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There are three main approaches to reuse and recycling...
1) Use the original item pretty much as is - most furniture flippers fall under this category, where a piece of furniture may have some cosmetic changes applied, but essentially the item is used for the same purpose as originally intended.
2) Scrap item for raw materials - The other extreme is break the item down into raw materials such as dressed lumber. The resulting project may be made up for multiple pieces and will have little to no resemblance to the original item. This approach gives one ultimate freedom with regards to design.
3) Retain design elements from the raw material - This is somewhat a middle ground, where the 'spirit' or the donor items still lives in the project. This approach requires a more consideration in the design process, as one endeavours to incorporate the existing object into the design in some manner.
Using a recent project of mine as an example, I will detail the high level stages I went through to turn some old hand railings into a firewood storage.
1) Start collecting raw materials...
These can be street bounty, gifted furniture from friends and family or spoils from a recent renovation etc. To make it easier to store this material, break down the furniture in a respectful manner - I mean don't attack it with a sledge hammer or go crazy with your recip-saw - take it apart carefully.
For my project, I had kept the old balcony handrails. I did honestly think that they would end up in the firewood pile, because they were a rounded moulding which probably would be difficult to reuse.
2) Research your project for ideas...
Assuming that you have a build in mind, it's a good idea to do your research. Things I look for are features and some basic design ideas.
I honestly didn't like many of the firewood storage ideas I saw, mainly because they were huge with function over form. However I decided that separating out kindling from the firewood would be handy, and putting a roof on it would look nice.
3) Design time...
It's a good idea to start with the rough dimensions. For my firewood storage, the width would be guided by the length of the firewood, and the other dimensions by the space it would occupy. Also consider the ratios of the various dimensions to make sure it looks balanced and aesthetically appealing - tap into your intuition for this.
The next step is to get a more serious drawing put together. I use sketchup because it's free, easy to use and it can be all drawn to scale. Once you have a rough design, double check that you will have enough raw materials to complete the project (include enough for mistakes and test pieces).
If you managed to tick that box you can start thinking about the joinery you will use and some of the finer design elements. I usually do this on paper, as it can be more challenging to do this in sketchup and not really worth the effort. This is where you really need to get your creating juices flowing, and it could take days or weeks to get that breakthrough idea.
For my firewood storage rack, I spotted some left over lattice which was starting to rot, so I wanted to include that in the project somehow. My design breakthrough was to use the moulding profile to house the lattice, and use the curved offcuts for the roof.
I have included my sketchup design for your viewing pleasure.
4) Build time...
This is where you find out if your imagined design will actually work in practice. Whenever I build out a project for which the design has not bee tested, I cut the pieces gradually and complete section/component by component - that way I can adjust the design as I go, knowing that I haven't yet cut all the pieces to length.
The trick to to stay motivated and continue to push for progress. For me, it took weeks, as I got distracted by Xmas, and other projects, but I got there in the end and must say that I was quite pleased with the result.
Hello @gregoreau,
Great to see you active again on the site. Thank you for sharing this fantastic firewood storage rack with us. It's a terrific blend of form and function. Thank you also for taking the time to walk us through your process and sharing some handy tips and advice. I'm sure our members will appreciate those details.
Love your work. Look forward to seeing what project you tackle next.
Akanksha
