Last summer my husband got an idea that turned out to be both challenging and rewarding.
We wanted to build a multi-purpose shed for storage, workshop, and greenhouse space. After much thought about costs involved we decided to try to save money and recycle at the same time.
Creative
We both love the look of barnwood. So he placed an ad and offered to remove unsafe barns from area homeowners properties. I was surprised at the response we received. Soon we were out looking at a farm that had the remains of a barn, everything had been blown over in a storm. We removed some of that structure. Then we moved on to a barn that was still standing, although just barely. We decided to remove that barn too. We worked on site, tore the barn down, denailed the boards and hauled it away load by load back to our home. Soon we had more barnwood than we ever imagined!
The ad was still generating interest and he helped to remove another barn. Finally he had to stop because we had run out of available space to store the wood.
We had gathered a variety of wood including white oak, wormy chestnut, and more. We have enough barnwood for the shed we want to build and more. We are still in the planning stages on the multi-purpose shed which will be started on this spring, but we are using the barnwood for other projects too.
We are always working on our house or yard. It has been in some stage of remodel ever since I moved here 3 years ago. We are now working in the basement which was completely gutted and started over, we have finished a family room and laundry room and now we are working on our home office.The final renovation will be the bathroom addition to the basement. That will be a winter project next year. We have decided to use some white oak and chestnut barnwood in the office and bathroom projects.
The office is getting built in shelving and a desk made out of the white oak and the walls will have barnwood wainscotting and chair rail moulding from the chestnut. We have installed beams in the ceiling and the crown molding is also barnwood. This is combined with painted sheetrock on the walls. The look is very custom and it is coming together very nice. And it is definitely not builder beige!
We have built hanging shelves, bookcases, coat racks and picture frames from the barnwood too. These items have sold at flea markets and festivals.
The most popular selling items have been the hand painted custom barnwood signs in the Scrappy Signs Collection I created from left over pieces of barnwood from projects. I make campsite signs, garden signs, mancave signs pet signs and more. I paint any wording on the signs for any use. It has been a lot of fun creating the various signs and seeing the reaction they get when displayed at shows.
Creative, Fun and Functional Uses For Old Barnwood
Freda Eckel is the author of this article and the owner of the website http://www.improve-your-home-and-garden.com
The website is all about home and garden improvements that you can do yourself- to save money. It also features lots of a products for your home and garden in the Specialty Stores on the site.