GARDEN Art DIY: Free Farm Door Garden Art Makeover

Free Farm Door Garden Art Makeover

Stop the car! I spotted this old farm door at the roadside one day and could not let it pass me by. Because it was free, I decided to give it a makeover only using found items and leftover supplies from other projects.

If you love repurposing old things, have a look at these recycled and repurposed projects in the idea galleries.

Turn an old farm house door into junk-inspired garden art

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Roadside Finds

Sometimes you just have to stop the car, put it in reverse, and take action. That’s how I got this door. We were driving past a country farm near our house, the words FREE and HEY, I LOVE THAT whipped through my daydreaming brain, and I asked my husband to pull over and take us back to inspect the scene.

As someone with a very small car, it is remarkable what one can fit inside if one is determined. The guys at the lumber yard marvel at my ability to fit large wood orders in the car, and more than once I have managed to fit absurd amounts of too-good-to-resist curbside finds (like the 16 free windows I used for my mini greenhouse). I always have a red safety flag in the car in case something needs to hang out the back to make it home. And, I should add, all these moves have been accomplished without having to leave any passengers behind. Impressive!

Taming the Beast of Stuff

My own desire to live lighter, without the burden of a bunch of unused stuff in our house (especially after applying the Kon Mari method to everything I owned), means I ignore about 99/100 cool, free items I see at the roadside. It pains me to see great stuff end up in the landfill instead of a furniture bank or thrift shop, but that’s simply a symptom of the dysfunction in our culture. It’s expensive to move or store stuff, it can be difficult or impossible to find anyone to repair broken items, and the concept of furniture banks is very slow to spread. It’s probably only really going to change as resources become more precious to us and we shift back to a focus on long-lasting goods that can be repaired as needed for a good, long life.

Repair Cafes

If you share the desire to make better use of existing stuff, you are not alone. Repair cafes are popping up in cities around the world. The concept is, you take in an item you would like to repair or put in working order again, and, together with other interested volunteers, you figure out a fix. I love how the idea builds community and gives old stuff a new life all at once.