Outside In
Warm weather brings about a more leisurely way of life with your personal space spreading out of doors. Decorating is less formal or fussy.
We take advantage of this period of lighter spirit to loosen up and make due with what’s on hand. Country or rustic décor rules, with the accent on basic, natural materials such as wood, wicker, stone, cotton, gingham and wool.
We seek the flexibility of furniture that will go inside or outside, in the family room or nestled beside a garden, with natural materials that are durable and weather resistant.
If you are looking for inspiration, or would like a table and seats that add your personal vision to your home, this is the time to be enthused. The warm weather months are perfect for a weekend project or two that doesn’t require great skill. All you need is some imagination and a little know-how.
Scavenging is not only acceptable, it’s encouraged. Going local has become the conscientious shoppers’ motto, as we search find stuff built or discarded in our own back yard so to speak.
At a dump near my home in London, I am fascinated by the constant lineup of cars all day long checking out unwanted items.
Eco-conscious recycling abounds in many forms from sidewalk and yard sales to flea markets and auctions. Building demolitions offer a fascinating array of salvageable lumber and decorative details such as interior and exterior trimwork, mouldings, carved brackets, mantels, doors, window frames, floorboards and metalwork.
Do some scavenging to come up with items that will find their way into your heart and home with a bit of redesigning, and/or refinishing.
Properly cared for, wood lasts lifetimes and enhances any style depending on the variety and finish. With some carpentry skills, it’s not difficult to create your own table. Coffee tables can be built with almost any material as long as you have a solid base and flat top.
During filming of my TV series All for One with Debbie Travis, we scour homes and properties for old wood and other building bits that we can repurpose.
One of our more ambitious projects was to build a unique table from an old tree trunk base with a concrete top. The wizened and aged gray base, found on the homeowner’s property, is one of nature’s works of art.
If you have collected driftwood, you will recognize the many shapes that lend themselves to reinvention as table or lamp bases, shelf supports, or simply beautiful found objects.
The unique table top has a piece of tree stump embedded in it so it looks like the tree is growing up through the top.
To make the top, build a frame with a plywood base and 1x4x ½- inch surround. Reinforce the bottom with wire mesh and rebars, as concrete is heavy.
Cut a cross section of a large stump that will fit inside the frame. Fill the frame with concrete, even with the top of the stump. Let the concrete dry and set for two days and then polish.
