junk

we have so much GREAT JUNK for projects , from lace and buttons and old hankies to buckets barn junk old windows and doors and even shutters and spindles.... plus a big selection of ceiling tin right now....jon got 2 more big piles this week.

WE LOVE HEARING ABOUT WHAT YOU MAKE ..

projects

this is one of my favorite projects..
.a simple old door, painted blue, a little roof and legs..
.then we pounded a nail in and hung a mirror....
IT WOULD BE SO NICE IN A LITTTLE COTTAGE...

this is probably our most popular design... ...our porchpost cupboards.... made with 100 yr old porchposts.... we have sold lots of them!!! thankfully...lots are in other stores for display....they are big and useful....and a great focal point in lots of houses....

we do lots of counters or whatever!!! maybe this one will be a bar... or maybe a mission style island
this one is made with an old door and newel posts on the ends...very manly!!! .

we always have lots of decorative tin for sale...old and new....the new comes in 2 ft squares...the old is from old ceilings.... i love using it in projects....especially our counter/bar/island/cashwraps/tvstands.... whatever you call these big guys...they look pretty cool with tin for fronts...sometimes we put the tin in to doors ...this one has old tin in the front and an open back...the new tin is a lot easier to work with than the old....but the old has more depth and contrast....

we get these matching bookcases quite often.

.circa 1910......they start in the depths of Chicago, from old houses being demolished...they were on both sides of a colonnade, the dividing part between 2 rooms....they might have had columns on top reaching up to the ceiling...they are usually pretty rough when we get them...since they were built ins usually a side is gone...

so they start in Chicago, we get the from a picker who goes up there and then they go to our Amish carpenters for total rehabbing and come back to us like this...they were built ins so usually a side has to be replaced...
i think its pretty cool...they have been on the dan ryan, thats a Chicago huge multi lane road, and in a place that still goes by horse and buggy and no electricity..... ...Jon has to pickup and deliver....the Amish do have power tools...but not electric....??? gas i think...

weve done this one a couple of times.... its a buffet and an old headboard....
both parts are from depression era furniture..

finding old headboards is pretty easy....since hardly anyone wants a 3/4 size or even a full size bed anymore..the bottom was an old buffet ...i love the queen anne legs....

we always have lotsof old furniture needing a litttle tlc....just look in our rough room and for old porchposts and doors look out under the awning....

i like what thomas edison said..

TO INVENT YOU JUST NEED IMAGINATION AND APILE OF JUNK....

EYE CANDY....JUNK ART

we are using lots of license plates, old tin, old cans and gears....definitely finding all kinds of projects for old windows....and shutters....the chickens are from big old cans down in Mexico....

old doors can make frames , backgrounds or like the love sign...nice panels....

i love rehabbing and recycling .....and turning junk into something fun .

its a good thing our store isnt in town with a bunch of neat neighbors..and rules.... we really have lots of useful salvage and barn relics outside...

we love JUNK ART ~ITS ALL AROUND OUR STORE....AND THE PARTS.... SO YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN!!!

some days around here is like CASH FOR CLUNKERS.....or it might loook like clunkers to the untrained eye!!!

new project...old fence and old tin

we have been busy figuring out how to combine our old parts into attractive signs...here we've used old fence panels and some tin ceiling tin .....these are about 5ft long..except the bar sign......my theory on making stuff is, if its small it can come from china for pennies....so i want to make big!!! lisa made these.... will they sell? time will tell.......

the melting pot...in recycled furniture

these are 2 of our newest creations....they could be great shabby store counters or very funky mini bars.....
the white one has great provenance.....the cool trim board under the top came from a house somewhere in ohio...we bought it at the springfield flea market....the nice old tin we put on the front came from a demolition project in chicago, and the wood from a neat pile of door trim we bought...we have always liked the idea of archetectural salvage and think it makes our best things......
..we think of these as store counters but lots get bought for very cool cottage or a castle style kitchen islands....the backs are open ..or bars...like in the tiki bar by your pool....

they are on wheels in the paint shop waiting to get rolled out to their spots...

this dark one would be good in a fun gothic kitchen .....or a vampire movie, or an industrial style store display.... its kind of a dark castle look..and very large....

right now we have about 6 of these counters, all a bit different...

i painted the top one, in my shabby driftwoody colors... my paint job is the messiest of all of us, but it fits some pieces just right....imho..

door projects

i really love old doors...and we use them for counters, big store fixtures, display cabinets and sometimes for walls....they are plentiful, cheap, and good and solid....we use lots of doors in our projects and have lots of old doors for sale under the awning, usually under 25$....

our big double door open cupboards, running from 300 to 450$, have been turned into tv stands and sinks....but usually they end up as big focal points in a home or a neat cottage/shabby/ rustic accent under a covered porch

lots of our creations end up as store fixtures...often for a real creative store owner, who wants to look big and wonderful and outside the box when it comes to displaying.... they are good for big shabby cottage type store fixtures...here we use them for foo foo, country, fancy shabby, ....they are big and tough and i can nail into them...,

its so good to recycle something so nice from the past..,back when they used real wood and a lot of it...

