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Two Cents Worth

Repurposing is all the rage right now.

I am all for using stuff you have around the house to provide needed storage or decoration, but some of this repurposing stuff is just weird. Certain ideas work, but you do have to have the right room with lots of space to handle them. A friend is taking one of my old windows, hanging it sideways, putting photos of her family behind the panes of glass and adding hooks along the bottom for coats. That’s a great project and she has a nice big wall at the back door so it is actually very practical. I think I like this idea because it is supposed to look like an old window used as a frame and coat rack.

Two of the original 1852 blown glass windows from my house are being used in a display at the museum here in Otterville. Mae Leonard has painted heritage scenes of the area on large pieces of plywood. The windows hang a few inches in front of one of those scenes. Appropriate curtains have been hung on the windows and antique furniture places in front so it looks like a real window in a pioneer home looking out onto the landscape. The South Norwich Historical Society did an excellent job assembling it and it’s a lovely display.

Sometimes when things are repurposed it just doesn’t make sense. A paint can nailed to the wall as shoe storage? To me it looks like a paint can nailed to the wall. An old ladder is an old ladder and quite beautiful in its rustic oldness, as a decorative piece, but can’t quite see it as a towel, scarf or shoe rack.

My shoes found a home in a free-standing, open book shelf unit. I can see every pair perfectly without digging around. If you have size 12 feet it might not be as practical but for my shoes it works well. I have also found a certain size of cardboard box makes perfect file storage. They are not pretty and some have duct tape on the corners but they work like a charm. No one sees them but me and they are free.

A pretty tea cup and saucer look lovely used as a jewelry catch-all or soap dish in the bathroom. Found the scarf which was the exact colour I wanted for curtains in my bathroom so had a friend sew in a rod pocket in one side. The fringe hangs down on both ends and it looks great. To me, anyway, and that’s all that matters.

Use a lot of herbs in my cooking. You don’t need much and I found the packages I bought at the grocery store were not used up quickly enough when you are cooking for one. Got tired of throwing them out so decided to plant my own this spring. I started with what I use most often and have a lovely of display of parsley, basil, sage, thyme and rosemary. It’s so nice to step outside and pick what I need off my own plants. You have to harvest to keep them growing and I don’t use it fast enough so I harvest and put them into a vase. Mixed together they are very pretty and so fragrant so I put them in several rooms of the house instead of fresh flowers.

Now that’s repurposing, isn’t it?

twocentsworth40@hotmail.com

Distroscale

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