Monday, June 11, 2012

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle....A Pioneer



The project for this installment of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle" is from a pioneer in junking style.

I've used my family cabin in many posts, and you all know it was built by my father in the early 60's.
And you also know he was an artisan who loved working with wood.

Well, he was also a pioneer in the field of junking! ............Who knew?

My dad was in sales and the small towns of the midwest were his territory. While on one of his trips through the beautiful countryside of Minnesota he spied an old, dirty, discarded wagon wheel in a farmers field. (I know my junking friends are now paying attention!)

He didn't see a dirty, old piece of junk,  but a fantastic rustic chandelier for the cabin he was building. He asked the farmer if he could purchase it, the farmer said "That piece of junk?....You can take it."

And our new re-purposed cabin chandelier was born!
Thanks dad for being ahead of your time, and for the re-purposing gene!

*On a side note, we are thinking of updating the wagon wheel chandelier, maybe change the lights to a more industrial look.....of course we will recycle the old lights.
What do you think? Is it time for an update, or do you like it the way it is?

10 comments:

  1. How about turning the wheel so the lights would hang from it?
    http://vonniesbittersweetstudio.blogspot.com

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    1. Hi Renee!
      I like the idea of adding some "new" salvaged lamps...maybe that idea of hanging the fixtures down with lights bouncing up will add more ambient light.

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  2. We had one of these in our kitchen growing up, in our Suburban Chicago home. I found one last year, and planned to give it to my sister, or hold it for our " someday cottage"... I just sold it at a flea market last weekend... not as beautiful as yours but equally nostalgic! Thank you for sharing your story!
    martha

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  3. Love the wagon wheel! I think changing up the lights is a great idea to make something old new again! Maybe adding some color with the new lights might be fun. If you do change it up please post so we can see the before and after!

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  4. what a lovely post about your dad! really enjoyed reading it

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  5. the wagon wheel chandelier is so cool.. love it. You have an amazing father.. if you do decide to change it up I'd love to see what you do.

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  6. Thank you to everyone for the great comments! I think we will update the lights....but not change the chandelier much. I want to keep the integrity of it's look. I will definitely post an update of the completed project!

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  7. I agree, it is amazing as is, but I would love to see the updated lights!

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  8. Wonderful story! The chandelier is wonderful!

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