It’s wine o’clock (somewhere), so time to share an adult beverage-related repurposing find.
Today, it’s Champagne corks used as bike handlebar caps. (photo by Jon Heslop)
For earlier items in Unconsumption’s wine o’clock series, check out the archive here.
Cheers!
Former men’s room of what used to be an elementary school in Detroit; the Catherine Ferguson Academy, a charter high school for young mothers and pregnant teens, now calls the historic building home.
The property’s grounds feature a four-acre urban farm, which helps teach students about gardening, and enhances their skills sets.
The school, which allows students to “attend classes and care for their babies in a single environment,” was slated to be closed in 2011. Thanks to community members who rallied in support of the school, the school remains open today. Almost all the school’s graduates enroll in two- or four-year colleges.
Via The Unreal Estate Guide to Detroit: Places: Design Observer. Photograph by Andrew Herscher.
Seems fitting to follow this earlier Unconsumption post about repurposed urinals with this one on fixtures-turned-planters-in-girls’-school!
![Okay, this silly but it’s Friday, and I feel compelled to note “what’s easily the most creative (and nuttier) adaptive re-use project we’ve seen,” as one observer puts it:
The Attendant in London converts a Victorian-era public lavatory into a posh new cafe. [It] preserves the erstwhile loo’s period urinals, produced by Doulton & Co. in 1890, which were cleaned (duh) and polished to a sparkling white finish. A long wooden plank was wedged into the upper halves of the urinals to create continuous table space along the back wall. The urinal walls function as table partitions, while the banquette showcases their surprisingly plastic forms.
Aside from the sculptural toilets, the original tiling on the floors and walls were also restored.
Final judgment: “surreal and more than a little gross.”
Agreed. But still.
(via At This Cafe, Drink Coffee Alongside Period-Perfect Urinals - Eating Pretty - Curbed National)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/28e550444174f34aade8851fa249c7ff/tumblr_mkkyw1EBnW1qzv12bo1_400.jpg)
Okay, this silly but it’s Friday, and I feel compelled to note “what’s easily the most creative (and nuttier) adaptive re-use project we’ve seen,” as one observer puts it:
The Attendant in London converts a Victorian-era public lavatory into a posh new cafe. [It] preserves the erstwhile loo’s period urinals, produced by Doulton & Co. in 1890, which were cleaned (duh) and polished to a sparkling white finish. A long wooden plank was wedged into the upper halves of the urinals to create continuous table space along the back wall. The urinal walls function as table partitions, while the banquette showcases their surprisingly plastic forms.
Aside from the sculptural toilets, the original tiling on the floors and walls were also restored.
Final judgment: “surreal and more than a little gross.”
Agreed. But still.
(via At This Cafe, Drink Coffee Alongside Period-Perfect Urinals - Eating Pretty - Curbed National)
Cup of tea, anyone?
Some 3,000 tea bags (yes, you read that right!) make up this installation at Rolling Greens, a “home and garden destination” in Los Angeles. (Spotted on Pinterest here. Source: Los Angeles, I’m Yours, which features additional photos.)
See also: Quilt made from steeped tea bags.
How would you describe this example of repurposing? Beautiful? Or not your cup of tea?
Made from redwood reclaimed from old fences and barns, these chicken coops arrive packed in a kit small enough that it can actually fit in a bicycle box. … The parts can easily be assembled in your own backyard.
(via DIY, Recycled Chicken Coops that Can Be Moved By Bike | Design on GOOD)
From our archives: Chicken coop made from a clothes dryer!
Brooklyn-based artist Marc Andre Robinson turns discarded furniture into eye-catching sculptural assemblages.
(via My Modern Met)
DIY idea du jour:
Recover worn furniture with used paint sticks. Colorful and rustic looking, for sure.
To help in gathering sticks, tell your neighbors you’re collecting sticks. Also, ask staff at a store that sells paint to keep their used sticks for you.
(Photo by matangi.etsy on Flickr; spotted on Pinterest here.)
What do you do with expired or otherwise unwanted credit cards?
Kristal Romano turns them into wearable art.
Those of you who have been following Unconsumption for a while — either here on Tumblr, or on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and/or Twitter — probably know that I (Molly) have a thing for vintage rulers, yardsticks, and measuring tapes. (Yes, an Unconsumption Pinterest board devoted to vintage measuring tools does exist!)
So, when I came across an Etsy blog post on Vanessa Boer, I found myself drawn to several of Vanessa’s repurposed-ruler creations, particularly the pieces pictured here that incorporate vintage pencils.
Nice!
We’ve spotted an example of seat cushions upholstered with old belts, and have seen old suits turned into tote bags (here and here), and, now, there’s this:
Suits used as upholstery.
(photo via Good Ideas For You)
What do you think of this upcycling example?
The laudable trend toward free book-sharing setups has gotten plenty of attention, and here at Unconsumption we have highlighted many notable examples — some involving phone booths of all sorts; informal street versions; and of course the Little Free Libraries initiative.
But this particular book-share project happens to have an Unconsumption connection: It’s located in the community Metro Star Garden in Savannah, GA, where Unconsumption co-founder Rob Walker (that’s me) has some involvement.
In fact, if you happen to be in Savannah this Friday night April 5, the Metro Star Library makes its official debut in connection with the monthly Art March. Several of us from the garden will be around from 6-9 pm, showing off the garden and library and just generally hobnobbing with neighbors and Art Marchers. Perhaps there will even be refreshments? Only one way to find out for sure!
Anyway, the Metro Star Library was built at the Savannah College of Art and Design’s Boundary Hall, and came about thanks in large part to the efforts and generosity of SCAD’s Scott Thorp and Todd Yuratich, as well as a number of students. Scott, a professor and the design program coordinator at SCAD, arranged for a bunch of students to sign on for an extra-credit series of workshops organized around building little libraries. Todd, an amazing woodworker who oversees the Boundary Hall shop space and also has his own practice, Miel Manufacturing (don’t miss his very cool “wooden paintings,” made completely from offcuts), led the workshops.
The blue/grey library was the one Todd built as a demo, and the second structure, which the garden is using as an “information” box (which we needed) was created by students Sydney Barnett, Taylor Olenik and Jamie Karaat, who I believe are all fashion majors.
Both structures were designed and constructed entirely from excess materials around the shop — pretty cool!
And they look even better in person. So Savannah folks should come by the garden Friday night!
More pictures of the garden itself (which is also a repurposing project of sorts — it used to be a vacant lot) here.
And of course, there’s much more elsewhere in the Unconsumption archives about swapping, sharing and the sharing economy / collaborative consumption, libraries, and books.
—rw
Metro Star Garden Library Debut: Friday Night April 5, 6-9 pm, corner of 38th & Howard, Savannah, GA.
We can’t get enough pallet-ness these days, evidently.
The pallet pendant shade is made from…….you guessed it pallets. We recycle all types of pallets therefore the patina may vary from shade to shade. Each one is hand made all the way down to the elastic, of which there is a choice of colours you can pick from to make each shade fit with your home.
You, the user get the pleasure of assembling the pallet shade, but unlike most self-assembling products the pallet shade is easy and satisfying, especially when you click the final piece in place, they all come with easy to understand instructions and there’s no gluing, screwing or hammering. No tools needed.
Hand Made Recycled Wooden Pallet Hanging Lamp by FactoryTwentyOne, Via BLTD.
