MCM Discussion- Recycled and Upcycled

  Mid Century Modern Shelf  

 

Reuse, recycle, reduce. We (Bec and Babs) really do live by these ideas. Some folks (if not a lot) think we are tightwads because we are the way we are!   Mother Earth, we say, it’s for Mother Earth.

 

 

Bec was married in the summer of 2010. With her direction we pulled off a beautiful and unique do-it-yourself outdoor wedding and reception. While we utilized numerous clever ideas, we're most proud of this one.

 

Instead of renting a dance floor for $330, my husband, Len, purchased nine ¾” plywood sheets to create one. These cost about $225.  Wood strips were used underneath at the joints to secure the sheets together. These were cut from odd scraps he had saved. The surface was coated with leftover polyurethane that someone had given me. Cost was still at $225.

This set up was partially assembled in our backyard to ensure it was suitable as a dance surface. It settled nicely into the grass and ¾” thickness of the plywood well absorbed the motion of moving feet.

 

Well, the floor worked well.  The do-it-yourself nature of the wedding and the many ideas it spawned were well received by the 175 guests. The dance floor was used for several hours into the night. After the wedding, Len now had 9 sheets of really solid plywood to work with and a project on his radar. 

A wall length shelf unit was always a desire of Len's.  Yeah, even though he's a guy, he has "guy toys", and has trinkets, mementos, curios and books that he likes to display.  Thumbing through a magazine he found a simple mid-century modern shelf design that struck a chord.  His wood working skills are fairly rudimentary but he pretty much needed only a table saw, circular saw, drill, sander, several sheets of that ¾” plywood and a bit of imagination for the project. Len liked the shelves so much that he made a “mini” version for his desk.  They add a continuity and balance to the room. 

 

Len states,  "What I enjoy most about these shelves is that they came from my creative daughter’s very creative wedding. In places you can see a few scuff marks from the shoes that danced across them. In addition to these shelves, I used the “wedding plywood” for a half dozen other smaller projects. I also gave a sheet to a grateful neighbor for his own project.   Karma. As a relatively “big” project for me, I gained some new skills and confidence, as well. This was a win-win-win scenario. What more can you ask?"

 

Bec and Babs want to thank you for stopping by this Mid Century Modern Discussion and we'll catch up with you later at the shop!