Saturday, January 23, 2010

Revitalized copper-leaf and enamel bookcase.

This is a recent project where I took an old, inexpensive piece of furniture and transformed it into something unique. I find this kind of project very rewarding because it not only blends art with interior design, but it saves one more thing ending up in a landfill. This bookcase belonged to our daughters and held their books for years. It was pretty worn out.


Before


After


Before I applied the copper-leaf, I added an additional piece of wood and molding to the top to bulk it up a bit. Then I attached short legs to raise the whole case by about 2 inches. The bird and leaf pattern was painted at the end.

When we can extend the life of a piece of furniture for another generation, then we are truly "green" practitioners.

18 comments:

  1. Denny this is so cool. I love the transformation, so chic and hip now!

    Kit

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  2. Your birds have lured the cat! Nice.

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  3. This is lovely, Denny. You inspire me!

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  4. Kit~ I had a feeling you'd like this piece. Thanks!

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  5. Donna~ But really what happened is that cat lured me, I keep posting pictures of her!

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  6. Lynda~ Thanks so much... and congratulations on the Statewide Fine Arts Competition!

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  7. Denny the transformation is amazing...'Blackbird' by the Beatles springs to mind when I look at it. Lovely cat btw.

    I wish I could do something like this and it look as good but I usually end up making things worse and they end up IN the landfill anyway! lol

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  8. April~ thanks, at least you attempt stuff like this, most people wouldn't even try. There's success in that effort, even if the results are not always what we want.
    BTW, your blog is not updating on my blogroll for some reason...any thoughts?

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  9. Pete~ thanks, I appreciate that, especially from someone of your magnitude and talent!

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  10. Hi Denny...been having problems with that update for months. No clue why, but it happens to a lot of blogs - the problem is with Blogger and there is no technical support other than a linkthru to a very unhelpful forum. It's been a source of frustration to me for a long time as I've lost a lot of visitors. Thanks for popping in as often as you have . Maybe if you remove it and link to my Wordpress site you'll have more luck. All the best

    April - link to WP blog:
    www.moonstoneandwater.wordpress.com

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  11. This is an amazing piece of work! I can't help but think your photo with the cat could make yet another piece of art out of this bookcase.

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  12. Jeremy~ let me tell you, that cat IS a piece of work!! Thank you for your kind words and I hope your plush animal painting is coming along well.

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  13. Yes!! I have a nasty coffee table that the husband wanted to pitch. I moved it to my studio and am eyeing it as a painting surface. Agree with all points about reinventing and reincarnating instead of putting more stuff in landfills.

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  14. Love it! What a pleasant surprise your blog is!! So glad to discover you.

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  15. Thanks, Diane...I hope you'll stop by often!

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  16. Love the copper leaf too. Did you paint the birds black or brown? Just curious.
    -Alixe

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  17. Thanks, Alixe~ the birds are black with a satin finish.

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