Spare Parts

My grandfather was not just a Captain, be he was an Old Yankee. That means he wasted nothing. He used salvaged parts on his boats and on this house. In this space, I used both! 

I have a vivid memory of him drilling and fastening this board onto the chimney. He finished it in a dark stain and added coat hooks. The hooks are mostly broken from heavy backpacks and I wasn't crazy about the dark color. I wanted a brighter space.

I sanded it down to bare wood - then I had some fun! I wanted to make it look like driftwood to fit the nautical theme. First, I gave it a case of shipworm by drilling clusters of holes about the same size as the screw holes from the old hooks. This added to the look and I didn't need to fill anything. Next, I grabbed a hammer, a chain, and an old piece of rebar and beat the daylights out of it. I used a sander and wire brush to soften the edges and add some weathering. 

I played with the white and grey chalk paint to make it look bleached from the sun and salt. Finally, I sealed with a matte wax finish.

In the garage, there are a lot of old boat parts in the garage including an assortment of boat cleats. Hanging them vertically gave me sturdy and attractive coat hooks. There will be a lot more spare boat parts in the finished space.

We've also got some salvaged house parts - or in this case, leftover house parts. There was a bundle of extra trim pieces in the crawl space. This $0.50 pice of quarter round was used to replace a section that had been long missing. You can't even tell it is a replacement because it is from the same batch as the original.

 

The entry way is the most recent addition to the house. That is why the stairs and slab are concrete and painted. The brick chimney you see is the back of the dining room fireplace. In my first Dining Room post, I showed you what the room looked like when it was stripped to studs. The framing for the window that became a fireplace is evident. I believe that this is the remains of that window - the only original window left. 

I can't reuse it as a window, but I couldn't throw it away either. After a quick clean up it was ready for a sea glass mosaic. I did find some sea glass at the beach, but I am a rock hound and I have a tumbler. It is a very easy way to make your own sea glass

The completed window was by chains in front of the existing window like a  large suncatcher.

Next time, we'll talk about finishes.