Freestyle at its purest

On one level this is a blog about waste, waste that doesn't have to be.  On another level, it is a blog about people who recognize that disposable should not be the default.  This category includes people we don't know, lucky us.  Total strangers are connected to us through their objects because they took the time, the extra effort, to drop something off at the give-and-take section of "el centro de reciclaje" (quick, translation challenge!).  These strangers are shining stars in the constellation of recyclers.

Thank you mystery donors, for giving us light, literally.

I was free!

This recent find is a small table lamp with a paper shade (with one almost invisible rip near the bottom), likely from everyone's favorite Swedish furniture store. Bonus: functioning compact fluorescent bulb included.  This lamp is pure freestyle, no repair or restyle work needed, just a softly glowing prize for being at the right place at the right time.

Nautical themed freestyled frame

I love finding free pictures frames.  There is something so satisfying about hanging a lovely picture on a wall with the full knowledge that it was made possible by keeping an eye out for the possible- or in my case, for the possibilities presented by a cast-off.  This is the heart of the freestyle philosophy.
I've found a few frames at le dump, and most often they just need a cleaning.  Given that the main ingredients are usually some combination of plastic, metal, and glass it is a pretty straightforward task.
This pink-ish wooden frame with an interesting rope detail was a recent acquisition:

How may I enhance your day?

 Issues with this frame included a few rough spots, and a flimsy backing construction. It was not designed to hang on the wall, but our house isn't really a 'pictures of loved ones on the end table' kind of place.  What to do? It sat for a while in the "idea zone," a special corner in the living room, we talked about painting it some neutral color.... Then one sunny day Creative Roommate was inspired and I came home to find a newly  freestyled frame and a suitable picture for framing, right there on the end table.

Bubbles!

The fish was the first part that caught my eye (naturally), but then I noticed the bubbles on the frame, or were they?
Look a little closer.......

Googly-eyed all over

She used googly eyes! Removable sticker googly eyes, not what I would have reached for (because I don't have any) but somehow appropriate given the subject of the painting (also by Creative Roommate).

Not to overlook the painting of the frame, there are a few places where the old pink hue peeps through-  just enough to give it an aged look.

 Here's looking at you, freestyled frame.

From mundane to madonna

This blog is about seeing the potential, re-using the discarded or mundane in some new or interesting way.
With this project, Creative Roommate has achieved both goals, melding themes that I don't normally see used together. Here combined: religious iconography and a modern plumbing-related accessory (ok, ok, a toilet seat cover). Let me clarify, she used a CLEAN toilet seat cover as the substrate for this project.

 I didn't get to snap a 'before' picture, but you can probably imagine a plain white toilet seat cover.  Instead I captured the freestyle installation process as it happened on our porch:

Creative Roommate, installing her work on an existing attachment point.

Angles matter.  In an interesting coincidence, the piece is now framed by an old chair frame.

Iconic.

(currently brainstorming ways to freestyle that chair frame, it was another apartment 'inheritance'...)

Fhutonix, part 2, Armful of books

In my practice of saving things before I know their future use, the arms of ye olde wooden frame futon were saved on the porch. This is despite their irregular shape and resistance to full dis-assembly along with the rest of the futon frame (explained here).  There they stayed, tucked behind a card table and other porch detritus until Creative Roommate got on a cleaning kick and saw a clever way to expand our book storage capacity.  Let me explain how it happened.
The apartment has a rather creatively configured shelving space in the living room. At one point in the history of this building it must have been involved in doorway activities, but is now sealed up with some ridges for removable shelving having been added.  There is a large space at the bottom that has served as random storage for packing boxes, box fans, and other oddly-shaped boxy things. Convenient, but not decorative.
Until it became this.....

Our lovely additional book shelf

 The clever solution hit upon by Creative Roommate was to use both futon arm/end-pieces, but space them so that the depth matches the above shelves.

No one can see that there is a gap in the middle.

The futon parts and wooden floor below have a similar stain, so they almost blend together for an interesting effect.  A lucky coincidence for this freestyle project.

The books will be re-arranged as part of a book shelf makeover, watch for that project in a future post.

Futon, reborn like a phoenix....Fhutonix?

The Futon, long ago.

This apartment has seen its fair share of inhabitants, and as so often happens, people leave stuff behind when they move away.  You don't always have to leave your house to get free stuff!  This was the case with The Futon.  Now, to be clear, The Futon was not so comfortable or beautiful, but it had a could-be-considered-nice-ish wooden frame, was already in the apartment, and in a pinch it could host an overnight guest, an early Saturday afternoon nap, or a few Masterpiece Theater viewers. Did I mention it was free?  We tried to cover it up as much as possible to maximize the comfort factor.  Eventually the day came when The Futon was no longer needed, a newer couch was its way, but what to do with the frame?  It was not nice enough to sell (having already been repaired), and Cambridge is awash in used futon frames anyway. Putting it in the trash was clearly not very freestyle....

 Illustrated below, poorly, is how I saw The Futon frame.

Rough diagram of the frame. (End-pieces are shown in gray for diagrammatic purposes only)

All those nice finished wooden pieces just waiting to be turned into something new.

 It was fun to use power tools to undo the screws holding the various pieces together, but then what?  I had a pile of wooden pieces (each ~23.5 inches long, 1.75 inches wide, and 7/8 in thick, with a hole 1/4 inch from each end, some with webbing still attached) and a vague idea of building a small bookshelf or side table- but without the use of a saw.  When a new, minimalist, roommate moved in she decided to freestyle the pieces into wall art.

Installation #1

Installation #2

I think the varying tones of the wooden pieces work to bring some warmth against the blue wall.

If anyone out there can come up with a design for a shelf or end table, using only pieces with the measurements described above, I'd love to freestyle it, there are still some leftover futon pieces!

The lamp unleashes a creative genie, slowly

Painted brass

Sometimes, it takes a while.  That has been my realization while figuring out what to do with some of the free finds before they get re-styled.  The limitations to this philosophy quickly become apparent when closet space becomes scarce, or when moving day comes (back to the sidewalk of the free, random cream colored coffee table from 2003).  Certain items that arrived freely have survived these challenges, today's example, the lamp.  This special lamp might even be considered a 'double free,' as it was donated to a previous roommate, and then re-donated to me by said roommate when she moved out.  How often does one get a fully functioning Stiffel brass lamp, solid as a rock, whose only defect was pitting on the surface of the brass and an outdated shade? Clearly something worth keeping.  It took a few years, honestly, before the combination of vision+motivation+supplies = re-styled lamp base.  Even after the re-painting of the base, something was missing...... 

The final key ingredients? A new roommate (who paints pictures!), and a new free lampshade.

Lampshade, courtesy of Hampshire St.

Lampshade with a brand new paint job.

At long last, after 2 apartments, some spray primer and paint (color: Night Tide), and a free shade with a new octopus-inspired paint job, our apartment has a freestyled lamp that now sits happily on the crazy octagonal end table.

Thank you free stuff, you light up my life!