.here its moved from maybe someones burn pile, from junk, to a big useful very reasonably priced piece of furniture...our big ones are 4 or 5 ft wide and 6 or 7 ft tall...

plus it gives a lot of us around here jobs.... which is always a good thng....

see the little dream sign? its a leftover door panel....

and always thanks to all the scroungers and savers out there who didnt burn their neat old junk...

BEFORE AND AFTER

a new favorite!!...its an old dresser, in the i love lucy style...aka the waterfall style, and jon put the top of an old bed for the back...then jeff painted in tan and white and WALLA......a nice fancy white dresser,in the casual shabby cottage style ,,,old beds are great, they are plentiful and cheap and often georgous....this one was probably a full size one from the 30s....the dresser probably from the 40s....

our tallest trash to treasure creation..

here is our tallest trash to treasure creation.... our 14 ft tin guy....he came out of an idea plus a willing furnace man...who put him together out of old parts....

we have such great trash to treasure raw materials....just waiting for the right person with a big idea......and so many cheap things that could be fabulous with a little work!!!!

...

i never get to all my ideas but some i would love to see...

.a manniken covered with junk jewelry, a big cement planter covered with embedded shells and rocks

signs made of old buttons.....

a turret with found materials embedded in one wall....

maybe in january!!!

around the store...incoming

a big double door cupboard ....coming in....

trash to treasure..check.this.out

http://home.aol.com/decorating/photo-gallery/cl/_a/a-chic-double-wide-mobile-home/20080710112609990001?icid=100214839x1207193083x1200358369
its so interesting to see how people put their homes together using the neat old salvage parts.....
i love this style...kind of romantic decadent european country...or shabby archetectural....
i would love to try that shed roof !!!.......
more good ideas here http://junkwarehouseonline.com/ especially her gallery

recycled, reused, re imagined....this style is great...and it can look wonderful with more art than money...
we sell a lot of this cottage shabby vintage style to creative retail customers and wholesale to other shops and show dealers...

trash to treasure crafts

the picture is an old memory jug...pretty valuable in the antique world....the scotties on top date it to probably the 40s....i dont know how they applied it.....


mosaic work is something i like but never get around to....i have lots of ideas and the material is everywhere..and so cheap.....like the beautiful chipped dishes in my half price room....
. nice ones here...
http://brook-thehomethatlovebuilt.blogspot.com/

i wanted to make big garden pieces with mosaic...full of cool natural stuff...shells, rocks, maybe glass..... big pedestals or birdbaths!!! or large planter boxes... it would be neat...
and i love mr flannerys suggestion below in the comments.....

you can see really fun t to t crafts here... http://www.greenbeanworkshop.blogspot.com/
and here... http://www.robomargo.com/
and dont forget http://www.tamponcrafts.com/

...i colllect tramp art....made from old cigar boxes by tramps...and maybe traded with nice housewives for pie or a chicken...its so expensive i have had to curtail my desires....

parts is parts

i like to have lots of parts in stock.....and hear what kind of projects the buyers have in mind...

..these windows look like a good start for a cupboard door.....or a big wall accent. maybe with tin behind....

we have lots of windows.and i love the arched ones and the criss cross ones......we also try and have lots of shutters, doors bits of old woodwork, old dresser parts.old headboards, porch posts,spindles,, old fence,,,,

in new we have ....

wood appliques, we use them on our cupboards a lot..

glass knobs, in clear, green and even some pink....

brass hardware, true antique reproductions

iron bin pulls, ,

iron hooks,we have tons of these...big and small lots of fancy ones, fleur de lis , bugs etc

iron brackets and corners, big selection

in tin we have old and new...

lately i have heard lots of headboard ideas....and kitchen ideas....the tin is so versatile!!!! we use tin for birdhouse roofs too....

.i like the new tin when it starts to look old and rusty.............but if you want it nice and new looking put a primer coat on first....then it shouldnt rust..........and rust is always an issue with the tin.....or if it has rusted to a point perfect for you...just put a sealer on it....

if you made something neat from our parts, send me a picture!! i like to put them on the pin up page of our website... http://www.greenoakantiques.com/

favorites

here are some favorites..... the one with the signs is what we make all the time..... they work great for kids rooms for stores even for t.v.s one shelf comes out......the back is thin so you can make a hole for cords if you want.....

my favorites tho are the other ones....the big funky one of a kinds..... they are harder to do....and never can look perfect like the standards...there is usually some little imperfection ....the fancy top of the big grey cupboard was a bed...the doors are old ceiling tin.... the finials were from some poor tables legs....

the big wide one was made out of 2 doors...these are big and bulky...but really great displays....and it saves the old doors from the landfills....

the glass window showcase is so fun to use...i really love these...but they are a hassle to make!!! so much can go wrong!!! old windows are basically a mess to work with....but isnt it cute!!! this one we did up for christmas......they could be little conservatories too....maybe for your cameleons!!!!

i like playing with the old parts....and love hearing what others are doing with them!!!

if you have bought parts from us and made something neat please send pictures..for our pin up page...on our website http://www.greenoakantiques.com/

have fun!!