Crazy Interior Finish of SIPs Walls Idea: Recycled "Art"

This is what happens when my husband goes away... he really does keep me sane, you know.

Until recently, I could brag that our office only used *at the most* three reams of paper a year.

And then the children went on a drawing binge.

It's driving me bonkers- on one hand, I cringe, "Don't waste paper!!!" then cringe at myself: "How dare you call their artistic pursuits wasteful?" So I stack the drawings in a corner, guiltily...

Today I was pondering over how to finish our casa ti interior.
I've always envisioned it with sleek, organic, simple plywood, which I thought would look really good with the more industrial concrete floor.

But I like to consider all options, and even published a post on how to make SIPs stew.

And then I thought... "Why not recycle those drawings?"
They are mainly scribbly ink drawings on notebook paper left over from college days, or grabbed from our office shelf.
So the overall effect would be clean, white, but with scribbles and occasional bursts of color...
I could easily attach it directly to the SIPs walls, then maybe minwax / add beeswax over it once hung... just for... fun!

I still see the end result eventually being plywood... but to reuse the paper and childrens "art" for our house? Fantastic!

 

Coffin Couches

By the time you read this, it will be my birthday.
I'm ugly and old as dirt.

So, in honor of the sands of time passing, imminent doom and whatnot, I thought I'd show you these *recycled* coffin couches.



You know, I'm still a goth girl at heart, and I'm certain the Addams Family would approve.

Read the hilarious commentary here:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/28/coffincouchescom-rec.html



And the website: http://coffincouches.com/

"We at Coffincouches.com have the mindset of thinking "Green" and we know it is different but we strongly believe in recycling. Our niche happens to be 18 gauge steel coffins which we collected from local funeral homes primarily in Southern California. It is a health and safety law that funeral homes cannot resell used coffins to the general public. We approached funeral directors with the attitude of recycling. These coffins are not used for burial due to slight cosmetic inconsistencies. They are reconfigured and modified resulting in a finished product - a unique one a kind coffin couch. If you notice (although it may be too small) the six cast iron heavy duty legs are embossed with the universal biohazard insignia. The reason we utilized this sign was because safety was our utmost concern. If you are not aware, once a human body is placed in a coffin it is considered biohazard tissue. The legs have the embossed insignia for precautionary reasons in the event body fluids are exchanged on these coffins. Perhaps you would feel safe knowing that you are in designated biohazard scene!
Ha!!"

Ha, I like these guys! There's something... a touch o' green, goth, rockabilly in 'em.

 

Modern lighting... and recycling

I am searching for lighting.

We have been fortunate to find most of our lamps in thrift stores.

But I have been thinking of the casa ti we're building... and darned it, I'm itching for a little design! So, yes, I haven't even started construction, but this girl's got lighting on the brain.

I ran across a site, that has a great selection: http://www.gnr8.biz/categories.php?cPath=1_20&page=all

What I like about their offerings is that the lighting is modern, yet not too cutesy whimsical, or too "let's just copy something retro" and that there are a lot of affordable products. Would I *would* like to see are more environmentally friendly offerings... readers, do any of you have suggestions for these manufacturers to replace the polyether that is used in so many affordable, attractive lighting designs?

Here is one I could totally see over my dining table:



Love how the part that hangs down is at an angle so that you could easily see your fellow diners instead of, like many low hanging lamps, obscuring them.

And of course, just for fun, this train of thought led me to walk around snapping pictures of our own locally recycled lamps, ALL previously owned before finding their way into our household!

Here they are!

We actually have tons more in the basement in storage... it makes you realize *how much* you can do / decorate through recycling! (Pretty much any of the furniture you see was recycled as well) In fact, doing this just made me realize... I have never bought a new lamp! ... and... Wow, I have a lot of lamps!































Oops I forgot some:

(And yes, I'm realizing... I have a

WHOLE

LOTTA

LAMPS!)




Maybe I *don't* need to go lamp shopping after all... Geez Louise!