see the original color dilemma post here.

We had a limey green front door at our old house (until the silly HOA decided they didn't like the color). I can't WAIT to have one again! Source



Sherwin Williams Pewter Tankard

And just to add to the fun, we're getting a new sidewalk on Saturday. I'll be sure to take before and after pictures.

Ahh, once that paint is done, I'll be so close to completing one of my New Year's Style Resolutions.

~Karli

Front Porch Bench from Headboard (Birthday Bench)

Karli actually started this project by finding an old wood headboard, just down the street from where she lives.  It was FREE.  But, before picking it up, she called me and asked whether we could use it.  The answer was, "of course, we can always make something out of it!" 

Well she decided she'd like a bench for her front porch, so Dwight and I hauled the headboard to our house and started to work.  Our plan for the bench consisted of reusing 4 spindle legs that had been Brent's, (they came off of a coffee table he longer wanted when they first got married.)  I had saved them.  Now we'll reuse them on this project and give them back.  Since Karli's birthday just happened, this bench will be the perfect gift.

Here is what we started with.....the FREE headboard and the 4 spindle legs.

                                     
We purchased 1 x 4 pine boards to build the framework and top of the bench seat.  We cut the boards to fit within the dimensions of the 54" headboard and also cut small corner pieces (with 45 degree angles on the ends) to join the frame to the legs.

You can see the angle pieces we cut. A bolt joins the framework to the legs.

The framework with all 4 legs attached.

The headboard then gets attached to the frame and braced.

         

Front view with headboard on.

                                  
We did not want screws showing on the top side of the seat where we attached the boards.  So, we cut square stock, attached them to the framework, then screwed the boards on from underneath.

This shows the underneath side.

Karli wants to add pillows.  Arms were needed on this bench to hold those pillows.  So, we had to get creative.  I drew out 4 different arm ideas.  Finally decided on this one...I cut them out.  Then when Dwight set them on for a trial run, he put them upside down!   We both decided that we liked them that way best.  (Go figure!!!)

Here is the arm creation...upside down.

The bench is ready for primer and paint.

I used Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch, Ultra Cover in Semi Gloss.  I really prefer spray painting, it goes so quickly and the bench will sit outside and I wanted it to be durable.

We nicknamed her BB (Birthday Bench)

Karli hasn't seen it yet since it is still at our place.

Happy Birthday Karli........with love from Mom and Dad.  We'll deliver it soon.  Until then, these pictures will have to do!

Kandy