DEPARTMENT
Moose Jaw
REUSE
the perfect accent piece in any room.
Start by finding that perfect fabric that provides inspiration for your décor. Then have the wood stripped and refinished or repainted. To strip and re-stain is far more work but retains the character of the wood. Painting or lacquering is a much simpler process and creates a whole new look for the chair. Pictured is a old ottoman found at an auction that we refinished and re-upholster using recycled fur from my mother’s fox coat she bought when she was sixteen with money saved from her first job. This gave us the opportunity to give new life to both the ottoman and an important coat that has hung in the closet for the past fifteen years.
I come from a family that likes to re-furbish and re-use everything. As a child I had the same bedroom suite for more than fifteen years, and over its lifespan it was eight different colours. Antiques or furniture with sentimental value are the best items to reuse in your décor. A solid old chair found at a garage sale like a buried treasure or one passed down in the family is great because it is typically of superb quality, and has character (often overlooked because it’s outdated), but which can be reanimated by giving it a face lift, making it
UNIQitems UE CONTEMstylePORY Bregistries RIDAL DEservices SIGN H OME D ECOR , G ARDEN & G IFT B OUTIQUE
14 High St. E., Moose Jaw (306) 693.0673 www.jilliansdesignelements.com
Also refurbishing an outdated, but solidly constructed dining room table and matching it with contemporary chairs can give a whole new look to the tired old dining room suite. Keeping the matching buffet and replacing the hutch with a grand mirror hung on the wall with the perfect vase and accessories, takes an outdated suite and makes it modern and chic. It also provides character to the décor and reduces the environmental strain of producing two new pieces of furniture.
RECYCLE
Wood is an excellent material to recycle, and people are finding innovative and creative ways to use recycled wood in their construction. I’ve had clients incorporate old beams salvaged from abandoned grain elevators into the frame of their new rustic lakefront home.
At an auction sale my husband and I bought hardwood salvaged from an old school, and installed it in our basement. Not only is it environmental, it provides a great story to tell guests. In the show home I’m
Summer 2009
fine lifestyles regina
47